MOUNTAIN BIKE SOUTHWEST UTAH ITINERARY

mountain bike trails, adventure cycling

Southwest Utah – A Land of Mesas USA:

Southwest Utah Mountain Bike Tour

Arrival day-

After your arrival in Las Vegas, catch the St George Express shuttle to St. George, Utah for your first night’s stay. The shuttle will drop you off at the Howard Johnson in St George, which is also our Monday morning pickup location, but you’re welcome to stay anywhere you like in St George on your own this first night.

Day 1-

We’ll get rolling in the Hermosa Tours van around 9am from the Howard Johnson in St George. The start of today’s riding is the Bearclaw Poppy Trail. The Bearclaw Poppy Trail is a rollicking desert singletrack with fast run down into a wash, some very manageable technical obstacles and some hard-packed roller coaster sections. We’ll get in as many shuttle runs as time and the group energy allows. After a healthy, satisfying lunch we’ll spin a few expansive desert singletrack trails also around the St George area. Ride length is between 13 and 19 miles.

Day 2-

Our route today is yet another classic: the Gould’s Rim, Hurricane Rim and JEM Trail loop. The Gould’s Rim section is a combination doubletrack and singletrack that snakes through sagebrush to nice outcrop vistas and skirts along the edge of Gould’s Canyon. The JEM Trail section brings much of the same topography, but with the added bonus of a very fast, sustained downhill and spectacular views of the Virgin River. Finally, the Hurricane Rim portion of our route offers up mildly technical singletrack suspended above the Virgin River and some fun traverses over rock slab. As usual, we’ll head back to the lodge to recuperate and refresh, then unwind with a great BBQ dinner around a riverside fire. Today’s ride length is about 22 miles.

Day 3-

Gooseberry Mesa. Just the mention of this world-class trail is mountain biker catnip. Gooseberry is the best of technical slickrock and great singletrack. While the riding is incredible, be sure to keep your wits about you – the cliff edge views are unbelievable and vying for your attention. Long views of stone monuments and Zion Canyons are plentiful. The end of the day’s route is Gooseberry Point and the erratic overhead pattern of the Virgin River, as well as pine-laden vistas of the Pine Valley Mountains Wilderness. To say today’s ride has been awe inspiring would short change the experience.

Day 4-

We’ll go exploring the desert mesa country yet again on Gooseberry’s sister mesa – Little Creek Mesa. When this singletrack route isn’t winding through juniper, pinyon and manzanita it’s depositing us onto rock outcroppings with eye-popping vistas of neighboring mesas and Zion Canyon. The slickrock portions of this ride are reminiscent of Moab’s Slickrock trail, but without the lung-busting steep climbs. These slickrock sections also lend themselves to playground attitude; our guests always enjoy the little stunts and jumps. Again we will return to the Cliffrose Lodge for recuperation and a tasty dinner that night. Ride length is about 15 miles.

Day 5-

Gooseberry Mesa part two. We hit Gooseberry Mesa again this morning and make sure we’ve ridden all it has to offer. After a week of slickrock riding you’ll want to challenge yourself on the obstacles you may have passed on earlier in the week. From our shorter ride at Gooseberry we shuttle the JEM trail by itself for one last swooping singletrack descent.

Final evening-

After a great week of riding, we say goodbye and return you to the Howard Johnson hotel in St. George, UT.

MOUNTAIN BIKING TRIPS UTAH

  • available as custom trip for 5 or more – click here to email
  • level: intermediate, advanced
  • ages: all (call for under 18)
  • group size: varies
adventure cycling, bike adventure, bike trails, mountain bike

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PHOTO GALLERY

Testimonials

"After 9 years of guided mountain bike trips in North America, your Durango trip had the best trails!!!!"

David Sawyer, 2008

"'trip Ned' in Durango was stupendous. Lodging, food, choice of trails and individual guidance on bike set-up, techniques and gear were all excellent. Nate inspired me through some killer climbs. Matt's no slouch on the trails, and also performed some dutch oven wizardry in the kitchen. Big Mike’s tour of Hermosa Creek drainage was epic. Thanks guys- I'm getting a gang together and picking a place to join up again in '09!"

Tom Kammerer, 2008

"I thoroughly enjoyed my Hermosa Creek Guided tour! My guide, Matt, was professional and personable: offering great cycling conversation, guidance, and food for thought. He took care of everything so all I had to do was just show up and ride! His experience and knowledge of the CO trails made me feel confident and the ride was truly a treasured experience. Most of all, I had the absolute best time and I loved every nanosecond of it! Thank you !"

Julie Urlaub, 2008

"The guys on my trip inspired confidence amongst our group every step of the way. Be it on the trail, shuttling to the trailhead, or arranging logistics in advance they kept things running smoothly and seemingly effortlessly. They accommodated us every step of the way and kept it fun and flexible. Of course, the best part was their ability to provide the epic mountain bike experience. We left Durango pleasantly worked over, dusty, and smiling ear-to-ear. Now if they’d only get on the right brand of bike…"

Travis Ott, Gary Fisher Bikes, 2008

"Super job you guys do, better than any other tour/group ride I have been on, either in the US or Europe. I especially appreciate the little things that make the stay more pleasant without the client having to ask for them. (the trail map and the gorp selection for instance, nice touches)."

Sam Joseph, 2008