Malpais Trail

Dogs Unknown

E-Bikes Unknown

The San Tan Mountain Regional Park description of the trail follows: "Pronounced [mahl-pah-ees], this trail invigorates the mind and stimulates the heart through an awe-inspiring experience along the base of the Malpais Hills. The trail connects to two different points along the San Tan Trail in the southwest are of the park."

This is the worst trail in the park for mountain bikes, over 50% of it goes through deep sandy washes that are impossible to ride through. It will piss you off because you can see it is all desert on both sides and someone could have easily made a trail go just above the wash, but they didn't. Actually they just pounded trail marking signs through the wash, and it is a good thing because you would have no idea where you were otherwise.

Pros:
-Arguably the most scenic trail as you are next to the Malpais foothills.
-There are parts that are not in a wash that are on par for the trails in this area.
-You probably won't see anyone, one of the lowest traffic areas of the park - which is good because you can shout swear words as you are hiking your bike.

Cons:
-Hiking your bike miles through a gravel pit.
-You'll exhaust your four letter word vocabulary, which may be a pro because you might come up with some new words.

AVOID THIS TRAIL!! Only ride it until you start getting into the sandy/gravely areas, then turn around and get out of there. You'll miss out on some scenery but you'll not hate yourself for going through that mess. Rumor is they may put a biker friendly path down there one day.