A Cornucopia of Radness

Over the past few months I've done a series of rides in the Sunflower area. It's such a beautiful region and after discovering a loop using FS191 it reminded me to ask the Tonto National Forest about another trail I had seen on the topo maps nearby. Trail #86, the Cornucopia trail is not in Wilderness, but the Tonto's website was listing it as closed to bikes. I had inquired about this a couple of years ago, but never received a reply. I sent another email in early January and wouldn't you know, I got a reply a couple days later. Much to my surprise, I was informed the website had incorrect information published and the Cornucopia trail was indeed OPEN for bikes!! Guess where my next ride was going to be?

Mike W. was game and we hatched a more ambitious plan, just in case I was feeling up to it. I was also in the midst of battling a nasty sinus infection and over the years I've found a good remedy was to ride the snot out of my head. So, we met at the Deer Creek trailhead and dropped a vehicle there, just in case we wanted to climb FS201 a second time for a descent down the Goldridge trail after completing our Cornucopia exploration. Then, again the Cornucopia trail conditions were unknown and it could be a total junkshow. One way to find out!!

Fun section of FS201. Can you see Mike?

Our desintation: Mt. Peeley trailhead, the start of the Cornucopia trail.

A little bit of down on the way up.

I had to walk some of the steeper pitches, but I was still truckin'. Photo by Mike.

Up top, back in the land of the tall pines.

To our surprise, we were greeted with a snowy track on the north facing slopes.

Amazing views of the majestic Mazatzal Mtns.

I took a very cautious approach. I didn't need another silly wreck this year.

The sunny sections were clear and jaw dropping scenery abounds.

A look to the north reveals the Mogollon Rim on the horizon.

A rapid descent brought us to the Mt. Peeley trailhead.

A few cached water jugs with some fancy labeling.

First time seeing this particular AZT sign.

The start of the Cornucopia trail. Looks promising. 1/2 mile to the AZT.

The trail corridor was clear of protruding vegetation.

So far, we were loving it. Photo by Mike.

AZT junction. 2 1/2 new AZT miles for me.

Mike posing with his Transition near the halfway point of the entire AZT.

Lots of peaks visible to the south.

The trail remained clear, devoid of rocks, for now.

We went on the hunt for Thicket spring...

One minute later, we found it flowing cold & clear.

Very informative signage at trail junctions.

We were never really too far from the Wilderness boundary.

The trail surface reminded us of Prescott.

One of two down trees. This one a bit difficult to ride over.

There would be many water crossings on the way down. Photo by Mike.

Moist.

Mike's turn to play in the water.

260 trail junction.

 The Cornucopia trail dumped us onto FS25A. The singletrack was over, but what a fun, wide open 3 mile rip down the mountain. We were both equally surprised at the quality of trail. Not technical at all, only one section of loose rock, but all rideable.

This decaying ice cream truck? probably has a few good stories to share.

Cozy interior.

This is Arizona, might as well shoot it.

West Fork Sycamore Creek.

We would now be on FS25A for a few miles.

 We rounded a corner and found a large group of 4x4s enjoying a picnic in the road. I think we startled them by riding in from the deadend side of FS25A. They were stunned when we told them where we rode from.

The jeep road was rugged in sections and crossed the creek a bunch of times.

Short singletrack area.

Mike approves.

Well contoured jeep road? What a concept!!

This looks promising...

Duck!! Photo by Mike.

Much of FS25A was like this, but there were a few bouldery dismounts near the creek crossings.

Beautiful red striated rocks.

Another ambitious 4x4 driver.

Another chunky creek crossing. Photo by Mike.

One final short climb out of the creek basin.

More well contoured riding.

Mike flies down the final bit of FS25A, where it meets FS25 to the left. The road to the right is also FS25, but leads to the Wilderness boundary at Mormon Grove trailhead.

New signage at the FS25 junction.

Interesting parcel with some history.

 Instead of staying on FS25 back up a short climb to FS201, I had found a 2-track on satellite that would essentially cut the corner back to the car...

The ride wouldn't be complete without a rubbly hike-a-bike!! It looked good on satellite!!

One final hurdle, a military crawl under a barbed wire fence. Perhaps we should've just rode back to FS201!! Haha.

One final look back to where we came down.

I was fairly whooped, so we opted to skip the second climb up FS201 to Goldridge. Next time, Mike. Instead we made our way over to Jake's Corner for a burger & brew. We're not always dumb.

Great post ride vibe.

The Cornucopia Loop was a resounding success!! It will definitely be added to the rotation of rides in the area. Maybe next time I'll ride it in reverse to see how it climbs.

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