As an Arizona local, I can say that Hawes is a miracle. Over the last 2 years, more trails have been built than i can count, with rebuilds of old traild and excelent trail maintenance happening often. Definitely a must ride if you are in the valley.
Cut my teeth out at Hawes in 2003 and have been riding there ever since. For many years right from my front door to Las Sendas fence-line was ~ 5min ride. Still ride there weekly after moving 10 miles away but thanks to Trailforks and stuff like this channel it's become a cluster at peak times. Same old story of every good trail in history, I know. Solace can be found still on weekdays, especially in the heat. Too many folks won't brave temps over 85-90 degrees. The plus side (and resultant crowding) is the fantastic trails that have been added in the last 5- 7 years. This place (including East out towards Usery) has developed exponentially, and ultimately is why folks come. A big Thank You goes out to all the trail builders for the amazing work. Options, and quality ones at that, are good. Not bashing Jeff, love your stuff. Just say'n it is what it is. I mean wouldn't we all like our own private Idaho? One can dream. Until then I'll continue to enjoy the Hawes trail system and look forward to continued expansion while simultaneously longing for a time past.
Just getting into MTB here but discovering that we live in a place with so many awesome trails and awesome people that make it happen, it's really amazing!
Hawes is truly a blessing for us locals. It has leveled up beyond SoMo in my humble opinion. Thanks for highlighting HTA and some key members of Hawesaholics.
jeff you gotta come back and ride the new and improved NRA party line (park run #4) - the HTA is adding 1/2 mile of downhill flow jumps, tables, and burms. also, boulderdash is coming soon! think of it as "sunset ridge, light".
I ride those trails all the time, 2-4 times a week depending on the season. I don’t speak for myself when I say those trails changed everything for me and I have such a deep gratitude for the HTA
Jeff, I would like to thank you for supporting / sharing my home town trails along with the HTA. The founders are absolutely incredible and appreciated very much for their hard work and efforts for all to enjoy one of the most incredible areas to mountain bike. Thanks again, Jg
Hiring a machine operator to build your trails is crucial. There’s always a place for hand built, raw trails, but when it’s time to contour in a long lasting, high traffic trail the machine builder is where it’s at! Great video! Makes me want to head down to Arizona one of these days!
Hiring the right machine operator that is also a rider is crucial. As more trails are built, the right blend of machine built along with hand crafted trail will keep things interesting. With machine built trails only, we're going to be riding different versions of the same flow trail with no character.
Great episode Jeff! I am a BeerDuro past champion. One of the coolest races I’ve done. Super low key, high vibez and I even won a king of Hawes beer bottle. Super impressed with the trail network they have built over the last 10 years. Good work guys!
As an Oklahoman. I travel to Phenox a lot. Haws and south Mtn is a blessing to have so close together. To have that elevation to work with is awesome .
I live in Tucson, and I've been driving up to ride at Hawes on the weekends. L'Alpe d' Huez is an excellent climbing trail to access the goods up top. Sunset Ridge DH is super legit awesome gnarly rocky lines. Big Sister is a great polar opposite fun flowy goodness. Finish it off with some sick jumps at the Old NRA Pit and I'm happy. I'll be making more trips soon. There's so much more! I've heard from a few locals that Iron Goat to Pure Ovaries is there favorite. My props to the HTA volunteers. You have a great trail system for the people.
Really cool to meet you at Sea Otter Jeff! HTA is on my list. I'll check it out on my way to Steamboat Springs CO next month. I hope Santa Cruz can put together a plan to make all of the underground trails legal, and more importantly, sustainable by repairing and preventing damage due to the erosion caused by high mtb (and emtb) traffic. I love the trails in SC, and introducing more professional trail builders would ensure longer lasting, and safe features. Great channel and content. Keep up the great work. I'm liking your merch too: Trail Advocate, Local Loam! Very cool. See you on the trails sometime.
So cool seeing my local trails featured! Great video and much props to the HTA. Lots of good XC trails down in the lower elevations too. Hawes has something for everyone
That's the best thing about Hawes, they have something for everyone. It doesn't matter what your skill level or style of riding. There are jumps, flow, tech whatever you are into, you can find at Hawes.
