Photo contributed by visitor in Jun 09 - "This was from the shoulder of the road on 89A looking down into Oak Creek Canyon's Slide Rock. Beautiful stuff--too much to capture all of it."
Motorcycle
Road Scenery:
This
certainly has to be considered one of the BEST routes in
Arizona as well as the entire western half of the US!!!
The scenery is unbelievable ... world class! You start out
up in the lush rugged forests of Flagstaff and work your
way down (in direction (south) and in altitude) to the canyon
and rock formation surrounded town of Sedona, AZ. You will
be driving through what is known as the Old
Creek Canyon on road 89A (also known as "Oak Creek Canyon
Drive"). The higher regions of the canyon display forests
full of Aspens, Oaks and Maples. If you go in the October/November
time frame, you might be lucky enough to see the Aspens
and Oaks in their full fall glory. Not long after you leave
Flagstaff and head south, you'll soon have chances to peer
over a magnificent huge cliff overlook that will give you
a great view of the stunningly beautiful canyon you are
about to dive into. You then quickly descend down into the
canyon and get an up close look at some postcard perfect
rock formations and beautiful landscapes made up of various
different color rock walls. The plant life changes now to
pines, scrub oaks and different types of cactus as the climate
in the bottom of the canyon dries and warms up. In the canyon
you'll be able to see (and hike through) some amazing red
rock canyons and rock formations. There are a lot of beautiful
canyon runs in the US but this one stands out because of
its diversity of landscape in just 30 short miles ... keep
in mind, if you want to see more, you can just continue
to head south down to
Prescott, AZ.
Motorcycle
Road Quality:
This
road can have some awesome switch backs and steep ascents/descents.
I would consider it a perfect five star road quality, except
for the fact that it can be crowded at certain times of
the year and it requires motorcyclists to be extra careful
considering that all the car drivers are dividing their
attention between the road and the scenery. So I gave it
four stars taking that into account.
Motorcycle
Roadside Amenities:
I
gave it five stars here because you've got both the nature
stuff to do and the city attractions. There is a lot of
stuff to do along this short 30 mile route if you like hiking,
swimming, camping, fishing or just picnicking. When you
start out in Flagstaff,
AZ, the town has plenty of places to eat, sleep and
gas-up. Along the way, there are plenty of trail heads that
will take you deeper into the canyon .. bring your hiking
boots. One thing you need to check out if your up for some
real fun is the "Slide
Rock State Park." This is God's version of a
waterslide. People can slide down this rock bottom creek
in jeans (or shorts if you are daring) and end up dropping
off in to a natural pool. And you can get some swimming
in at the "Grasshopper Swim Area" ... its a bunch
of little creek pools where people can swim or just wade
in. Also the road ends in Sedona,
AZ, which is an outstanding art town. You can walk around
passing through all the art, craft and gift shops.
And there is no shortage of restaurants or hotels.
Also, if you head south of town, you can check out the "Chapel
of the Holy Cross" ... a church that includes a
90 foot cross that seems to shoot right out of the red rocks.
Directions:
Directions
to this road are simple. Just take 89A south out of Flagstaff,
AZ toward Sedona. Then enjoy the awesome ride!!!
Do you have any pictures of this area? Contribute a photo and show other riders what they’ll see along the way.
Have you ever filmed video along this ride or in the area? Contribute the video and show riders what the area looks like.
Comments page 1 of 0
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Perrones - 2003 Suzuki
Posted 46 days ago
In May 2009 I rode 89A for the first time. I found it to be one of the nicest motorcycle roads I have been on, but too short. Yes, there is traffic, so avoid the weekends. Make Sedona your staging area and go on day rides to the many side trips. There is lots to see with in a 30 mile radius.
I am going to ride this road for only the second time in my life on 05-12-2009, the first time was on a 1968 Honda 305 scrambler in 1977 at the age of 22. The road was not very heavily traveled back then so now I will have to pay some attention to that because of the previous comment, it just might distract from enjoying the beauty of this roads scenery.
This user rated the route: 9 out of 10
Posted 6 days ago
Hey. I'm Mark and I've lived in Phoenix for the last 30 years. Moved here from MN right after graduating from high school. I'd driven down 89A from Flag about that many years ago and decided on my day off this last Friday to take a spin north. My wife wasn't going to be home until after 6pm and I had all day to get there. I headed up I-17 north out of Phoenix around 10am and the temp was already up to 98 degrees. With a forecast high of 106 later that afternoon, I knew the temps up towards Flagstaff were 20-25 degrees cooler than the valley (not bad for a 2 hour drive, eh?). About 80 or 90 miles out, take 179 north through beautiful (and RED) Sedona, up into the mountains past Oak Creek, and into the heavy ponderosa pine forests of Flagstaff, AZ. I stayed on 89A north and turned onto 487 which heads south out of Flagstaff past Lower and Upper Lake Mary (don't ask me why they named the upper part of the lake "Lower" and the lower part of the lake "Upper"--OK I know why but you know what I mean). After dropping below Lake Mary, Mormon Lake (or at least the 'ghost' of Mormon Lake) appears up ahead of you through the occasional breaks in the tree-lined highway. I'd camped up here but never been up this way on my ride. Traveling further south I drove through Happy Jack (a ranger station--population: 2) and south to Clints Well and the 87 junction. From there I headed south on 87 thru some of the most stunning forest riding there is. Further south I ran into highway 260 and headed west to Camp Verde and onto I-17 where I finished the ride back in north Phoenix. A must if you live in AZ and own a bike. Cheers.
This is an alright ride, It is pretty but it is also busy, there is a lot of traffic with people who do not see motorcycles, you have to be extremely defensive when you are driving here. I didn't enjoy the ride as much because I was more stressed than having fun because of the many cars on the road.
The road was not very heavily traveled back then so now I will have to pay some attention to that because of the previous comment, it just might distract from enjoying the beauty of this roads scenery.