Starting
just north of Wickenburg, the drive starts in a desert setting
and quickly climbs the side of a mountain to enter pine
country. Goes through Prescott
and ends in Cottonwood
with the option to continue to Flagstaff
on another of the states great scenic roads. Bring water
and a camera ... the views from Jerome
are SPECTACULAR!
Photo contributed by visitor in Mar 10: "This picture is from the southbound route on 89 between Yarnell and Wickenburg. This is a pullout just meant for photos."
Motorcycle
Road Quality:
Road
can become steep at certain times and very twisty ... you
may have to take breaks to allow your brakes to cool (depending
on your speed). The road is very smooth overall. I suggest
motorcycles use headlights accordingly as people speeding
and "racing" through the canyons can become dangerous.
Motorcycle
Roadside Amenities:
On certain days you can find an arts
festival in Prescott which can be interesting if that's
your thing. Gas stations are plentiful and can be found
in Wickenburg, Prescott or Cottonwood. You'll drive through
the Prescott
National Forest where you can find about 10 campgrounds,
numerous pic-nic areas, and places to fish and hike.
Directions:
From
Phoenix follow US-60 to Wickenburg
where I suggest you start your drive. At first Wickenburg
light turn north onto state route 93. Drive 7 miles until
the junction for 89 and travel north. Follow into Prescott
and turn onto E. Gurley and follow 89 five miles out of
Prescott, then turn east on 89A. You'll pass through Jerome.
Once you have entered Cottonwood you may either continue
your trip through Sedona or follow the signs to I-17 via
state route 260.
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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t. carl seals - 2006 Triumph
This user rated the route: 8 out of 10
Posted 138 days ago
Beautiful, multi-season ride. Careful of the hairpins on Mingus Mountain (between Prescott and Jerome), they cinder and grade during the snowy season. Leaves cinders and deep washboard ruts in the corners. Watch your speed! Back tires get away from you here.
The farther north you go, the better the roads get.
After passing through Wilhoit, on the way to Prescott, take the speed advisory signs seriously. While the roads are in good shape and will hold a lot more speed, there's little to no runoff. Crashes are easily fatal. Besides, if you are completely focused on the road, you'll miss a lot of terrific scenery.
Be prepared for a lot of traffic in Sedona. The roads in the town are not nearly adequate for the amount of traffic. Particularly on weekends, and weekday afternoons, you might move through town at no more than 5 mph.
The road into, and out of Jerome, was made for motorcycling!
Hi!! I just wanted to also let any other interested person(s) know that we did this ride this past weekend, and had a BLAST!! This ride has become a tradition for our friends who we went with instead of going to the Harley Run in Laughlin, and me & my husbands very first time. The scenery through the canyon & the fun twisty roads was so much fun!!