Shawn Gregory is pretty good rider as well as trail builder. He placed 3rd in the 2012 Leadville 100 with a time of 9hrs 1min in the single speed class
I also rode there back in December of 2019, it was my first Mesa/Arizona desert experience. Looks likes it’s changed a lot! I liked twisted sisters and the mine trail. Was just talking about this on Nate Hills channel.
@@JeffKendallWeed you’ve got great videos no problem. Sorry about the long flow trail I recommended you…Lol. I’m heading back to Seattle in May for work, will be heading up to Galbraith for the first time, I’m stoked!
Around here we get a lot of clashes between various types of trail users. It definitely seems to slow down or kill some of the proposed projects. Some of our coolest trail systems out here are on private property with public access.
Some points they didn’t cover but I think contributed to the speed - some of the trails were previously planned and approved and were then quickly built. Some were already social trails. Most of the area had trails already, this was a build out. The pro trail builder established the trails and volunteers finished them.
I lived in Mesa for five years, only two miles from this trail system without even knowing it was there. But I hadn't gotten back into riding yet. Now I have.. and guess what? EVERY TRAIL I LOOK UP ON TRAIL FORKS IS MARKED OFF-LIMITS TO EBIKES. This is, to be honest, complete bullshit. I'm fed up with it. It's time that we as a group stand up to the US Forest Disservice and DEMAND that Class 1 ebikes be allowed on ALL TRAILS. None of this "it's up to the land manager" crap. If mountain biking groups want my support (and I want badly to become active with many of them), they will have to do this. They/we need to be showing up in droves flat out demanding the Forest Disservice reclassify Class 1 ebikes to allow them on all trails. I have already written many letters.. to state reps, to the USFDS, to the BLM, etc, etc about this. All I get is a canned reply, and in the case of the USFDS, some rambling about how many trails are "already" open... which by my math is like 1% of existing trails. AND.. hell, I have a motorcycle to ride those trails, and that's a heck of a lot more fun on THOSE trails than on an ebike. If it seems like I'm pissed off, it's because I am.
I wish I did proper MTB when I lived in mesa... for 20 years I endured the desert but alas too many bad memories of a corrupt government and sherif posse. Ya never going back to the valley... I never want to be that person again, nor see those people again... ah but I pine for the Superstitions on a proper MTB.
That happens in lots of places! This section of the Hawes zone is non-motorized, so no moto action in there. In lots of other parts of AZ, there is some good 2 wheeled collaboration. While I wish more MTB riders would support the MTB advocacy groups, I've noticed an even lower percentage of moto folk join their local advocacy groups. Moto advocacy is even more challenging than MTB advocacy.
As an Arizona local, I can say that Hawes is a miracle. Over the last 2 years, more trails have been built than i can count, with rebuilds of old traild and excelent trail maintenance happening often. Definitely a must ride if you are in the valley.
I wish we have trails like these in the west valley.
Cut my teeth out at Hawes in 2003 and have been riding there ever since. For many years right from my front door to Las Sendas fence-line was ~ 5min ride. Still ride there weekly after moving 10 miles away but thanks to Trailforks and stuff like this channel it's become a cluster at peak times. Same old story of every good trail in history, I know. Solace can be found still on weekdays, especially in the heat. Too many folks won't brave temps over 85-90 degrees. The plus side (and resultant crowding) is the fantastic trails that have been added in the last 5- 7 years. This place (including East out towards Usery) has developed exponentially, and ultimately is why folks come. A big Thank You goes out to all the trail builders for the amazing work. Options, and quality ones at that, are good.
Not bashing Jeff, love your stuff. Just say'n it is what it is. I mean wouldn't we all like our own private Idaho? One can dream. Until then I'll continue to enjoy the Hawes trail system and look forward to continued expansion while simultaneously longing for a time past.
Just getting into MTB here but discovering that we live in a place with so many awesome trails and awesome people that make it happen, it's really amazing!
Hawes is truly a blessing for us locals. It has leveled up beyond SoMo in my humble opinion. Thanks for highlighting HTA and some key members of Hawesaholics.
