We’re going to add a new ride this season- Sonoita to Parker Canyon Lake.
The ride begins in Sonoita on highway 83, which seems like little more than a paved farm road, with a divided center line and good pavement. The road has a very mild uphill grade as it heads east through open plains and scattered housing and a few local vineyards. The road jaunts back and forth, taking right angle turns to the south and east several times in succession, trading cholla cactus for pinon-juniper woodlands. The road begins to narrow at this point and traffic is very limited. The center line disappears and roadway turns into a snaking country road with roller after roller.
The road dips into a floodplain area with large cottonwoods and running water- there may even be cattle on the road at this point- a large ranch is nearby. As you ride out of the canyon you pass “Cowboy Church” an old dilapidated and tiny place or worship perched on a hillside. The road continues to rise until you are upon a ridge. This ridge continues for approximately 8 miles and from the roadway that tops the ridge you can see deep into the valley below. Farm houses, cottonwoods, and steep canyon walls are in view. Finally, you skirt back off the ridge and into large ponderosa pine trees as you pass a stone ranch house and livestock pens built with old mesquite posts.
The pavement is bumpy and the road narrow as you begin your final ascent to Parker Canyon Lake. After a few switchbacks, the road dives down briefly into an open meadow with a log farm house to the left before heading back up via switchbacks and cresting a ridge with a view of the lake below and a few boats in the marina. There are numerous bathrooms here, a small store open Friday through Sunday, and water is available to fill bottles if needed. A couple picnic tables sit at the water’s edge and one can walk out on the dock. The lake is small, but in dry Arizona it is a virtual oasis and the water is a unique sight to behold. The ride back is beautiful and downhill almost the entire way- dropping just over 1,000 feet.