Well I have been around a few forums, and read a lot here. Just trying to get as much information as I can.

I have purchased a '01 Sport XS and while I don't have a lot of time and money. I was looking for somewhere fun, yet safe to get a little dirt under my wheels.

By safe I mean somewhere I can have fun and not worry about getting stuck or breaking my rig, since if I do go I will have my 4 yr with me, or only a small window to go since he will be in Pre-K.

I live out in Far East Mesa. (Read as almost AJ).

Thanks in advance!

Find a Wide World of Maps store and pick up one or more of the available AZ trail guides. They tell you where and how to go, as well as how difficult the trails are. There are too many to list out your way.

John B.

Go to the Mesa ranger station
Mesa Ranger District
5140 E. Ingram St.
Mesa, Arizona 85205
(480) 610-3300

It's near Falcon Field in east Mesa, There you can get free passes for the trails in east Mesa/Apache Jct as well as maps. Try out Bulldog canyon for a quick, easy, scenic 4 wheeling. You can do it from the salt river to north apache jct or shorter easier runs between the river and Usery pass.
Then there's the Rolls recreation area near Saguaro lake, free access no passes but get a map at the ranger station because route finding has gotten complex out there with all the ATV/SXS/dirtbikers making tons of new trails everywhere. The Rolls is pretty easy but can get off camber and tippy easily because the hills are rutted out so badly.
The road over 4 peaks to Roosevelt lake is easy when there's no snow and it's not too far north of town.

Pickup a wellsguide everything from easy to hard for the whole state. Promack Treasure Hunting in apache junction is a dealer for the books if you don't wanna order it online.

http://www.funtreks.com/index.php?option...&Itemid=375

Montana Mountain trail is fun and relatively easy. You exit the US-60 to the north right where the old railroad tracks cross the road just east of Florence Junction.

The Charles Wells guide tends to lean towards harder trails. I really like Backcountry Adventures Arizona, by Peter Massey and Jeanne Wilson. The edition I have is nearly 1000 pages and includes info not just about trails, but history, plants, animals, geology/geography and tons of pictures. I've purchased the same authors' book for Colorado, too, and while it wasn't as extensive, it was also quite useful.

John B.

BTW, welcome to the wire. I'm south of AJ in San Tan Valley. Your best bet is probably to get a book like suggested just to help from getting lost and what not. Don't travel alone though. It's hot and a break down, or getting stuck in a remote area would suck pretty bad.