Thanks for watching Joey
jeff you gotta come back and ride the new and improved NRA party line (park run #4) - the HTA is adding 1/2 mile of downhill flow jumps, tables, and burms. also, boulderdash is coming soon! think of it as "sunset ridge, light".
I ride those trails all the time, 2-4 times a week depending on the season. I don’t speak for myself when I say those trails changed everything for me and I have such a deep gratitude for the HTA
What!?! I moved from AZ in 2015 and loved riding Hawes, because nobody rode there. I don’t recognize it at all. What a change!!! Way to go HTA!
Jeff, I would like to thank you for supporting / sharing my home town trails along with the HTA. The founders are absolutely incredible and appreciated very much for their hard work and efforts for all to enjoy one of the most incredible areas to mountain bike. Thanks again, Jg
Awesome vid Jeff. Was great meeting you. Thanks for supporting HTA, Hawesaholics and the Hawes system. Oh, and thanks for the shout out!
Hahaha cheers man!
Hiring a machine operator to build your trails is crucial. There’s always a place for hand built, raw trails, but when it’s time to contour in a long lasting, high traffic trail the machine builder is where it’s at! Great video! Makes me want to head down to Arizona one of these days!
Hiring the right machine operator that is also a rider is crucial. As more trails are built, the right blend of machine built along with hand crafted trail will keep things interesting. With machine built trails only, we're going to be riding different versions of the same flow trail with no character.
Great episode Jeff! I am a BeerDuro past champion. One of the coolest races I’ve done. Super low key, high vibez and I even won a king of Hawes beer bottle. Super impressed with the trail network they have built over the last 10 years. Good work guys!
As an Oklahoman. I travel to Phenox a lot. Haws and south Mtn is a blessing to have so close together. To have that elevation to work with is awesome .
I live in Tucson, and I've been driving up to ride at Hawes on the weekends. L'Alpe d' Huez is an excellent climbing trail to access the goods up top. Sunset Ridge DH is super legit awesome gnarly rocky lines. Big Sister is a great polar opposite fun flowy goodness. Finish it off with some sick jumps at the Old NRA Pit and I'm happy. I'll be making more trips soon. There's so much more! I've heard from a few locals that Iron Goat to Pure Ovaries is there favorite. My props to the HTA volunteers. You have a great trail system for the people.
Any trails in Tucson? Or Phoenix the place to go?
ua-cam.com/video/nebVrvG0kWc/v-deo.html
@@DanielAlcon 50 year in Tucson
@@samgreene7961 going there today!
Really cool to meet you at Sea Otter Jeff! HTA is on my list. I'll check it out on my way to Steamboat Springs CO next month. I hope Santa Cruz can put together a plan to make all of the underground trails legal, and more importantly, sustainable by repairing and preventing damage due to the erosion caused by high mtb (and emtb) traffic. I love the trails in SC, and introducing more professional trail builders would ensure longer lasting, and safe features. Great channel and content. Keep up the great work. I'm liking your merch too: Trail Advocate, Local Loam! Very cool. See you on the trails sometime.
Thanks for highlighting the excellent work that Grant and others at HTA are doing for the Arizona mountain bike community.
volunteered to build some trail at Hawes when I lived in phoenix. Great trail system there!
Right on Scott!
Awesome video! Hawes is my home trail system. Thanks for making this
So cool seeing my local trails featured! Great video and much props to the HTA. Lots of good XC trails down in the lower elevations too. Hawes has something for everyone
Thanks Morgan!
That's the best thing about Hawes, they have something for everyone. It doesn't matter what your skill level or style of riding. There are jumps, flow, tech whatever you are into, you can find at Hawes.
I love hawes. I rode there almost 5 days a wk for 2 months. I’ll be back in December. Good times and I met so many cool people riding there 🤘🤘
Right on man!
Come to flagstaff!! Trails are drying up and getting good. 👍👍
See u at the sea otter classic tomorrow!! Super excited
Just donated $50
Thanks Dan!
Shawn Gregory is pretty good rider as well as trail builder.
He placed 3rd in the 2012 Leadville 100 with a time of 9hrs 1min in the single speed class
Cool video!! Love it
Just rode there tonight...i love my trails
Right on Zee!
