4 Great Arizona Mountain Bike Rides

If you're visiting Arizona and you love mountain biking, consider yourself lucky: No matter when you visit, you're sure to find somewhere to ride. When it's blazing hot in Phoenix, you can head to the northern part of the state for cool weather. When winter covers northern Arizona in a blanket of snow, you can enjoy perfect conditions in the desert portions of the state.

Here's a guide to great rides around Arizona, along with the info about when to go, local shops and more.

Flagstaff
If I'm headed to Flagstaff, I'm starting my ride at the Schultz Creek trailhead . From there, you can construct a ride to suit your technical skills and abilities. You can head directly up Schultz Creek and connect to shady-but-steep bits such as the Brookbank and Sunset trails. There are all sorts of ways to connect to other nearby favorites like the Oldham loops and the Rocky Ridge Trail.

Great Local Shop: Absolute Bikes
Refuel at: The Black Bean (burritos)
Caffeinate at: Late for the Train

Sedona
My favorite starting place is near Bell Rock . Bike & Bean, which offers everything from rentals to new bikes to espresso shots, is right near the trailhead. Bell Rock is easy for the newer riders. But the stronger, more skilled riders can use it as an easy warmup and head north into more technical areas such as Chicken Point, Casner Canyon and Submarine Rock. The real epic riders can easily reach Soldier Pass, too.

Great Local Shop: Bike & Bean
Stay at: The bike-friendly Red Agave
Caffeinate at: Bike & Bean

Phoenix
I'm an unabashed fan of McDowell Mountain Regional Park . It has an embarrassment of riches for mountain bikers: the fast, rocky, winding Competitive Track with its 15 miles of trails; the 16-mile, blazing-fast Pemberton Trail; offshoots like the Coachwhip and Dixie Mine trails; at least three downhill connector trails to shorten the Pemberton; and a pump track to develop your bike-handling skills. It costs $6 per car to enter - and you'll be blown away by the bargain. Word is there are even more trails on the way, including a still-in-the-works flow trail (described as a bobsled trail for bikes). There are also campgrounds for RVs and tents for an additional cost.

Great Local Shop: Slippery Pig Too
Refuel at: Redendo's (pizza & calzones)

Tucson
Local hammerheads will verbally abuse me for making Fantasy Island my top pick. Yes, there are more scenic and gnarly rides around. But Fantasy Island is the trail equivalent of a David Lee Roth-era Van Halen album - relentless fun, a party for all: It's a huge cloverleaf of trails looping in on themselves. You can ride for an hour or four - it's all up to you. These trails are mind-bogglingly fast and include some fun stuff: trailside decorations and one place with a tunnel going under another segment of the trail. COOL! Also, it butts up against the back end of the AMARC airplane graveyard, so you'll often notice the trails of derelict aircraft in the distance.

Great Local Shop: Fairwheel Bikes
Refuel at: Time Market Deli & Pizza