Pine: New Trails in Rim Country

 Last year I had heard about a couple of upcoming trail projects in the town of Pine. Pine sits about 12 miles north of Payson, firmly in Rim Country, that's Mogollon Rim for those at home. (muggy-OWN) It seems each year there's some sort of trail improvement in the area. Last year the town loop was officially finished, which on it's own is a solid ride. Many of these improvements can be linked to the local Fire on the Rim mountain biking race, where proceeds go directly back to the local trail system. You can see the results.

One of the projects is to build a trail over the top of Strawberry Mountain. Super cool in its own right, but it has another purpose. The Fire on the Rim route currently passes through a section of private ranch land and while it's cool they offer their land access for the race, it limits how often the full race course can be ridden. This new trail will become part of the race route and replace the private property, so folks will be able to ride the race route whenever they please.

The other project was on the opposite side of town in the lower elevations. It would be a trail providing more looping options from the Pine trailhead, where the Arizona Trail, AZT, passes through.

There was a recent article published over at Singletracks.com about the upcoming projects in the area. A buddy who lives in Payson and is involved in these projects posted some recent photos from the new trails, which are currently under construction. I poked around on the area heatmaps and was able to figure out exactly where these trails were. I knew they didn't connect yet, but they seemed built out enough to warrant a trip north to see how they rode. I reached out to Anna to see if she'd be game to tag along. She was and we headed north early.

One thing I noticed on the heat map was it appeared the Strawberry Mountain trail construction may have been started at each end of the trail. One way to find out.

The first new trail: Buckshot off the old Highline alignment out of the Pine trailhead.

The new tread was easy enough to find although you could tell an 'official' trail junction had not yet been finalized, no signage yet either. Riding east, it's on your righthand side a bit over a half mile from the trailhead.

Almost instantly though, the tread is a finished product. Nice fencing installed too.

Signage was already up at this junction.

Some really interesting topography through here.

End of the line on Buckshot. This trail will eventually connect to the Highline trail near Red Rock Spring. Currently about 2 miles of new tread to explore. Photo by Anna.

We rolled back through the Pine trailhead and out to AZ87 into town. We both knew what was next: Hardscrabble Rd. It appeared we'd have to make the full climb before reaching the new trail. It started off ok, but the grade kicked up and I was off walking...then Anna joined the fun.

Climbing break. Lower the HR and have a snack. Photo by Anna.

We spotted the faint trail off on the right and a wooden sign indicated we were at the correct location.

I was leery on the trail grade before we got going after just struggling up Hardscrabble Rd. I knew we'd be climbing for a bit, let's see how this goes.

It started out great...and continued to be just that. Wonderful climbing grade.

We topped out, then after a short bit, reached the end of the line. In total, about 2 miles of new tread on this side.

Anna leads it out for the upcoming downhill.

Rim Country in all its glory. The Strawberry Mountain trail topped out just under 6800'. Photo by Anna.

We were both grinning ear-to-ear on the descent, just beware, there's one gate at the halfway point.

Nice routing and so much shade!!

We both agreed, we don't often care much for out-n-back rides, but when the return is a fun downhill rip, we'll let it slide.

Caught in the alleyway.

A few times the views really opened up.

We popped back out on Hardscrabble Rd. with renewed energy. More fast descending came on the dirt road, even passing by an OHV and motorbike. :) We reached the Pine-Strawberry trail and decided we'd give it a go to check out the opposite side of the Strawberry Mountain trail, but if our legs didn't respond, we could bail off the trail back to the car. The initial quarter mile of trail does have some chunky uphill switchbacks, but then things level out and the riding is fast and fun.

Good thing I don't have to worry about batteries with my front light. Dynamo powered!! Didn't realize it was on. Photo by Anna.

Let's keep going. Photo by Anna.

There's been a few re-routes done on this trail over the years, it rides really well now.

Still high above town even after descending over 1000'.

