Kentucky Camp Endurance Race

Race - Nov 2, 2019

Dogs Unknown

E-Bikes Unknown

This course loops through the beautiful Gardner Canyon area just north of Sonoita, AZ and is a mix of Arizona Trail singletrack and jeep road.

This is the course for the AZ Endurance Series at Kentucky Camp. This is the longer of the two courses, the shorter one being 29 miles.

This ride is very exposed. There is water at Kentucky Camp, which is about half way through the ride, you'll pass through this area on your way out and on your way back (i.e. it is the middle of a figure-eight). It is easy to take a wrong turn on this ride, so it is highly recommended that you bring a GPS with the provided .gpx file loaded and/or use the MTB Project mobile app.

Leave the OHV staging area on Helvetia Road (231) and head south down the arroyo road towards Rosemont Junction. Warm up here for about half a mile.

The singletrack leaves the arroyo road on the left and is well-marked. Right away you start to climb. The climb takes you up and over the hill and dead ends at a jeep road. Take the road to the right. You'll hit a sharp left turn at a water tank and another section of singletrack is just on the right after the corner. This takes you down the hill to Box Canyon Road. Hang a left on Box Canyon Road. Take a right on Greaterville Road. At the top of the hill, follow the signs to Fish Canyon to the left.

When this road ends at Fish Canyon Rd take a right. Fish Canyon Road will meet up again with Greaterville Road. Take a left at the Kentucky Camp turn off, follow roads a few hundred yards down to the Kentucky Camp Cabin. There is a hose spigot where you can get water down by the cabin.

Follow the signs for the Arizona Trail, it will turn to singletrack shortly after you pass the cabin, follow the trail for less than a mile until you come to a jeep road, take a right onto the jeep road and continue on jeep road for approximately five miles at which point you'll drop down into a wide creek crossing (Cave Creek) followed by a short, steep climb back up to Gardner Canyon Road. Go right on Gardner Canyon Road.

Follow Gardner Canyon Road for about 2.5 miles, until the road ends and turns into the Link Trail, which is about half a mile of rocky, uphill singletrack that takes you up to another jeep road. Go left on the jeep road and follow it for approximately two miles. Look for an Arizona Trail sign on your left (note that you'll have passed a sign for the Arizona Trail on your right back about ½ mile, that goes south, you do not want to take that).

Follow the Arizona Trail through Kentucky Camp and back to the road just above Kentucky Camp where you turned left to get to Kentucky Camp, go left and continue on the road. There are some steep climbs and some steep descents, most of it on loose rock.

After about 37 miles of riding, you'll see a large sign on the right of the road for the AZ Trail, go right onto AZ Trail. The bottom of this singletrack is somewhat steep with loose rocks. Pick a good line and you'll make it. The singletrack continues to go up and then it drops onto a slightly technical descent with switchbacks.

Ride through the meadow at the bottom and back on to a jeep road, following it to the right. Keep an eye out for a singletrack on the left after about half a mile. When you take the singletrack it will drop you out a gate at Box Canyon Road. Go directly across the road and hop on the singletrack for your last six miles of riding. This will all look familiar as it is the same six miles you started on.