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I know it’s a dry heat in AZ, but probably best not to sit in the sun too long anyway. 

While getting ready to head out of AZ I found a mention on the internet of a motorcycle rally being held at Mormon Lake, AZ, not too far out of Flagstaff.  Seemed like I would be delinquent in my travel duties to not attend an event with a name like “Too Broke for Sturgis”.  Great marketing on their part, at least conjuring up the name of Stugis the granddaddy of motorcycle rallies.  I guess it would be similar to having an event like “New Years Eve in Teterboro, NJ”, just like Times Square without the crowds and fanfare.  Not throwing stones at this event, I love the name. 

Mormon Lake is about 40 minutes outside of Flagstaff and the roads are excellent, so it was a good ride.  Only problem was that although there is typically a lot of dispersed camping in the area, it was mostly all shut down due to the really dry conditions.  How dry is it?   Well the needle on the forest fire probability chart is on Extreme.  In some parts of the state it’s actually illegal to smoke outside right now.  Lastly, it’s so dry that Mormon Lake should be called Mormon Meadows, since it’s bone dry.  So instead of camping in the wild, I chose the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Flagstaff for a couple of nights.  By the way, it’s not so much being cheap all the time while I’m traveling, but anyone can find a campsite that you pay for.  I’m still finding some adventure in looking for free spots no matter how unglamorous they might seem. 

If you’re going to the Too Broke for Sturgis rally, it’s really inexpensive.  Once you pay a per head charge, if you just have a motorcycle and a tent, it covers admission and the camping spot.  If you have a camper, trailer and bike like I do the price goes up a bit but it’s still reasonable.  So you get to camp for three nights, there are plenty of portable johns and shower facilities for about $80.00 and that’s for two.  Plus they have a movie on Thursday night, live bands both Friday and Saturday nights included in the price.  If that’s not enough to entice you economy minded folks, there is a area set up inside this event that gives away free breakfast to all the campers.  Not like cereal and a bun, they make blueberry pancakes, breakfast tacos and a few other hot selections and all the coffee you can swill.  It’s run by the Christian motorcycle riders.  I talked with these folks for a while and they said they give away about 380 meals each morning.

This rally is more of a hang out for the weekend kind of thing.  Lots of tents and groupings of people that seem to be huddled together in tribes, so I’m sure there are mostly AZ locals here.  This isn’t an event that you would travel far to come to in my humble opinion.  At 11:00AM I saw a good amount of people hanging outside their tents and already drinking beer and a few sipping some liquor from bottles and the local bar had a special featuring Bloody Marys starting at 8:00AM.  The crowd also seemed to have a good amount of Vets in attendance and my guess would be they were mostly from the Vietnam era of service. 

Then there was this guy that had a handle of Fireball Whisky hooked onto his belt walking around.  He seemed very popular. 

Saturday is the big day here which starts out with a poker run.  This is where you need to ride to five different locations on a map, get a marker at each designated spot and get back to the camp by 3:00PM to hand in your cards and see if you won anything.  It’s about three hours of riding, but in a beautiful area.  The rest of the day there is a bike show for anyone interested in showing off their bike, a mustache & beard contest, bike riding games, a steak dinner for $12.00 at 5:00PM if you want, wet T-shirt contest and then music by a cover band playing mostly tunes from last century.  Other events over the weekend are a tattoo contest, more games not involving a motorcycle and the Ms. Too Broke contest to crown a queen for this 2018 event.  Now there’s something every girl wants on their resume.  All in all great fun. 

If you’re not staying here and just coming for the day, the only draw back is that most everyone here is camping and brings their own food and beverage.  Plus if they’re, like the sign says Too Broke for Sturgis, that doesn’t entice a lot of vendors.  So although there is a small bar and a general store, there were only three other food vendors on site, with two of those being an ice cream stand and a smoothie stand.  So options were limited for eating inside the rally.  Also if you’re going to shop for biker gear or clothes, this place is also not a great option with the selection being very limited.

All that being said, there were a lot of happy looking bikers at this place having a good time.  They kind of reminded me of some of the Motel 6 crowd I’ve encountered over the years.  Economy minded, not looking for a lot of frills and no telling when someone is going to break out a boom box, a cooler full of beer and a party is going to break out in the parking lot. 

Sturgis it’s not, but if you’re looking for a fun, dusty, drinking, hanging out weekend in AZ in June, this place will fit that bill.  No need to bring your swim suits, as this is what Mormon Lake looks like now a days because of the drought.

Campers:  there are a few good spots to disperse camp in the area, but as mentioned it’s been so dry for so long the chance of a fire is extremely high.  In efforts to curb that possibility most all of these areas are closed right now.  The one or two that seemed to be open had some pretty rugged roads.  Not a problem if you have a sturdy car or truck, but I’m towing a motorcycle and don’t want to take the chance of it shaking loose on the trailer and falling.  Only option I found in Flagstaff was the Cracker Barrel and the road across from it next to the highway. 

Bikers:  Nice riding all around the Flagstaff area.  Lake Mary Rd, that brings you out to Mormon Lake was a nice ride and you are close enough to take a few hour round trip ride down 89 to Sedona.  If you’re in the area and up for a lost weekend of hanging out with a bunch of the biking community, this will work.

Travel Well:  This excursion I checked off “Go where the locals go” and “Take time to wander and explore”.