Riding in Arizona and New Mexico

[Uncle Phil]

As I am looking forward to future rides, I've got a question for folks who live in Arizona and New Mexico.
Does it make sense to 'base' out of a particular city (or cities) to ride the good roads for each state?
Obviously the answer for Arizona and for New Mexico I would think are two different locations.
I've not ridden a lot in those states and would really like to do that.
What times of the year are best for riding?
Like I tell people, don't come to ride in Tennessee in July or August unlike you to sweat a lot from the high humidity.
Not something that I will probably do this year, but possible next year and the year beyond.

 

[Mark]

PHX is okay for some rides.
PHX, Yarnell, Prescott, Strawberry, Payson, PHX.
PHX, Superior, Winkleman, Globe, PHX.
PHX, Globe, Safford, Hannigan's Meadow, Showlow, PHX.

After that you move to another area.

Weather: Do you like cold, warm, or hot?
Wolf Pass (Hwy 191, Hannigan's Meadow area) is about 9600ft. Chilly right now.
The rest of those routes are good Autumn, Winter, Spring. Summer? You'll need a MiraCool Vest; but, I enjoy them.

The Mogollon Rim is high and chilly in Winter, nice in summer.
Southeast lots of rolling hills, apple orchards, Tombstone, Bisbee.
Southwest: only in late fall, winter, early spring, it can be hot and humid.

Any place special you're interested in?

 

[Uncle Phil]

Mark - No, just sort of 'scoping' it out. I've done the 'Grand Canyon' thing multiple times (and I remember when we did it together with a bunch of other folks when we were both a lot younger! ), so the middle and south part of Arizona is what interests me.
I ain't a big fan of heat and humidity, as I'd rather be cool than hot!
When it's cool I can always put more stuff on - when it's hot - there's only just so much I can take off before people start fainting.

 

[Bush]

Tombstone is definitely worth a visit. I've found that anywhere down there in mid summer is HOT!

 

[catcher]

Interesting concept Uncle, I just bought a NuCamp Avia yesterday, and hope to do some snowbird type stuff next winter. Tow vehicle will be my Transit, with a bike in the back. Maybe I'll pick you up on my way south!

 

[bigbikerrick]

I would recommend the Tucson area as a "base". Spring time and the fall is best as far as weather. say march -may, and sept. - nov. Lots of great riding destinations in southern arizona, and not as crowded or as hot as the Phoenix area. All of southern New Mexico is fantastic for riding. I recommend the area around Silver City, and the Roadknown as HWY 1919( formerly 666 or the devil's highway) between southern arizona and new mexico is an awesome road if you like twisties.
Rick.

 

[bigbikerrick]

I meant to say HWY 191 not 1919. Sorry.
Rick.

 

[Uncle Phil]

I want to definitely stay south of I40 as I have ridden a lot north of it.

 

[JEST]

Historic U.S. Highway 80 Across Arizona!

U.S. Route 80 was designated an Historic Arizona Road in 2018. Wanda and I decided to document a ride on Historic U.S. Route 80 across Arizona, East to West.

forums.bmwmoa.org

!

Just read the above ride report today and let me suggest 89A thru Sedona ($$$$), Jerome (neat place) and Prescott (we stayed @ Hotel St Michael).
Thanks for the hug!

 

[Mellow]

New Mexico-The Gila Nat'l Forest is great and hwy 191 of course.

 

[ArTravlR]

Cloverleaf or Zig Zag out of Alamogordo, Silver City, Sierra Vista and Alpine. Food, do try the gas station pot roast burritos. Do not miss SR15 to Gila or Emory Pass.

 

[dwalby]

Just read the above ride report today and let me suggest 89A thru Sedona ($$$$),

make sure to avoid Sedona on weekends, the traffic is a mess.

 

[heffly]

Fall is the best time imo. The spring is really nice but can also be very windy. Summer is hot. Fall will give you cooler weather the problem is elevation as you know it cools down alot. I dont know if the balloon fiesta in Albuquerque will be happening with covid but its pretty unique experience. imo i would pic a base in the middle of each state southern half, Las Cruces and Tucson. You can day ride alot of things from those cities.

 

[Uncle Phil]

Keep 'em coming, I feel a great ride coming on!

 

[Grabcon]

Uncle Phil. My wife and I full-time RV and since Dec. 7th 2020 we have been in AZ, based out of Congress, AZ. There are some great roads here. Use the Butler maps for each state. Dec of 2019 and Jan of 2020 we were here in Arizona different locations. Think if you are here for the roads you will need to find several central locations throughout the state. Arizona is a big state so I think having 3 maybe 4 locations to work out of would be good. There are a lot of ghost towns and mining towns or they could be the same that are interesting. I find mining equipment very interesting as well as ghost towns..

Like any state you have to ride to get to the good roads. Working out of Congress this year we are a few miles from White Spar hwy (Hwy 89) which goes to and fro from Yarnell, then you can fo to Prescott and on to Jerome which is a ghost town, kind of. Or you can work your way to Hw y 97 and go by Bagdad to Kirkland and then Skull Valley and then too Prescott. South from Congress you can go to Vulture mine and Vulture mine Rd. Now with this said, there is no place to say in Congress unless you have an RV or do BLM land. I am sure Yarnell and Prescott have places. I am going to guess and say you don't want to be here after April until late September.

Other interesting places we like are Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, you can camp there but the roads to get there are boring. Bisbee is an interesting place but again getting there well, look at Butler. And as others have mention Hwy 191 (The Coronado Trail), Clifton is there and the Morenci Copper mine still in operation. And the areas east and northeast of Mesa.

At the end of the day what do you want to do and then make the plan.

 

[ArTravlR]

Visit the free UFO Museum in Roswell. It's been there a long time and it's interesting and worth a stop on a hot day. Trinity Site may be open the first weekend in October, pending Covid issues. Lots to look at there and it is perfectly safe. just don't pick up anything glowing in the dark. Good and inexpensive camping east of Stallion Gate at the Valley of Fires Rec Area, shower, etc. Then, there's Pie Town, New Mexico. Should be on your route with a planned stop for coffee and pie.

 

[jrp]

This thread is right on time - I plan on heading down to NM/AZ early spring.

 

[LAron]

Chaco Canyon is a must. It is a nasty washboard road but worth it. A visit to Zuni is worth it. Shop at the coop and All Tribes. I agree with planning several bases of operation particularly in Arizona as there is a lot to see and a lot of ground to be covered. Both states are non helmet law for adults and when it gets real hot, consider riding without a helmet.

 

[Uncle Phil]

Visit the free UFO Museum in Roswell. It's been there a long time and it's interesting and worth a stop on a hot day.

Yes, I've done the Area 51/Rachel ride on the Extraterrestrial Highway so a stop by Roswell would be interesting.
No camping for me as the shoulders are shot and getting way up and down is a rather painful process.

 

[Mellow]

Also, if in New Mexico, the VLA (Very Large Array) and White Sands Missle Range are good stops. Not really a great ride but interesting stops. The missle range takes a while as the run your identity before allowing you to go in.