Pass Mountain

Rode Pass Mountain today. Wow, now that is a mtb trail. Such a great challenge. Such a great adventure. Definitely not for the faint of heart. It is narrow ST throughout -- none of that double wide trail you see at times on some of the desert trails in the Phoenix area.

I rode the trail CCW today, and thus, rode up the east side and then down the west. Much of the east side is one massive rock garden. It's a high stakes game which you must take seriously. I'm not a good technical rider, but I am now better today than I was yesterday. I broke two spokes, and I happy that's the only damage done to bike or body.

In contrast much of the west side is curvy, flowy singletrack. It is a little lighthearted fun on a bike -- the polar opposite of the east side.

Did I mention GORGEOUS desert scenery? I absolutely loved the saguaro grove on the west side. Truly stunning and surreal. The views of Four Peaks on the north side were stunning too. There are beautiful desert peaks and ridges everywhere. I also saw the wild horses.

I absolutely loved this trail and the experience it envelops you in. If you don't like to dismount your bike on a ride, then don't bother with Pass Mountain. But if you're okay with dismounting, then have at it. You won't regret it, but you or your bike will likely pay some price.

Rode Pass Mountain today. Wow, now that is a mtb trail. Such a great challenge. Such a great adventure. Definitely not for the faint of heart. It is narrow ST throughout -- none of that double wide trail you see at times on some of the desert trails in the Phoenix area.

I rode the trail CCW today, and thus, rode up the east side and then down the west. Much of the east side is one massive rock garden. It's a high stakes game which you must take seriously. I'm not a good technical rider, but I am now better today than I was yesterday. I broke two spokes, and I happy that's the only damage done to bike or body.

In contrast much of the west side is curvy, flowy singletrack. It is a little lighthearted fun on a bike -- the polar opposite of the east side.

Did I mention GORGEOUS desert scenery? I absolutely loved the saguaro grove on the west side. Truly stunning and surreal. The views of Four Peaks on the north side were stunning too. There are beautiful desert peaks and ridges everywhere. I also saw the wild horses.

I absolutely loved this trail and the experience it envelops you in. If you don't like to dismount your bike on a ride, then don't bother with Pass Mountain. But if you're okay with dismounting, then have at it. You won't regret it, but you or your bike will likely pay some price.

Pass Mtn Trail - I'm giving it a five to raise the average rank because others ranked it so low. The trail that goes around the mountain and over the saddle is not for the faint of heart, but it was the best mt. bike ride of my life! This is definitely expert territory. There are lots of places to get really hurt. I walked the hardest/rockiest sections. Lots of great scenery.

Most of the commentary on this trail says to ride it clockwise. I went CCW. My intent was to start from the Cat Peaks connector and go at least to the saddle to see the view, then decide whether I'd go all the way around.

The climb up to the saddle going CCW is not fun. I rode maybe 90% of it and walked the other 10%. Some of it is completely unrideable, but it's not difficult to push the bike over any of the rocky sections. I ride on flat pedals. It will be even less fun if you have to clip in and out.

The reward comes when you get to the saddle. The views are spectacular, and the ride back down the rest of the mountain is even better. The trail has great flow for the most part, almost completely downhill with only a few short easy climbs. Once you round the north end of the mountain and head back toward Usery park it gets really fast and flowing for several miles.

Next time I go I will probably ride up to the saddle CW then ride back down CCW, missing the treacherous downhill ride south from the saddle altogether.

If you don't have great biking skills skip Pass Mtn. Trail. Find a way to hook up Moon Rocks trail with Cat Peaks and concentrate on those. No heavy climbing (well a little bit of a climb at Cat Peaks) and lots of fun flowing trail.

Parking tip: You can park on Meridian road by the trailheads for Ruidoso trail or Meridian trail, and ride those to Cat Peaks. There is no parking fee on Meridian road, and you can access all the Usery trails from there.

Not good for Mtn biking

Not good for Mtn biking

Note --- this review only applies Pass Mountain Trail at Usery Park --- Do you know how you get good judgement? Through experience.

Do you know how you get experience? Through bad judgement.

On my first ride in the Mesa area, a friend and I decided to tackle the 7.5-mile Pass Mountain trail at Usery Park. We're not rank beginners, but thankfully we ran into an expert rider on the trail who told us we were headed into terrain even more demanding than what we'd already seen.

So we turned back, but that's where the bad judgement took over. She wrecked, then I wrecked. I went over the bars, and lost a fair bit of my hide.

When they tell you Pass Mountain is for experts, believe it. It's beautiful country, however.

In a day or so, I'm going back for another ride, this time on the gentler terrain.* Review edited 11/4/2010

Note --- this review only applies Pass Mountain Trail at Usery Park --- Do you know how you get good judgement? Through experience.

Do you know how you get experience? Through bad judgement.

On my first ride in the Mesa area, a friend and I decided to tackle the 7.5-mile Pass Mountain trail at Usery Park. We're not rank beginners, but thankfully we ran into an expert rider on the trail who told us we were headed into terrain even more demanding than what we'd already seen.

So we turned back, but that's where the bad judgement took over. She wrecked, then I wrecked. I went over the bars, and lost a fair bit of my hide.

When they tell you Pass Mountain is for experts, believe it. It's beautiful country, however.

In a day or so, I'm going back for another ride, this time on the gentler terrain.* Review edited 11/4/2010

I'm new to Mtn. biking and Blevins was perfect for me, just enough to learn how to change gears, turn, find a line to ride and try not to fall off my bike or plunge into a cactus. Moonstruck was easy and fun This is a great trail for beginners.

I'm new to Mtn. biking and Blevins was perfect for me, just enough to learn how to change gears, turn, find a line to ride and try not to fall off my bike or plunge into a cactus. Moonstruck was easy and fun This is a great trail for beginners.

Parked at staging area and started with Blevins and worked our away through the numerous trail loops. Trails are very short and easy (except Pass Mountain), but can be entertaining if ridden aggressive and they have pretty cool desert scenery. Watch out for cactus on trail. Entered through enterence off of Ellsworth and it cost $6.