Friday, February 15, 2013

Fantasy Island in Tucson?

Why yes, yes indeed, there is a Fantasy Island in Tucson! It's an awesome mountain biking trail system.

Jim and Allison, who we met while hiking the other day, have spent several winters in Tucson and are avid bicyclists (both road and mountain). They were happy to show us this mountain biking fantasyland.

There are about 25 miles of trails through the desert. It's nice dirt single track, weaving through cactus (sometimes quite close...you gotta be real careful in spots!) and creosote with some fun roller coaster washes thrown in. We did about 14 miles or so, leaving more trails for us to check out some other time.

If you go it would be a good idea to have a map of the area with you as it would be easy to lose your way back to your truck! We were glad to be with people who knew the trails.

It was a fun ride with good folks!

We're ready to take off through the desert with the Catalina Mountain range looming in the distance.
Occasional bicycle art surprises! This one was actually a memorial to an avid biker.
"If I don't move they won't see me"...all 4 of us road past this guy, he didn't move a muscle!


6 comments:

  1. Glad you met this couple and found some nice bike trails. Sounds like a fun day!

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    1. Hope you're having fun with Jessica!

      Tomorrow we're going to do Wasson Peak in reverse and come back on the wash to find the petroglyphs.

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  2. That sounds like quite a bike ride. Please do be careful around the cacti.

    You are so fortunate to get that photo of the jackrabbit! Every time I've ever gotten close to one they bolt and all I get is an empty trail.

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    1. We were talking about bringing pruning shears with us to trim some of the cacti back next time!

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  3. Hi guys! Reading about these trails, it sounds like you have to have a permit to do them since they are on state land. Did you obtain one? From the research I've done, looks like you have to mail in the application and have the permit mailed back to you, which can be difficult if you're nomadic and just passing through. Just curious what you did...thanks!

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