Love this place
I also rode there back in December of 2019, it was my first Mesa/Arizona desert experience. Looks likes it’s changed a lot! I liked twisted sisters and the mine trail. Was just talking about this on Nate Hills channel.
Thanks for watching!
@@JeffKendallWeed you’ve got great videos no problem. Sorry about the long flow trail I recommended you…Lol. I’m heading back to Seattle in May for work, will be heading up to Galbraith for the first time, I’m stoked!
very nice video Jeff. All respect to people that builds trails. I volunteer when I can and it is work..😅
I just tried Hawes and it has some awesome views and trails. Sunset ridge was too much for my weak riding skills hahaha.
Jason is such a Lamb...
(great family)
man, this is so awesome! the are I live in (in Germany) unfortunately doesnt have any trail building community.
Start one up Marco! That’s all it takes.
Around here we get a lot of clashes between various types of trail users. It definitely seems to slow down or kill some of the proposed projects. Some of our coolest trail systems out here are on private property with public access.
JKW in da house!
Love these story vids
Thanks Tim! These are a TON of work, but I feel they are important!
Some points they didn’t cover but I think contributed to the speed - some of the trails were previously planned and approved and were then quickly built. Some were already social trails. Most of the area had trails already, this was a build out. The pro trail builder established the trails and volunteers finished them.
This man really loves a good manual w a go pro
If you only have one trick, be sure to do it everywhere!
Cool story. Couple of Swedish names Norberg and Stenmark. Are there a Swedish connection around the area? :)
See tomorrow at Sea Otter Classic!!!❤️❤️❤️
I’ll be there on Saturday at the Jenson USA booth for the 1pm trackstand challenge!
@@JeffKendallWeed awesome!! I was just there!! Kyle and April were awesome!!! Can’t wait to see u there and get some photos!!! 👍👍👍👍
HTA are gods among men.
I can't believe all happening on Hawes mtn
It’s a lot, but it’s definitely well needed! Was cool to learn “the story behind the story” as they say!
cool
I lived in Mesa for five years, only two miles from this trail system without even knowing it was there. But I hadn't gotten back into riding yet. Now I have.. and guess what? EVERY TRAIL I LOOK UP ON TRAIL FORKS IS MARKED OFF-LIMITS TO EBIKES. This is, to be honest, complete bullshit. I'm fed up with it. It's time that we as a group stand up to the US Forest Disservice and DEMAND that Class 1 ebikes be allowed on ALL TRAILS. None of this "it's up to the land manager" crap. If mountain biking groups want my support (and I want badly to become active with many of them), they will have to do this. They/we need to be showing up in droves flat out demanding the Forest Disservice reclassify Class 1 ebikes to allow them on all trails.
I have already written many letters.. to state reps, to the USFDS, to the BLM, etc, etc about this. All I get is a canned reply, and in the case of the USFDS, some rambling about how many trails are "already" open... which by my math is like 1% of existing trails. AND.. hell, I have a motorcycle to ride those trails, and that's a heck of a lot more fun on THOSE trails than on an ebike.
If it seems like I'm pissed off, it's because I am.
I wish I did proper MTB when I lived in mesa... for 20 years I endured the desert but alas too many bad memories of a corrupt government and sherif posse.
Ya never going back to the valley... I never want to be that person again, nor see those people again... ah but I pine for the Superstitions on a proper MTB.
The desert is a unique place for sure. Thanks Matt!
Think it’s time to divorce the “yew”. It sounds completely idiotic.
If you want fresh cut trails stop crying about dirt bikes and team up with them.
That happens in lots of places! This section of the Hawes zone is non-motorized, so no moto action in there. In lots of other parts of AZ, there is some good 2 wheeled collaboration. While I wish more MTB riders would support the MTB advocacy groups, I've noticed an even lower percentage of moto folk join their local advocacy groups. Moto advocacy is even more challenging than MTB advocacy.
Trail looks dope but watching someone who has to manual everything is a turnoff.
That corner @6:18 - normal human beings vs. JKW, lol.
Haha thanks Jason!