Friends!! Bumped into Ian and Brett here, then a few minutes later, TJ. All were doing the town loop. It was funny because they were the only three riders we saw all day and I knew all of them!! Haha.

One final boss on the Pine-Strawberry trail. Anna was really starting to feel it, so I rode ahead. I felt I had just enough left in the tank to check out the new trail.

That's the look of 'I'm done with the climbing'. I wasn't far behind that feeling as it was getting quite warm. Photo by Anna.

I reached the trailhead, checked my phone and realized I rode right by it!! Anna had caught up, but opted to hang out while I went back.

I found the new tread and it was glorious!!

It didn't take long to reach the end, just under 0.7 miles.

Once again, great routing and a fun downhill.

This trail is going to be such a fantastic addition to the Pine area trails.

Huge sweeping turns, not tight switchbacks.

I made it back to the trailhead and we popped out on the road for a fast downhill into town. While these trails don't currently connect to anything, it was worth the drive to check them out. It was a fun route and almost equalled a full loop trail ride. These trails are scheduled to be completed in the fall, so either head up now to escape the desert heat or wait until then for more looping options.

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Route Scouting: Rye to Payson

 I had some time to dig into the AZT800 route in search of a re-route between the tiny community of Rye and the the climb to Payson. Last year I had to deviate the route, adding more paved shoulder riding on busy AZ87 into Payson due to land access issues. I wasn't too keen on adding more pavement, but didn't really have time to dive into any potential re-routes. The current climbing route has been in use since the AZTR750 debuted in 2010. There really wasn't much of a reason to look for an alternate route until now.

I began poking around the area maps and the Mazatzal Wilderness to the west was just far enough away that there may be a buffer with some accessible dirt roads in there. Would any of them go through? How rideable were there? After some map study, I found what appeared to be viable option, although it would add 8 miles compared to the current route. That didn't really concern me too much, as long as the route was more rideable, then it would make sense to add it.

We'd be starting our ride just off the bottom of the image, then following the red line to Payson.

I reached out to Kara to see if she would be interested in joining along, since she just completed the 800 this past October, she had the current routing fresh in her memory bank. We'd set up a shuttle, leaving a vehicle by the new Ubuntu trail in Payson, then driving back down to Rye. We started off the Barnhardt trail access road.

Still on AZ87, passing over a flowing Rye Creek.

Starting up the hill on the current 800 route.

This is where the routes diverge. We go left at the junction.

Some fast, fun downhill miles get things rolling quick.

Passed by this water source, but doubtful it would be needed if riders topped off at Jake's Corner or the country store in Rye.

So far, the riding surface was great and the views of the Mazatzals were unmatched.

The terrain undulated, which led to faster riding.

Remnants of an old burn scar, but the area appears to be recovering nicely.

We were a bit surprised to be seeing tall pine trees already.

Kara enjoying the terrain.

The Mogollon Rim spread out in front of us.

The routes kicks up every so often, but in shorter spurts. This route really felt 'out there', quiet, only a couple of ATVs on a Sunday.

This one sums it up quite well.

I enjoyed the occasional downhill, it's not all climbing here.

FS414 finally came to an end at FS406, aka Doll Baby Rd. We turned right and immediately were met with a fairly stout climb on pavement. I had to walk a bit on the singlespeed, but Kara rode all of it.

You can see FS414 off in the distance where we just came through.

One more short climb as we near the top.

Never heard of this one.

The deer came out as we passed by the Payson Country Club.

Good sized herd, at least 20 strong just hanging out.

Obviously used to humans as they didn't scamper off as we rode by.

Arriving into Payson via Main St. Passed by a cafe & BBQ joint.

We both really enjoyed the route. Most riders should be able to pedal the entire way. I imagine it's not so great if wet, but that really goes for the entire region. If riding through at night, just be aware of the wash crossings in the dips along the route, they were a bit rocky after the recent storms. Not sure how often the route is maintained, but it appears to be regularly. This will be the new route for the 800 going forward.

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