Planning to take my girls camping over the weekend. Bring the bikes if we can find the right trails. 6 year old will be on a trailer bike w me, 10 on a 24", and 14 on a 29". Looking for an easy trail, hopefully with a cool pay off along the way. 5-10 miles round trip. Not a lot of climbing so it is more fun and less work for the 10 year old.
Any advice for stuff in Prescott, Payson/Pine or above would be great.
If you can get just up on the rim the Carr Lake trails are a little easier than the stuff right around town, although some of them get a bit rocky. The forest road through the camping area and some of the others offer some nice views from the top of the rim.
Aspen Trail #411
Trail #412
And if you just want gorgeous views off the rim, the Rim Lakes Vista Trail is paved path right along the edge. The biggest challenge is paying attention and dodging hikers (more like wanderers).
This might be too tame for you, but I suggest the Peavine-Iron King rail trail in Prescott as a good place to start for bikepacking with kids for the first time. Lots of kid friendly payoffs for very little effort. I recently took my 13 yo grandson on a couple of day and night rides through there and he loved it. You can camp at the Watson Lake campground, but be advised it fills up quickly. In the early morning you can see pronghorn, deer, ducks, geese, hawks, and eagles. In the evening, I almost always see rattlers and king snakes. Lots of cool rock formations for the kids to scramble on. Night riding can add an element of "adventure." The trail is rather busy, especially on a weekend, so this is not a wilderness experience. Zero climbing, but there are connector trails with moderate climbs. If this is too tame, you might also check out Granite Basin, which has a mix of very easy and moderately techy singletrack as well as camping. The backroads above Goldwater lake may have something for you, too. Payson/Pine is a pretty area, but I've never ridden there. Have fun!
We went to Prescott and took Velo's advice. Peavine rails to trails and the riparian/west side off the lake were great for the kids. We then camped at Yavapai CG, and found a fun trail to Granite Basin pond. I ended up shuttling the kids a bit. They had a blast. Cool area.
So Carr Lake is West of Woods Canyon off of Rim Road? Lake seems small and dry for the map. Is there a developed Camp Ground around there, or do you just stay at Bear or Woods?
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