Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Arizona, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
We stayed at the Tucson KOA and you can ride out the back of the KOA and get on the trail. About the middle of the trail. First day we headed west for 7 miles. The trail flows into the Santa Cruz Trail so you could go a long way if wanted. It’s ok. Has two kind of confusing street crossings. Not particularly scenic. 2nd day went east for 10 miles where Julian wash flows into another section of the loop. This was a workout ride. You don’t realize it but it is a slight steady uphill and we had a good headwind. So a workout! No shade and not particularly scenic.
My only complaint is that they ripped up the pavement on some sections and never repaved it! I also want to share that on this canal, just south of the Riparian park (on Guadalupe) you will see electric lines and a sidewalk going east/west. This is a great trail to use in conjunction with this canal trail. This trail runs from power road way out to Tempe. Some parts are dirt but most are paved. This electric line trail will take you right to downtown Gilbert
There’s lots of street crossings, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. You just have to keep your eyes open. Maybe half of the trail was smooth between compacted dirt and concrete. The rest was fairly rough and gravely. Highly recommend it.
Beautiful path and very, very clean. Completed entire path from south to north and back again and my only suggestion is to add a crosswalk crossing N 100th St to and from Horizon Park at the north end. This will keep cyclists and pedestrians much safer. Otherwise, I felt extremely safe the rest of the way. Loved it!
Started out at Hohokam Park and went five miles on it up and back. There are street crossings, but there are red light pushbutton traffic stops so the street can be crossed with little interruption. Only issue I have is lack of benches.
I started the trail at Riverview Park, near the Spring Training home of the Cubs. I rode west for over 10 miles, through Tempe, past views of the Sky Harbor, to the trail terminus in Phoenix. Then turned back, crossed the spectacular pedestrian bridge, and rode the north trail segment, before heading back to Riverview Park.
The trail is clean, well maintained, marked, lit in sections for nighttime riding, scenic in many spots, and overall a great PHX cycling experience. Strongly recommend, and can't wait to do again, and/or take the connection to the longer trail that runs all the way to Scottsdale for a full day in the saddle.
Take the right fork to continue onto Iron King Trail.
After reading the reviews for this trail, we were surprised at the very lose gravel (?) and excessive mud. We were riding on a warm (mid-50s) day following a snowfall the week prior. The first 3.5 miles from the trailhead off of Prescott Lake parkway offered interesting views and geological features. The next 2 miles was in an area being developed for homes. Nothing special despite the signage talking about the loss of prairie habitat. We should have taken the left fork onto Iron King Trail.
This is a very smooth trail, but way to many road crossings. In some sections, about .4 miles apart. We biked about 25 miles today, and averaged about 8 mph. Sadly, seems like all trails in Mesa are similar to this.
The sections that have been completed are nice and smooth. Older sections rough and cracked.
Started at Thornydale and rode NE. As others have noted, the trail climbs very gradually going NE which makes the return ride easy. Did 5 miles out and 5 miles back. Scenery is pretty with mountains in the distance. Saw a few other cyclists on the trail and a couple people walking dogs. Drove down from Phoenix to ride this trail and will definitely ride this trail again; will also explore the rest of the Loop.
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