The trail follows an old railroad bed East. A short way down this trail is tha
main tourist attraction for the parking area. It is an archaeological site and
there is an information loop with signs telling about the Clovis People that
lived here twelve to fourteen thousand years earlier. This is a foot path
across the wash and not part of the bike ride. Continue East along the rail
bed. Murray springs "springs" from the ground somewhere South of this tril.
There are several spots where it may be neccesary to walk your bike across
deep gullys. The trail meets Murray Creek after 1.6 miles. This is the
junction with the trail leading South to San Pedro House or North to
Escapule Road. Stay North of the stream and make your way across a
severe gully to get on the trail heading North to Escapule trail head. You'll
cross an interesting high wooden bridge and after .4 miles there will be a
break in the fence on the right with a rocky dual track leading 1/4 mile
down hill to the Clanton Family Ranch ruins. This is an interesting historical
site, remember the OK Corral? Return to the main trail and ride 3/4 miles
North along a rocky and sandy dual track to the trail head at Escapule Road
then return to your car for a 6 1/2 mile round trip.
I road the section from the San Pedro House to Escapula Rd. Its pretty standard for the other San Pedro River trails with a mix of singletrack, double track and washes. You could put together a pretty good distance ride by combining a few of the trail section. Big downside of the trail is that it goes from open to overgrown and back pretty frequently. Watch for thorns as they seem to be everywhere. Not as good as Brown Canyon or the Perimeter trail, but better than riding on the road and a good recovery ride.
| Thank11/14/2012- On our very first trail ride today (we're beginners) we rode to Murray Springs from Sierra Vista via Escapule Rd. The only sign on Escapule is a horse/hiking sign. The 2-track from Escapule was nice with a bit of sand and rock at one point. There was a cool wood bridge to ride over near the trail junction to Murray Springs from the Riparian trail and a fat Rattlesnake sitting just off the side of the bridge. We were not expecting to see one at this time of the year. We had to walk the bikes up a small and steep cliff. The trail east from there wasn't to bad, just a few places where the trails been washed out. Once we were at the Clovis Site there was a interpretive loop that was walk only, so no bikes on that. All in all it was a good ride.
| Thank