Trans Arizona Off Road Adventure Route (aka Ride Across Arizona)
Download the current Ride Across Arizona Touring Edition route HERE.
The 616 mile Ride Across Arizona is a cross-state adventure ride that we documented in 2020. The route is made up of non-technical dirt, gravel and forest service roads with less than 20% of the route being pavement. The western end starts on the Colorado River at the California/Arizona border from the historic river settlement of Topock and finishes at the New Mexico border near the remote outpost of Blue Arizona. By the time you arrive at the finish you’ll have crossed deserts, windswept mesas and several mountain ranges. Unless you plan otherwise no one will be there to greet you at the finish, but there is a very cool handmade Welcome to New Mexico sign at the border. There is 60,000 feet of elevation gain! The low elevation is 473 feet at the start at Topock on the Colorado River while the highest elevation is 9579 feet near Big Lake 50 miles from the finish.
The Ride Across Arizona traverses through a cross-section of Arizona defined by spectacular scenery, a variety of landscapes, historic towns and remote wilderness. You’ll ride along the Colorado Plateau, the Mogollon Rim, San Francisco Peaks, White Mountains and Blue Primitive Area not to mention riding remote sections of the National Old Road Trail and Route 66. There are numerous campgrounds along the way and hotels can be found along the route at Bagdad, Seligman, Williams, Flagstaff and Show Low. The finish is in the beautiful Town of Alpine which has numerous places to stay.
Since 2021 my wife and I have made this a yearly ritual where we start at sunrise (6:00am) from Topock on the Cali border on the first Monday in May and ride non-stop until we reach the New Mexico border near Blue Arizona. This seems to be the best time of the year to ride. The temps are not to bad in the deserts and generally the forest service roads and campgrounds are open the 1st of May for the start of the summer season.
RIDERS THAT HAVE COMPLETED RAAZ
