San Pedro and the Gila Monster

Route number- 365
Route name- San Pedro and the Gila Monster (Florence start)
Distance (km)- 250
Shape- loop
Reversible?- N
Free-route?- no
Climbing (ft)- 5400
Location- starts/ends in Florence, AZ
Dates available- 01/01-12/31
Contact- Paul Layton
Fee- $5
Date approved- 2008/01/08
Last reviewed- 2009/10/06
Description- A tour of the Gila, San Pedro river valleys via Catalina, Superior and Oracle
Organizer's URL- http://randocommute.blogspot.com/

San Pedro and the Gila Monster starts out on Florence,  or if you prefer the Tucson start it starts in the town of Catalina at the Circle K.   I will discuss the route starting from Florence but if you start from Tucson you should just reverse it.

First thing out of Florence you start the long climb up the Pinal Parkway past Tom Mix monument and on to Catalina.  The hills is over 30 miles so it is gradual but still enough to slow you a bit.  A few miles from Oracle Jct.  you will get a few miles of hill before you do a short out and back to Catalina to get a stamp.  From there you will come back and then go up a stairstepper hill up to Oracle and then the beautiful 7% descent for 10 miles into Mammoth.   From Mammoth you will pedal through the San Pedro river valley down to Winkelman after which you will go to Kearny and then you will get to hit a hill which has several 10%+ grades.  Once you are over that hill all the other hills are cake.  You can refuel in Superior and then ride down to Florence Jct and back to Florence.  The route is a little over 150 miles long and has everything from desert to river valley grassland and farm country to the craggy rocky climbs by the mines.   It has 6-7000 feet of climbing and is a good ride with great scenery.



Here is a write up of my first ride of this route