Having only a few hours to head out on a ride, I decided to explore the area around Horseshoe Lake.  As is usually the case in Arizona, the name is somewhat deceptive as there is very little water in the lake.  But the surrounding area does offer a good range of terrain, from rough single track to twisty hard pack. 

From Phoenix, it's a relatively short ride to Bartlett Reservoir Road. Once you reach Camp Creek, you get off the pavement and head north into the hills.  The first part of the trail is a stretch of deep sandy washes (not big bike friendly), but it soon turns to some great single track with a ton of whoops and berms.  Now that the weather is starting to break, I'll be exploring this area quite a bit in the coming months.

Shown below are a few images from the ride. 

Perfect day for riding	Horseshoe lake is just over the ridge	Looking back at the valley of the sun	Exploring some great desert trails	The trail is lined with whoops and curves

This guy didn't mind the bike one bit	Stopping for some shade near the "lake"