Recently, I've been looking at major trail rides for next year. Two great long distance trails I've been thinking about riding are the Arizona Trail (AZT) and the American Discovery Trail (ADT).

The AZT runs 800 miles across Arizona from the Mexican border (Coronado National Monument) to the Utah state line North of the Grand Canyon. The ADT runs 6,800 miles from California to Delaware. Both trails are meant primarily for hikers but are open to cyclists for much of their routes. Although both contain sections that are rideable by road bikes, long distances riders would be better off riding suspended mountain bikes on either trail.

I've contacted folks familiar with these trails for ride recommendations. Thus far, riding North on the AZT from the Mogollon Rim to Flagstaff looks intriguing. On the ADT, I'm thinking of riding the North Route West from Chicago into Iowa, dropping down into Missouri to catch the KATY Trail back to St. Louis, crossing the Chain of Rocks bridge into Illinois & riding Amtrak back to New Orleans.

Naturally, the ride on the AZT is longer but both rides would require careful planning. About the only section where the routing is sketchy is from Southern Iowa to either Kansas City or Sedalia (the closest point on the KATY to the ADT). Let's see if Caryn Giarratano (the Missouri Bike/Ped Coordinator) has any ideas.

By the way, thank you Tom Neenan for the 30 years you've devoted to seeing through so many rail trails in Iowa. Tom offered some advice on how to connect from the Northern to the Southern Tier of the ADT in Iowa & Missouri.

Other related links:
- AZT Mountain Bike Route Ground Truthing by Scott Morris and Lee Blackwell
- Descriptions of Mountain Bike Trail Rides in Eastern Arizona
- MountainBikeAZ.com's Trail Reviews
- Rene Hokan's MTB Trail Reviews (focused on Arizona's White Mtns)
- Arizona's White Mountains Loop Trail System
- The Tonto Forest's Cabin Loop Trail System

Larry