Mesa Canals 9: A Nice Mountain Bike Route

Here's a route that inadvertently connects to some of the Mesa Canals entries, and also passes the Lehi monument (First in the Mesa Canals series).  I'd just planned to ride out past the monument today, which meant riding out the Eastern Canal (Mesa Canals 2) to McDowell Road, where I doglegged north to Lehi Road.  Ride Lehi as soon as you can, because the orange groves are quickly disappearing into subdivisions.  I predict that by this time next year, the road will be wider, and these subdivisions will be much more developed.  On Lehi Road halfway between McDowell and Val Vista Roads is the "bridge to nowhere" over the North Loop 202 (actually, it crosses to an orange grove)--it achieved a dubious notoriety when the North Loop 202 opened several years ago.  This road is also the Lehi Trail to the monument beside the Salt River bed.

Cross the bridge, and turn right onto the dirt section beside the bridge that is marked as the Lehi Trail.  Watch out for the ruts on the left!  Also watch out for the horse gate through the fence.  The dirt trail parallels the river, with great views of Four Peaks, the Superstitions, and the McDowells, besides Red Mountain (for my money, one of the most scenic trails in town for mountain bikes).

Continue past the monument to where Val Vista Road crosses the freeway.  There is no official public gate to the road at Val Vista, but if the horse stable gate to Val Vista is open, a bicyclist can put his or her bike through the bar fence that borders the stable drive, and just ride up Val Vista.  Cross the bridge and turn on the road Lehi becomes (Thomas Road).  You'll see a "No Outlet" sign.  Where the road ends, the access road for the Southern Canal begins (see Mesa Canals 7).  Just go west on the Southern Canal right of way, until you get to McDowell.

You'll notice the small blip at Val Vista.  I hadn't decided to turn on Thomas road until about 200 yards up Val Vista.  Again, this is an easy ride, and very scenic.