Flagstaff area trails?

[Mike H.]

Can anyone point me in a direction to locate some trails in the Flagstaff area.
I'm looking to get out of the heat, run a trail or 2.
Camping over night is not a must, nor a deterant.

If you'd like to get real specific, 3.0-3.5 is good, 4.0 is getting to the limits of my skills.

TIA.

[pitch]

Sedona has the closest real "trails," and even then they are only a 2.5 for the toughest ones, maybe a 3 if the weather has changed trail conditions. The Cinder Hills OHV area north of town has some tougher stuff, but its on Cinders, not rock crawling. Otherwise, there are several scenic trails/roads up here: Elden Lookout Rd, Schultz Pass, Friedlein Prarie, around the Peaks, and Lockett Meadow are a few. None of those will require low range.

[mingoglia]

It's kinda disappointing that Flagstaff doesn't have tougher runs. I've been thinking about seeing what it has to offer this summer and seeing this is a bit of a disappointment. :( It truly would be the perfect summer wheelin' spot to escape the heat.

Mike

[Huck]

What the Coconino and Kaibab forest have is Forest Service Fire roads and a lot of them. I spent many years living there and guiding hunters. There are several that do provide challenges, especially when wet or even when snow covered. I've had much fun pushing snow over the hood of my '65 Gladiator lifted and on 35's.
If you have the time to go exploring, many trails and unique 4wheel spots will open themselves up to you. Sure, most all of it can be run in two high for most of the year, but I've had to haul out more than one rig that has gotten stuck trying to follow me..... including an ARB'd, twin sticked, FJ 40 Chevota.
There is so much out there, that it is tough to try to explain every difficult trail or hill side climb I've found. I've found nice stuff off of the the 231, 535, 237, 533 and plenty of unique shorter trails and climbs West of 89A working back towards Williams or Parks/Woody Mountain area. There is a ton of stuff out in Unit 9, that becomes a terrible mess, once you add H20. I've been frame rail deep in mud, more than once.
Go explore and you'll find what you are after. No real named trails, but plenty of fire roads and camp spots to play around on/with.
Good luck and remember to respect the area your playing around on.

[mingoglia]

I've spent a good amount of time in the Kaibab on our yearly bow hunts. Never taken the Jeep there but took the Rhino there the last couple of years. I haven't really found anything too challenging but it's some of the most fun I've had as the country is beutiful up there. I'm never bored anytime I'm up there.

Mike

[Mike H.]

Rhino = SJ?

Huck,
MAybe when I get a little closer to heading that way I'll get in touch with you... that be ok?
And, if I never see mud again, it'll be to soon.
Lived in eastern Canada for 31 years... moose and beaver country, which pretty much means marshland, bogs and swamps...

[Huck]

Feel free to PM me, as you get closer to heading up there.

Regarding the mud issue, there won't be much up there this time of year, unless the afternoon monsoons have hit with regularity again. Most of the goo occurs over the Fall Hunting Season when the snow and rain actually falls. It hasn't been real soupy out there for a bit, but I came into several nasty messes while scouting. One of those resulted in needed 4wd and lockers. :) They made it easy to roll through the muck. You should be good to go.

[CaptainMorgan]

UPDATE: There is a tremendous amout of mud uf in the forest right now. If mud is your thing(for some people it is), then I suggest gettin up here right after a good monsoon hits, theres mud all over right now. Some of it is DEEP mud so watch out.

[westy]

I would be hesistant to go driving alot of those forest roads when severely muddy, not for the sake of getting stuck possibly, but because the forest service is not fond of people tearing up the roads. Same goes for just after the snow melts...that is why many of the roads stay closed until they are dry.

[CaptainMorgan]

As long as you stay on designated roadways and don't trash things it's fine. A lot of the roads hold nice deep pools and a lot of them have pretty hard bases. I am not siying you should go out and balze through the froest, I am just saying it is a lot of fun to go throug a 30 mile adventure with all the mud. Use disgretion and dont tear **** up. To get through all the forest roads you need to travers some mud and water. It makes the normally boring forest roads seem a lot more interesting.

[Sedona Jeep School]

I would be hesistant to go driving alot of those forest roads when severely muddy, not for the sake of getting stuck possibly, but because the forest service is not fond of people tearing up the roads. Same goes for just after the snow melts...that is why many of the roads stay closed until they are dry.

The guideline they use around here is one inch. If your tire tread is leaving a one-inch or deeper rut, stay off. Commercially, we adhere to this very strictly. Once you get on the rim trails, it seems to be a little more relaxed.

[DUFFER]

I know this thread is old, but I just saw it. I know of one Flagstaff trail...it is in the Lake Mary area, just outside of Flag.

If you take Lake Mary Road to the "Marshall Lake" exit (its about 3/4 the way up Lower Lake Mary) you have two options. The dirt road off the side of the paved access road (the part where the road make the first 180 degree turn) is the trail. If you run it from that direction, you will pop out in the middle of nowhere in the Walnut Canyon Wilderness Preserve. Just follow the road back out to Marshall lake, then out the Lake Mary Road.

There are a lot of turns and deadend dirt roads out there. I found this trail by pure exploring. I would highly recommend a GPS unit so you can easily backtrack. There are numerous little known lakes in that back country, and vast meddows hidden among the Pines. A truely gorgeous area.

Part of the trail is only suitable for vehicles with at least 31" tires and a lift. Nothing terrible, but there are two sections that have 2-3 foot diameter rocks that must be negotiated...one section is several hundred meters long. There is no bypass.

They whole trail takes 2-4 hours, depending on how fast you drive on the smoother portions. I've been back there a few dozen times, just to hangout and explore...I've only ever seen one other vehicle out there. Maybe I should have keep it a secret... ;)

[AndyB]

Do you mean within the wilderness area? I don't think any motorized vehicles or even bicycles are supposed to be in any wilderness area.

After looking at a map, it looks like there is not a wilderness area there - at least like what I was thinking. nm

Is the trail your talking about on the far side of Marshall Lake?