Ride to Tortilla Flats

The following ride is an excerpt from my book “25 Greatest Southwest Motorcycle Rides” and can be found in its entirety (and much more) in the book. Check out my web site at www.southwestmotorcyclerides.com for the whole story. Right now it is just so hot I suggest you do this ride at night. Yes, Virginia, motorcycles do run at night, that is why they have the headlight. Night is much cooler and some of my best rides have been night rides. Try it, you might just like it. Here is the ride.
The ride from Mesa (or Phoenix metro area) to Canyon Lake and Tortilla Flat is one of my all time favorite day rides. When I can’t ride a long day or only have a few hours, this is often where I go. The reason is simple: great country, fabulous views, all two lane winding paved road, and great food at the end of the run at Tortilla Flat. Let me tell you about Tortilla Flat, population 6-8. (It varies some.) (They now have a web site. It is http://www.tortillaflataz.com. It has a U.S. Post Office, an ice cream shop, and a souvenir store and bar/restaurant. The restaurant has great burgers and killer hot chili, and sometimes has live bands in the winter when the tourists are thick.
The place is a tourist trap, but fun. But I am getting ahead of myself. The ride.
The ride is as nice a shorter day ride as you will find. It cuts through some fantastic desert and mountain scenery that is outstanding. There are some great photo ops of Four Peaks to the northeast, Canyon Lake and the surrounding country. You start in Mesa by getting on US Hwy 60 east to exit 196, which is Idaho Road. Take this north back over the freeway for not quite 3 miles and then turn right on Hwy 88. Hwy 88 is also known as the “Apache Trail” see http://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/apache_trail/index.html and be sure to click on the “11 views of the Apache Trail”. This will take you all the way to Canyon Lake and Tortilla Flat, about 20 miles of great curvy paved road. Be sure to stop at the paved rest area above the lake. This a great place to take pictures and stretch your legs. From the rest stop you wind down to the lake. Be careful as you get down to the lake, as there are two one lane bridges, and yes, they are one lane bridges. Only one side can go at a time. Also, on the road out be careful in the turns. It is very twisty and some cars forget which side they are supposed to drive on at times. An important word here about best times to go. Try to go in the middle of the week or at least not on Sundays, unless you go early. The weekends can see huge amounts of gawking tourists competing with you for the road. Summer time and the crowds disappear, why? Well, because it is very hot! Best seasons are Spring, Fall, and Winter. This is still desert.
When you get to Tortilla Flat, about two miles beyond the marina at Canyon Lake, you will see that the road goes on past Tortilla Flat. One catch here is sometimes in the spring there is heavy run off in the creek just beyond Tortilla. If the paved wash is running water, Tortilla may be your turn around spot. You judge, except I have gone down on a bike in a slippery paved crossing before and I don’t care to do it again. Very embarrassing, not to mention wet!
If you do go on, there is some great riding on this road for another 4 miles or so, then the road turns into dirt, and I do mean dirt. This is the turn around point for most motorcyclists. Stop and take some pictures, you won’t be sorry.
For the very brave, you can go on past the pavement ending. This road continues through some awesome country, but it is only traveled on motorcycle with great care! In several miles you come to Fish Creek, and there are only words like “wow” and “gee” that can capture this scenic beauty of high rock cliffs and canyon. Point that browser to http://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/fish_creek/canyon.html and again, be sure to look at the “11 views of Fish Creek”. If you continue on another 22 or so miles, you will eventually come out at Theodore Roosevelt Lake and the dam. http://www.usbr.gov/cdams/dams/theodoreroosevelt.html From there it is a scenic ride south on what is now PAVED Hwy 88, about 30 miles into the Globe, AZ area. Just about 3 miles south on this road you will come to the turnoff for Tonto National Monument and some good Indian ruins that are only a short walk up a trail. If the day is nice, you might want to do this. http://www.nps.gov/tont/ and http://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/tonto/national_monument.html From here, you can catch US Route 60 back on into the Phoenix area.
A couple of other comments here. As you are going out on Hwy 88, about 4 miles down the road from Idaho Rd. is Goldfield. http://www.goldfieldghosttown.com Goldfield is, or was exactly that, a goldfield years ago. Today it is another tourist trap, but there is a decent saloon named the Mammoth Saloon, that serves good cold beer. And I might add, there are TWO buffalo heads in the saloon! A rare find! One is a regular brown buff head, and the other is a white buffalo head—not sure if it is real or dyed, but very cool! You can also take Jeep tours of the Superstition area from here as well. In addition, this is where the Lost Dutchman Goldmine museum is located. www.superstitionmountainmuseum.org/ . Just up the road is the Lost Dutchman State park. http://www.pr.state.az.us/parkhtml/dutchman.html . This park has some very good camping and great views, but preferably in the spring, fall, and winter. Summer can be blistering. In winter it may be hard to find a camp space as the “snowbirds” flock down here by the droves. 3.4 miles past the old Goldfield town as you start this run, is a natural rock sculpture way back off to your left. It is very clearly a man leading a camel! Known as the “wise man and camel” you have to have sharp eyes to see it, but once you do, it is clear as a bell (better seen coming back from the lake).
If you are only in the Phoenix metro area for a few days and want to ride there are a number of places that will rent you a motorcycle. (See the chapter on The Valuable Sources for More Information.) Tortilla Flat is one great ride and will still allow you time back in town depending on how you or the missus lollygag.

For the map for this ride start here at MapQuest. Just double click on the following web address and as long as you are already online, you should be directed to the map showing an area map pertinent to the Tortilla Flat ride. You can then zoom in or zoom out for more/less detail on this map. Try it, it’s fun, and will give you the map you need.

Note: You will always want to click on “Big Map” which is on the upper right hand corner of the initial map to get your proper starting map!