For our last ride in Arizona we headed back to South Mountain to tackle the infamous Holbert trail and the more well-known Corona De Loma trail. As luck would have it, Jeff Lenosky the “Trail Boss” was shooting his own video that day and we spent the morning leap frogging each other down the mountain.
It is easy to see why Holbert is labeled a double black diamond trail on Trailforks. The rock tech combined with the exposure was absolutely no joke, and had us getting off the bike to session a few sections. If you are an advanced to expert level rider I highly recommend checking it out.
Corona De Loma was also fun, but certainly nowhere near the same difficulty level. Be aware there is a 200 ft technical climb to get to the actual downhill. Once at the top the descent starts with a little exposure followed by some annoying tight switchbacks before the real fun begins.
Click below for Jeff Lenosky’s Holbert Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbkUEDd4_dE
Route Details
We started our ride at the Pima Canyon lot and took the National Trail about six miles past the Buena Vista overlook until we hit Holbert. The trail head is located on the other side of South TV Rd.
The start is relatively mellow for .3 miles until you cross Buena Vista Road. From there you will shoot down and be greeted with a small climb before you get to the actual downhill. The next 2 miles is absolutely serious and definitely expert level only.
Once you past the huge water tank you will exit on to an access road. In 200ft look for the Holbert trailhead on your right. This last section is relatively flat and easy compared to everything you just did. It will eventually dump you out at the Holbert Parking lot.
We then took the Box Canyon trail to Las Lomitas until we ended up on South Central Ave. The Ranger trail is only a few 100 ft down on the left. Rather than climbing Ranger to the top, which looks steep and technical, we opted to exit onto Summit Rd and climbed that instead. When you near the top make a right on to Buena Vista Rd and follow that to the overlook. By entering the National Trail here Corona De Loma is only about a mile away.
Corona De Loma starts with a punchy climb followed by a short downhill to a sandy pit. Once you pass that there is a 200 ft technical climb to get to the proper downhill portion. The downhill section has a little exposure at the start followed by some annoying tight switchbacks before the real fun begins.
At the bottom we used Corona Connector to link to Secret, and finished on Desert Classic to get us back to the Pima Canyon lot. In total our ride ended up being about 22 miles and 3500 ft. If want to follow the route we took, check out my Strava or Trailforks links below.
Trail Details & Additional Info
Pima Canyon Parking Lot:
4500 E Pima Canyon Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85044
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/6789922974
Trailforks: https://www.trailforks.com/ridelog/view/35826269/
Featured riders: Dan @the_ride_abides, Jeff @jefflenosky, Brian @azrealestatetrader
Footage notes: All footage was taken at South Mountain Park & Preserve in Phoenix, Arizona. Thumbnail photo provided by Brian Trader
Featured Bike: Ibis Mojo 3
https://www.ibiscycles.com/bikes/past-models/mojo-3
If you need a good bike shop, I highly recommend Action Ride Shop
1316 S Gilbert Rd Ste D1, Mesa, AZ 85204
https://www.actionrideshop.com/
If you like what you see, or have some feedback/questions feel free to contact me. If you enjoyed the content and you want to see more check out my other pages on Trail Sage.
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