Cottonwood: Copper Chief

 The past few weeks I've been meaning to get back north to Cottonwood to check on a newer section of the Copper Chief trail. I had noticed on Trailforks it had been extended since my last ride there a couple years ago. This is a significant project as it will eventually provide a direct singletrack link to the Mingus Black Canyon trail. Lots of trail building activity is happening now all around the Verde Valley.

Today was the day. Temps were looking just about perfect under sunny skies. I'd be on the singlespeed with my 30x22 setup, hopefully it wouldn't be too brutal as it's pretty much all uphill from the get-go.

The main trailhead along Mingus Ave. for the Blowout Wash trails.

I would immediately begin climbing along the Blowout Canyon trail.

Now on Copper Chief, this grade was a bit much early on. Time to take a quick rest break.

Somewhere in here I came upon another group of 6 riders. One fella had taken a tumble off the trail and landed in a giant Prickly Pear cactus!! Ouch!! They said they had been there for 30 minutes already trying to remove spines. Ugh. I wished them well and kept grinding.

Not only does this trail ride great, it is also routed fantastically.

The views don't suck either...the entire way.

Very small trickle of water from a nearby spring.

Humphrey's Peak and Sedona's red rocks on full display.

The climbing grade reminded me of the BCT, with less rocks.

Oooh, a bit of downhill on the way up.

The trail dipped into this lush grotto, full of big trees and shade.

I stopped to take in the scene and heard some rustling up ahead. I first thought it was another trail user, but it moved again and this time I could hear breathing. Whatever it was, it was big. Probably not a mountain lion, rather a deer. I never did get eyes on it.

The singletrack merges with this 2-track for just under 1 mile. At its end, the grade kicked up requiring a short bit of walking.

Based on Trailforks, I was guessing this would be the end of the trail on the opposite hillside.

Came across the trail builders gear.

Absolutely beautiful contouring here.

That far cut doesn't seem so high on the mountain now.

I checked Trailforks again, and I was now beyond where it had shown the trail ending. Yes!! Moar new dirt!! How far would it go?

One place it went was up, continuing to climb at the nice grade.

I didn't want it to end.

Looking back.

The Verde Valley sprawled out below.

Figured this was a good time for a PeakFinder app photo.

I was expecting to see the end after every corner I came around, but it kept going.

Trail crew stuff. Must be nearing the work site.

Crossing each drainage was a breeze.

There it is, the end of the line. For now. It was 9.7 miles from the start to here.

Trailforks screenshot, the blue circle is where the dozer was. It's not long now until it ties into the Mingus Black Canyon trail. Can't wait!!

Here is the final alignment of Copper Chief as it meets Mingus Black Canyon.

A path will cut through here.

Heading back down. I ran into the other bikers, they were still intent on reaching the dozer.

The trail can be seen on the hill behind the foreground.

Couple of rollover gates too.

I opted to add in a Blowout Canyon Loop at the end to get my ride over 20 miles.

Really glad I added it, these trails are a hoot and constructed incredibly well.

I was a tad hungry afterwards, gotta eat. Found a food truck online. Winner!!

Look them up next time you're in Cottonwood.

I can't say enough good things about this ride other than, go ride it yourself. The sooner the better. Yes, it was fairly singlespeed friendly. I don't think I walked more than a 100 feet or so. Only took a couple of rest breaks.

Route:

UPDATE: I returned to Cottonwood 7 weeks after the above ride. Kara joined as she hadn't been on Copper Chief yet. I was curious to see how much farther it went. Our other goal was to check out the other trail under construction too, Quail Springs, but I'll save that for another post. 

We got going under mostly cloudy skies and mid-60's temps. About halfway up to the crossing of FS493 I realized I didn't have my phone. Left it in the car, drat. I really wanted it as it's also my camera and we're about to ride some new stuff. I told Kara I would ride down the road to get it and catch up to her. When I reached the road, no other vehicles were parked at the crossing. I paused my ride, because I wanted a good track and decided it would be wise to drive the car back up. It was slow going in the car, but way faster than riding it.

Repositioned vehicle.

It took a couple miles to catch Kara, she was cruising.

Great routing and cool terrain.

This would make a great camp location for a longer ride.

Brief section of big trees and shade.

Taking a break and enjoying the cloud cover. Photo by Kara.

One small bush showing off its color. Photo by Kara.

Digging into the grade.

It really is a nice climbing grade, somewhere around 200' per mile.

Non-stop views too.

This time I had the 30x20 setup and didn't walk any more than with the 22t. I also felt better with the elevation. Photo by Kara.

We had now reached the point the trail ended back in February.

Must be getting near the end.

End-of-the-line...for now.

We were so close to the Black Canyon of Mingus trail, but we still couldn't see it down below. A few large switchbacks still need to be constructed in this rugged terrain. There's about a mile and half of trail remaining to be built. The goal is for construction to be completed by the end of May.

Trail flagging leads across the slope to the far rock outcropping. Spectacular.

Turnaround point. Photo by Kara.

From the Blowout Wash trailhead to the end-of-trail: 10.2 miles and a solid 2082' of gain. Photo by Kara.

Descending the big switchbacks.

One of two rollover gates near the bottom.

The purple sketched line on the bottom is the approx. addition to complete Copper Chief.

I'll say it again, get up there and ride this trail. Start early as temps increase, it's mostly downhill back to the car.