Arizona peace trail

[grumpy88]

A couple of us tried to run the southern loop . We traveled from Quartzite to welton/Yuma . The trail has about zero useful markers and nobody knows shit about it . In the end we had fun but what a crazy journey .

 

[paradise]

We are in the process of doin the same thing this weekend. Sitting in quartzite right now. We did about 100 miles yesterday from hidden shores to quartzite. Today we’ll go north another 20-30 miles then east and south to Salome.

Sunday we make the loop from Salome south to Yuma. Really having a good time thus far. A couple buggy issues but a quick cv swap in the hotel parking lot and we are good to go. Another car had to get welded on but they got a guy to come in from Blythe.

We’ve done a lot of riding down here so maybe that familiarity has helped us but no major issues and the maps have been good. Right on with the trails we would have taken in our known areas.

 

[paradise]

 

[grumpy88]

We are in the process of doin the same thing this weekend. Sitting in quartzite right now. We did about 100 miles yesterday from hidden shores to quartzite. Today we’ll go north another 20-30 miles then east and south to Salome.

Sunday we make the loop from Salome south to Yuma. Really having a good time thus far. A couple buggy issues but a quick cv swap in the hotel parking lot and we are good to go. Another car had to get welded on but they got a guy to come in from Blythe.

We’ve done a lot of riding down here so maybe that familiarity has helped us but no major issues and the maps have been good. Right on with the trails we would have taken in our known areas.

View attachment 634975

That is awesome. That was supposed to be our return route . We pussed out after day one did not go smooth . If your staying at the microtel hotel in Walden you will be pleasantly surprised . When we left welden we traveled 35 miles of highway . A big chunk on the 95 . We did not hit dirt trail till fishers landing . That part sucked . Glad we were Arizona plated . I strongly suggest not trying to cut through the Yuma proving grounds ! Lol . Good luck post up some more I would love to see where we went wrong . Trip from welden back to quartzite was a breeze on the return trip fyi

 

[grumpy88]

Wow that is a huge group !

 

[grumpy88]

Yuma proving grounds short cut gone wrong ! Lol

 

[paradise]

We won’t be staying in Walden we are going to loop straight down through Walden, cross over the 95 and take the back trails to Hidden shores. That sucks if you had to run up the 95 and then all the way down the road to fishers. That is a lot of pavement.

I’ll post up our track when we get back.

 

[paradise]

View attachment 634998 Yuma proving grounds short cut gone wrong ! Lol

Oh yeah, cutting through the ypg may have been a Tactical mistake lol

 

[paradise]

Blew up a power steering pulley on another car

 

[paradise]

Current status

They brought in a live band for our group lol

Beautiful sunset

 

[grumpy88]

Glad you made it . Look forward to more info and pictures

 

[paradise]

Glad you made it . Look forward to more info and pictures

We are in Salome tonight. Did 120 mi today even with the issues. The plan was close to 200mi.

Hopefully tomorrow we get the power steering pulley we need to fix the car. If not we leave it and then come back w a trailer.

 

[Bpracing1127]

I’ll be doing the entire peace trail next spring all 750 miles of it. Hoping to get a group together by then

 

[paradise]

I’ll be doing the entire peace trail next spring all 750 miles of it. Hoping to get a group together by then

Awesome. Our plan is to do the same. This is a test run to figure out if the girls want to come for the longer ride.

 

[grumpy88]

We have the same plan . The hard part is having enough space to bring stuff in a sxs. Cloths for 2 days plus gas and parts and tools I was already maxed out . 5 days and a second person would be tough .

 

[paradise]

Total ride ended up being just shy of 400 miles. Between breakdowns and just general slowness by some of the group we only got around 100 and 120 miles in the first 2 days. Third day was a little better at 180 miles. We went from hidden shores to Cibola, to Quartzite, to bouse, to midway.

The plan there was to loop up to alamo lake but we lost the power steering pulley on one of the cars. No one had a spare pulley so we ended up back tracking a little and towing the car all the way to Salome. That was some of the roughest trail on the ride and I'm still impressed they were able to drag that big car through there... In Salome we met the bartender's boyfriend who has a salvage yard. They were able to get teh correct pulley and get the car back on the road from there

After Salome, we went south to horn, to welton and kinter before looping back past Mitry lake to Hidden Shores.

We had 1 outer CV need to be repacked, 1 car had to have the front end welded back together, 1 broken power steering pulley, 2 clogged air filters causing RZRs to go into limp mode and that was it. All in all a fun trip and I think the whole group is ready for the next one!

 

[paradise]

 

[Meaney77]

Man that looks like a great time!! My buddies and I were just talking about trying to put this on the calander for next year. We were discussing it over several beers so who knows if it will happen!

 

[DLC]

That looks like a fun ride!

How did the sxs’s Do on fuel mileage? Did anyone tap into the spare fuel you brought for back up, or did your route have fuel stops...

That looks great and staying in a hotel saves on not bringing tents cots and sleeping bags, overnight gear.

 

[paradise]

The sxs all did fine with fuel. We were able to map out the fuel stops where nobody needed to tap into their reserves. We each brought 5+ gallons just in case. The only spot we were close was Salome to Welton.

Staying in the hotel it was definitely easy. We had a lot of the girls with us so that slowed things down a little bit in the mornings. We were usually rolling out of town around 9 AM ...

