Trail Review: South Mountain Desert Classic Trail

Trail Review: South Mountian Desert Classic Trail -
The last time I rode this trail was about 15 years ago or better. My memory seems to minimize the difficulty of many of the trails I rode in my youth, (my 30's). Lol. I went out expecting this ride to be a breeze. Especially, compared to my recollections of riding 'International' and 'Momon trails', (which we will visit sometime in the not to distant future.).
I was a little surprised at how deep and steep some of the arroyos were, and how rough parts of the trail were. There was nothing especially technical, however There were a lot more "out of the saddle" climbs than I was expecting.
All that being said, Desert Classic never dissapoints. its a great trail with lots of terrain variation as well as cutoffs and side trails to explore. The area is beautiful and you could spend a lifetime just eploring all the trails in the South Mountain system.
Desert Classic is just that. It's a classic example of most of the trails around the Phoenix Valley. It's a very well known and favored trail. People come from all over to ride it and others on South Mountain. If you've been riding in the Valley for any length of time, you're likely to at least heard of South Montain and Deseert Classic Trail.
If you're not from here or not familiar with South Mountain, expect lots of trail traffic. This is a very popular trail, so practice proper trail edicate and keep your eyes extra peeled for other bikers or pedestrians.
You can also expect to have lots of fun and at least a few challenges of your riding abilities. There are more than a few large arroyos with steep descents and climbs to get back out. There are also alternate lines with drops on many of the steep descents. There are also lots of offshoots, so keep an eye out for trail markers to check your trajectory.
If you haven't ridden 'Desert Classic' yet, put it on your 'to do' list. This ones a must.

[@patrickgibbons8353]

You guys probably use the same camera as most people but the quality of the video is top notch, I also like the fact that you ride alot of areas and appeal to the intermediate crowd. 👍

[@azmountainbikingadventures2781]

Thank you for the comment. I primarily use GoPros for filming. It was a steep learning curve with the shooting, editing, and downloading videos to YT. There are some tricks to getting the best quality out of YT that we had to learn on our own. As to the riding. We’re pretty much old guys who love riding and aren’t out to race or do big jumps and dangerous black diamond trails . While we do take some risks, we know our limits and prefer to stay in one piece. Our goal is to cater to the casual and intermediate riders like ourselves. There’s lots of great trails out there that don’t require expert level skills.

[@manalotomanaloto]

Kudos for your trail etiquette message; so many riders are clueless. The worst are so-called school/team coaches who don't teach kids about trail etiquette.

[@mrazteacher]

You rode about a third of DC and all of Warpaint.

[@iansearles2455]

So I take it this may be a bit rough on a gravel bike with no suspension? Looking for some closer gravel rides that don't require me getting a new bike altogether lol

[@azmountainbikingadventures2781]

Thank you for the comment. There are some sections where I believe you could ride a gravel bike. We only hit two trails while we were there. You'd have to do some exploring to see whats ridable and whats not. It never hurts to ride something you think is a little beyond your abilities or bike setup. You might surprise yourself. At the very least its never a bad thing to challenge yourself. ...within reason. Be on the lookout for the drop of Havasu Part 2.

[@Rikson_27]

Where did you guys park?

[@azmountainbikingadventures2781]

We parked a the main east entrance, off of Pima Canyon Rd.

[@Rikson_27]

@@azmountainbikingadventures2781 thanks!! Ill check it out and post videos