For the best possible ride experience I wanted to get set up with quality mountain bike rentals and expert recommendations of where to ride. This would be my wife's first time out on the singletrack and I wanted her to be confident with the bike, trails and riding conditions while still being challenged making it a positive experience for her. Annemarie and the rest of the staff at Arizona Outback Adventures made this all possible.
There were several locations nearby to ride with varying terrain and technical difficulty so the AOA staff consulted us and helped select the appropriate trails to match our riding criteria. Coming from Minnesota, I didn't want to do a lot of difficult rapid elevation climbs and because my wife would be riding with me also, advanced technical trails would not be a good choice either. We wanted to ride through the desert, take in the spectacular scenery and be challenged while still having some elevation gain and fast downhills. The AOA staff recommended McDowell Mountain Regional Park which includes the Pemberton Trail and many connecting trails and washes in the area. Then they supplied us with maps, quality well maintained mountain bikes (Giant XTC 29'er w/ front suspension) for the type of terrain we would be riding, and a bike rack to get them there since it would be about a 40 minute drive to reach the park.
Arizona Outback Adventures' staff had provided the perfect recommendation of where to ride. The Pemberton Trail was exactly what we were looking for in our first mountain biking adventure in the desert.
If you plan on visiting the Phoenix/Scottsdale area and want to get in some great mountain biking, I highly recommend Arizona Outback Adventures. The bike rentals, consultation and experienced staff recommendations were all top-notch.