By Jeff Sittler on Wednesday, September 05, 2001 - 07:24 pm: Edit

I will be heading to AZ for a new job next week and I am wanting to find some good beginner trails. I will be living in the phoenix area and will most likely do my sight seeing on the weekends. Could anyone point me to some sites with good beginner trails listed? I've heard Sedona mentioned several times, I'm going to add that one to my list.

Thanks,
Jeff

BTW... I have a stock '96 Disco.

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Thursday, September 06, 2001 - 08:39 am: Edit

Welcome to AZ. I've never found that elusive list of "all the trails"...you pretty much have to go out and explore. Give me a shout when you get into town - there are lots of places I can point you (and take you).

Later...

By Bill Kobs (Billkobs) on Thursday, September 06, 2001 - 06:07 pm: Edit

I just picked up a great book that outlines a ton of trails throughout arizona. The name of it is
"Backcountry Adventures-Arizona" and the author is peter massey and jean wilson. There are over 147 different trails listed throughout the state and all different skill levels. It has pretty good descriptions of each trail as well as gps coordinates.

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Friday, September 07, 2001 - 05:44 am: Edit

where did you get this?

By Bill Kobs (Billkobs) on Friday, September 07, 2001 - 06:10 am: Edit

I got it at borders and books in the biltmore but I found it on amazon.com. The book cost about 30 bucks but it has over 550 pages of trail information , history of some of the trails, you've probably done a bunch of these trails but I'm sure you could find some new ones. Well worth the money.

By Harley on Friday, September 07, 2001 - 09:34 pm: Edit

BlueGill,
Check out http://4x4books.com/az4wd.htm for info. It is a good book but be aware its not 'Hardcore' trails. They are rated 1-10 in difficulty but they never have anything over a 7 and the majority are 3-4. All in all its a pretty useful book. I have used their Utah and Colorado books and had some really good times. Handy because they include GPS coordinates as well.
BTW the authors drive a blue D1 in a bunch of photos.

-Harley

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Saturday, September 08, 2001 - 06:06 am: Edit

cool, good link, thanks.

By Bill Kobs (Billkobs) on Saturday, September 08, 2001 - 03:50 pm: Edit

That link is the book i was talking about..

By Jeff Sittler (Mindblender) on Sunday, September 16, 2001 - 02:03 pm: Edit

Bluegill,
I arrived in AZ last week for my new job and was in awe of all the mountains. I picked up the Backcounty Adventure Arizona book and went and did the El Oso Road trail #36 in the central region on saturday. We'll have to hook up and go on some trails sometime.

Jeff

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Monday, September 17, 2001 - 06:07 am: Edit

Sounds good. I'm taking care of several...uh....technical issues right now, though.

By James Groom (Jimg) on Thursday, November 29, 2001 - 08:40 pm: Edit

Jeff

Try "Guide to Arizona Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails" by Charles Wells just published a few months ago.

Jim

By Chris Condon on Friday, November 30, 2001 - 07:21 pm: Edit

I agree. I just got that book a few weeks ago and have found a lot of great looking trails in it--not to mention, great trail descriptions. I definitely recommend it.

Chris

By Shane C. (Qsiguy) on Thursday, December 06, 2001 - 09:11 pm: Edit

Jeff,

We're talking about a trip up to Four Peaks in a few weeks. The trail head is about 5-10 miles north of Fountain Hills off to the right (if you are heading north). The road is easy but there are lots of side trails to roam and when you get to the top you can take a 2 mile hike and there is an awesome view off Four Peaks of the valley. Will prob. be mid January. There is a thread in the Event area you can watch for info.

Shane