On this Easter morning, after going to a sunrise service near Usery Mountain Park, I took the mountain bike out (at long last) just to ride for a while. On the way back from the service, we had passed the new Desert Trails Mountain Bike Park at McDowell and Recker (NE corner). So I decided to pedal out.
What a wonderful morning: clear and 85 degrees, mountains in the distance, some wind out of the south, but not overwhelming. I rode out on the route to Granite Reef Dam (Mesa Canals 7) to where the canal crosses the Salt River Sand and Gravel road (which becomes Thomas Road). It's probably good to ride this on a day when there's no business traffic. At Higley, I turned south, then went around past the Longbow Golf Course to Recker, then south on Recker to the park.
It's a decently-designed park, with a 3/4 mile perimeter trail, plus a number of BMX-style courses (some, suitable for kids). There are apparently some trails over the hill: the east side is for climbing, and the west side is for descending (apparently with one-way traffic). I just tried the perimeter trails. The only possible problem I see is that two of the downhill trails empty into the perimeter trail on the west side. But it's very scenic, and it's great that the city has designed this relatively pristine parcel so well.
Waaay back in Mesa Canals 4, I rode the Eastern Canal from where it crosses Gilbert Road to where it crosses University Avenue. At the time, I was interested in distance, but when I rode it yesterday, I discovered a little nugget, on the west bank of the canal south of 8th Street/Adobe. Easily reachable from the canal path, just north of an apartment complex is a small park, with synthetic climbing rocks. It's just big enough for smaller folks, and not too hard to climb (unless you're wearing cleated shoes). Right, see my detail map to the park in Google earth, and, below, a picture of the climbing rocks themselves. Kudos to the city for this park!
