Events/Trails Northern AZ CSC June 20th run

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

kelly saad

kelly saad

Supporting Vendor
GOLD Star
10 Year
Joined
Apr 24, 2014
Threads
92
Messages
2,881
Location
Flagstaff Arizona
This is an invitation to a series of trails we put together in 2024. I am hoping to get a crew committed for this year, although its a late notice.

Back in 2024, @TWILLY put together a nice description of this adventure here: Events/Trails - Northern AZ CSC July 20 Run - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/northern-az-csc-july-20-run.1342606/

The date would be June 20th and take up most of the morning and day. Starting at Lake Mary road and ending near Snowbowl off the 180. We changed some of the route eliminating I40 and a lengthly washboard road. Now its almost all dirt and even better!

Let me know if you would like to join us.
 
I highly recommend this run to anyone - if you want to see every landscape outside of low desert that Arizona has to offer, you can do it all in a day on this loop. Ponderosa pine forest, marshlands, the plateau of Anderson Mesa, high desert, cinder cones (and many miles of amazing cinder cones that are rarely visited) to sub alpine and the amazing and less visited side of the San Francisco peaks. Minimal pavement and a tour of of San Francisco peaks all in a day.

Camping along the way is some of the best summer climate AZ has to offer. If people knew what this route includes, there would be hundreds attending. Don’t miss it - it’s an easy and extremely scenic run you will never forget.

I plan to make a 2 night camp trip out of it and will likely take the 45 this time. Thanks for putting this together Kelly!
 
Still not sure will be able to summer up north but would up for the day trip if we do. Coming up Forest Highway 3.


peneumbra2 said:
Living here in NoAz has many rewards, most of them having to do with the backcountry around Flagstaff and the other towns.
Flagstaff itself has turned into an overgrown, second-home college city; too much traffic, too much regulation, too many trains.
On the other hand, we finally have an IN-and-OUT...
Click to expand...

You should have lived in Flagstaff in the 1970s for a sleepy little collage town. Coconino National was pretty much wide open. The Weatherford Road was still open and marked on the north half of the Coconino Forest Service map. Trains were always there. The Milton underpass and east overpass going to I-40 and the country club were the only two places didn't have to wait for a train. Fourth Street ended at Santa Fe which is now Historic Route 66. Interesting when I moved there in 1971 the Fourth Street over I-40 was already there just no road on either side. In 1976 I bought my first home on a half acre close to the skating rink for $25K. Stil regret my ex talking into moving to Phoenix.
 
peacesells63 said:
I highly recommend this run to anyone - if you want to see every landscape outside of low desert that Arizona has to offer, you can do it all in a day on this loop. Ponderosa pine forest, marshlands, the plateau of Anderson Mesa, high desert, cinder cones (and many miles of amazing cinder cones that are rarely visited) to sub alpine and the amazing and less visited side of the San Francisco peaks. Minimal pavement and a tour of of San Francisco peaks all in a day.

Camping along the way is some of the best summer climate AZ has to offer. If people knew what this route includes, there would be hundreds attending. Don’t miss it - it’s an easy and extremely scenic run you will never forget.

I plan to make a 2 night camp trip out of it and will likely take the 45 this time. Thanks for putting this together Kelly!
Click to expand...
Great description! Thanks for writing this
 
Subscribed. I’m still in the power wagon and loving it. I will respect any wishes to exclude me given the nature of the club. Sounds amazing. Arizona has so much to offer landscaper wise and I haven’t been to some of the in between areas mentioned.
 
Cactuscrzr said:
Subscribed. I’m still in the power wagon and loving it. I will respect any wishes to exclude me given the nature of the club. Sounds amazing. Arizona has so much to offer landscaper wise and I haven’t been to some of the in between areas mentioned.
Click to expand...
Don’t feel bad, I brought a friend in a Cummins last time. I’m inviting a friend with a Jeep this year, if they go nobody will even notice your power wagon 🤣
 
Living in the Past said:
Still not sure will be able to summer up north but would up for the day trip if we do. Coming up Forest Highway 3.