And we could probably do the whole loop in 3 1/2 days with no breakdowns and camping on the trail. We are thinking five days and staying in hotels when we try for the full loop

 

[Meaney77]

Curious if you saw the sample itinerary on the AZ Peace Trail website and if the itinerary is close to what actual is.

https://arizonapeacetrail.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/AZPT_5D4N_WholeTrail.pdf

 

[Bpracing1127]

My plan was to follow the itinerary posted above. I also wanted to have a chase truck with a trailer just in case. They could carry extra tools, spares, and clothes lol. The gps route for the az peace trail follows paved roads and highways For the most part.

My plan was to have a tent and sleeping bag just in case of breakdowns and we can’t make it to the hotel. Also to have enough food and drinks food this as well. Camping is tuff because of firewood needed.

Let’s get a group going and start planning a date for when to do this. My wife will not be going. 50 miles is all about she can handle lol

 

[paradise]

There are sections that are close to highways but also sections that are well away from any roads. I would say a small group is better than a big group. Too many vehicles and you won’t do the miles you need to.

The itinerary is workable, but makes for a couple long days.

 

[grumpy88]

My plan was to follow the itinerary posted above. I also wanted to have a chase truck with a trailer just in case. They could carry extra tools, spares, and clothes lol. The gps route for the az peace trail follows paved roads and highways For the most part.

My plan was to have a tent and sleeping bag just in case of breakdowns and we can’t make it to the hotel. Also to have enough food and drinks food this as well. Camping is tuff because of firewood needed.

Let’s get a group going and start planning a date for when to do this. My wife will not be going. 50 miles is all about she can handle lol

All of this was my plan too minus the chase truck . Obviously we went wrong somewhere because we spent a lot of time on pavement besides being lost .

 

[paradise]

Did you guys do

All of this was my plan too minus the chase truck . Obviously we went wrong somewhere because we spent a lot of time on pavement besides being lost .

I think the section you guys did was the most amount of pavement. There was a ton by Welton. It also sounds like you guys went up the 95 instead of going around the mountains by Mitry lake and through Hidden Shores.

Besides the area heading into Welton we spent very little time on the pavement

 

[grumpy88]

Did you guys do

I think the section you guys did was the most amount of pavement. There was a ton by Welton. It also sounds like you guys went up the 95 instead of going around the mountains by Mitry lake and through Hidden Shores.

Besides the area heading into Welton we spent very little time on the pavement

I hope what we did was wrong ! Lol still a great time . Would love to pick your brain on what we did wrong and get info on welton to Salome

 

[DLC]

I’ve been watching this and I’m interested, sounds awesome! Great time to be had, either in my jku or maybe a new to me sxs!

 

[Bpracing1127]

Dlc that would be awesome if you went!

 

[01erionracing]

I think my truck is capable for this trail and I am interested to join.

 

[Kyrem]

View attachment 635644 View attachment 635645 View attachment 635646 View attachment 635647 View attachment 635648 View attachment 635649 View attachment 635650

Is this a 3 day Loop. We are planning on our trip Dec. 11-13. Can only do 3 days. I was looking for a good 3 day itinerary. Also we are too far to drive with our own sxs, is there a good renter place? Thanks

 

[grumpy88]

Is this a 3 day Loop. We are planning on our trip Dec. 11-13. Can only do 3 days. I was looking for a good 3 day itinerary. Also we are too far to drive with our own sxs, is there a good renter place? Thanks

Depending on the weather your only option might be part of the South portion .

 

[Kyrem]

Depending on the weather your only option might be part of the South portion .

What are our obstacles to do the southern portion in 3 days? Weather? Rain? or Cold?

 

[grumpy88]

What are our obstacles to do the southern portion in 3 days? Weather? Rain? or Cold?

Definitely not snow ! Lol . Really only thing would be havasu to Yuma and straight back same route . Or Laughlin to havasu and back . Best option depending on weather is havasu to hulapi resort and back as long as no snow . Just my opinion

 

[paradise]

Is this a 3 day Loop. We are planning on our trip Dec. 11-13. Can only do 3 days. I was looking for a good 3 day itinerary. Also we are too far to drive with our own sxs, is there a good renter place? Thanks

Our trip was three days. It was Yuma to Yuma.

Not sure on rentals out here.

 

[grumpy88]

Yuma to Yuma! Lol

 

[paradise]

Yuma to Yuma! Lol

Ok

Yuma to Alamo Lake to Yuma. We are planning on stretching the legs for our trip this year.

 

[Meaney77]

Curious what is the dirt and terrain like along this? Only asking because we just returned from a week out in Park Moabi an did a few rides and all of the terrain out of Pirates Cove is dry, rocky, washboard dusty shit and its only getting worse. We made a loop out to Oatman as well and it was the same shit. I though the terrain around So Cal was bad but I was wrong!

 

[paradise]

Curious what is the dirt and terrain like along this? Only asking because we just returned from a week out in Park Moabi an did a few rides and all of the terrain out of Pirates Cove is dry, rocky, washboard dusty shit and its only getting worse. We made a loop out to Oatman as well and it was the same shit. I though the terrain around So Cal was bad but I was wrong!

Well it’s all dry and dusty. LOL it’s Arizona

Some is semi graded dirt ‘roads’ other’s is fairly technical and slow rocky terrain. I would say some areas were smoother and faster than where we normally run near Yuma.