St. George/Hurricane UT Trail Advice

[Ladd Jasper]

Hey Guys,

Managed to swing a four day weekend coming up and want to put it to good use. Thought I'd head up I-15 and see what southern Utah has to offer.

Plan so far is to hit Bootleg Canyon (outside Las Vegas) Friday, Gooseberry Mesa Saturday, and Little Creek Mountain Sunday. These are all new trails to me.

Monday is still up in the air. Looking for a line on other trails in the St. George vicinity (1-1 1/2 hr travel) that I shouldn't miss. Can juggle the itinerary a little so my drive home is as short as possible, but ultimately I'm just looking to get the most bang for the buck. Four day weekends are just too damn rare.

Heading out solo, so any insight, details, recommendations would be much
appreciated. Thanks.

[dstepper]

Very nice. Here is a web site for you to check out.

http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/

I have been so wanting to take a ride out there. Check out the Jem Trail and one that is on the top of my list Thunder Mountain in Bryce Canyon.

[jfromlv]

If you can find a way to get shuttled, do Flying Monkey, killer trail that you'll never forget. There's a little bike shop just before you head into Zion park (from the Hurricane side), they'll point you in the right direction.

[CalEpic]

For Bootleg check out www.bootlegcanyon.org trail map.

The shuttle service is only on the weekends but there's great riding there without a shuttle too.

The loops I usually do are:

Mother - Caldera - Up Boyscout - Down Skyline - Down East Leg (cut out Caldera if you don't want that much mileage)

or

Up West Leg - Caldera - Boy Scout - Down East Leg. This route is shorter but West Leg and East Leg have enough tech to keep you on your toes.

I rarely wear my armor on these XC trails but be warned - If you go down you will be donating skin. Sharp gnarly rocks everywhere.

The locals in Vegas are very cool and I usually ride with them when I'm out there. Post on the mtbr Nevada forum when you head out if you want guides. Friday may be a work day for most though.

I'm out that way for work fairly often. pm your dates and let's see if we can hook up for a ride when you're out there.

C

[TURNERob]

You lucky devil Be sure and take lots of pics out there brotha! Have fun

[jfsh]

I just did a solo 4 day trip there 2 weeks ago. I did a trip report on MTBR:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=235926

This will give you a good idea of what I did. My advice would be to skip Bootleg and go straight to St. Goerge. I am not saying that Bootleg is not fun, I just think that Gooseberry is better. There are so many awsome trails in the St. George - Cedar City area that 4 days won't be enough. You can go to Vegas on a 2 day weekend. I talked to one of the locals about Little Creek and he said it is great but it is not marked like Gooseberry is. He suggested going with someone who knew it. I guess it is easy to loose the trail. There is a little bike shop in Hurricane and they can help with trail ideas. It is called Shuntavi Bikes. They ride every Saturday and told me I could join them. I ended up going to Thunder Mountain instead. I highly recomend that one. Let me know if you have anymore questions. Have fun, Jeff.

[soul rider]

hit the FLYINGMONKEY the pucker factor is high
turner nob bob he's just weird

[Evel Knievel]

Little creek is near impossible to find. A GPS and 4X4 help to get to the trail head. From there it is an adventure just to find the trail markers (rock cairns). Would not recomend anyone ride alone at this desolate location.

Slick rock swamp , Bearclaw poppy , G.E.M. , or Hurricane rim trail could be looked at also.

[Pain Freak]

Flying Monkey is technical and has some killer stuff on it. You may not be looking for this kind of ride though. I agree with Jfsh, and with 4 days I think I'd skip Bootleg unless you have shuttle capabilities. Gooseberry is really fun and I liked Grafton Mesa a lot too. The Jem trail was cool, but a little short unless you want a lot of xc then you can hook it up with the Hurricane Rim Trail, then it's a really good, but longer type ride. I haven't done Thunder Mt yet, but it's high on my list. If the snow hasn't hit, I'd take the shuttle and do Bunker Creek though I really loved that ride. There is some more stuff over by Cedar City/Brian Head, but I'm not sure if they're still shuttling over there this late in the year. Either way you will finds tons to ride, just read up and decide what you'd like to ride. Have fun, I plan on getting out there again next month.

[Ladd Jasper]

Lots of great advice, guys. I really appreciate it.

I've gotten a line on some locals in St. George, hopefully I can hook up with them for guidance out on the trails.

My thinking now is as jfsh mentioned, head straight to Hurricane Thursday, but with the option to hit Bootleg at the end on Monday.

Can always adjust reservations once there if I need that extra day in Utah, which is looking more and more likely.

Too many trails, not enough time. Now that's a problem I don't mind having!

Again, thanks for the help.