You should have lived in Flagstaff in the 1970s for a sleepy little collage town. Coconino National was pretty much wide open. The Weatherford Road was still open and marked on the north half of the Coconino Forest Service map. Trains were always there. The Milton underpass and east overpass going to I-40 and the country club were the only two places didn't have to wait for a train. Fourth Street ended at Santa Fe which is now Historic Route 66. Interesting when I moved there in 1971 the Fourth Street over I-40 was already there just no road on either side. In 1976 I bought my first home on a half acre close to the skating rink for $25K. Stil regret my ex talking into moving to Phoenix.
Click to expand...
I DID live in Flag in the '70s. Remember Shakey Drake's?
 
peneumbra2 said:
I DID live in Flag in the '70s. Remember Shakey Drake's?
Click to expand...

Yes I remember Shakey Drake's. Only there a few times. Guessing 73/74. Was not a topless bar at the time. Wet Tee Shirt contest on weekends. Was in Phoenix when the bothers had all the legal problems. Was one of these prominent families I remember in Flagstaff. Parents had dairy farm that made the money used by the sons to open Shakey Drake's and Granny's Closet. They had it made. Guess thought because of the family name and money they were above the law. Feds came down on them hard for selling cocaine.
 
kelly saad said:
This is an invitation to a series of trails we put together in 2024. I am hoping to get a crew committed for this year, although its a late notice.

Back in 2024, @TWILLY put together a nice description of this adventure here: Events/Trails - Northern AZ CSC July 20 Run - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/northern-az-csc-july-20-run.1342606/

The date would be June 20th and take up most of the morning and day. Starting at Lake Mary road and ending near Snowbowl off the 180. We changed some of the route eliminating I40 and a lengthly washboard road. Now its almost all dirt and even better!

Let me know if you would like to join us.
Click to expand...
Yes.
 
Is this a single day run? Obvious over night camping would not be two days in the same spot. Few more details please. Unfortunately would be coming from the valley. Which over look pull out is the starting point. One on the north or the smaller one on the south? Same time as the link. I know there a main road just south of the south pull out that heads up to Anderson Mesa.
 
Last edited:
I haven't confirmed the starting point yet but it will be on Lake Mary road between JW Powell and Mormon Lake. I am trying to incorporate more "off road" type sections so we have a little excitement along the way. This change is only the beginning of the run, the remaining 3/4 is the same as 2024 or close to it. Once we determine the exact roads, I will post the location here.

Meet time 8:00 am

It is a single day run but camping is optional at the end. In 2024 some camped after the run. We will end behind the peaks at the 180, so there are plenty of options for camping there. If we have enough people wanting to camp, I can locate a nice location where we could all gather and camp together.
 
Today, in the rain with mud, 2 of us did some scouting to locate and test drive the potential trails I had picked out for the June 20th run. I wanted to change the beginning of this route to include some exciting trails, not just dirt roads. We loved it and will move forward with this plan. One section ascending is somewhat technical with large rocks. I had a 100 with 2" lift and Tracy in a stock height 80. I never scraped my sliders or bumpers, and did not need my lockers, so most vehicles will be fine.

Starting point is Marshall Lake Road. This is 10.4 miles down Lake Mary Road from Circle K at the 17 and 40 intersection. At 8:00 AM we will all gather at this location Google Maps - https://maps.app.goo.gl/aBybKogNPrFXgGv18

Any questions, PM me or ask on this thread.

Pictures from today.


IMG_2854 3.webp
IMG_2848 2.webp
IMG_2837.webp
IMG_2833.webp
 
Just got off the phone with @kelly saad and here's the OnX (.gpx) and Google Maps (.kml) route for tomorrow's June 20th 2026 NAZ Land Cruiser Club trip.

The route starts at the Marshall Lake parking lot at the end of the first switchback (35°05'20.68"N 111°31'53.21"W) and loops around Anderson Mesa and the Cinder Hills and the north side of the Peaks and then comes back in to Sechrist Elementary (35°13'21.59"N 111°39'14.94"W) and ends there.

The plan is to start at 8am and Kelly and I figure it will take until about 2 pm with stops and lunch included. They did it last weekend and nobody needed lockers, although there is a little section below Marshall Lake that will require some crawling but nothing overly technical. We'll show everyone a meet up spot if people are not interested in doing that section.

### Update #### - There are three options to bail along the way, if anyone's interested - 1) I-40, 2) Leupp Rd, and/or 3) When we hit Hwy 89 ###

See you all in the morning
-Bi0m3trics

GPX viewer
 

Attachments

You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom