Utah Mountain Biking

An incredible state with a huge variety of rides!

I have probably done more Utah Mountain Biking than any other state except California, my home state. Utah offers quite a variety of terrain ... from the desert sandstone (slickrock) slabs in the south to the thickly forested, 10,000 foot Wasatch Mountains in the north. Utah has it all.

My first experience with Utah Mountain Biking came on a family vacation in Moab. Family vacations are very important in our family ... always have been. I can still remember many things from family vacations with my own parents and brothers while growing up.

The point is ... I went to see all the attractions in and around Arches and Canyonlands National Parks (with my family) and was only able to squeeze in three Utah Mountain Biking rides on that trip. I took no photos, video, or GPS tracks on these rides as the website idea was not yet even in the embryonic stage. I can't wait to return to bike those incredible sandstone formations, and take in the contrast between the shades of reddish brown and the bright green vegetation.

My first Utah Mountain Biking trip took place in August of 2012. Cindy and I headed to Brian Head after we had already spent three weeks on a family vacation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California earlier in the summer. We called this our vacation from our vacation.

Utah is a lot like California as they both have an almost perfectly flat desert plain, with an abrupt rise right up to a very high mountain range. In contrast to the Sierra Nevada Range (which is solid granite) the mountains of Utah are mostly what remain of the ancient seabeds of the Colorado Plateau. Limestone, sandstone, and many other sedimentary deposits with some volcanic stuff thrown in here and there are what I mostly saw. Both mountain ranges, in Utah as well as California, cause dry desert conditions farther to the east.

Cedar City, where we stayed, is on this westerly plain, right at the base of the mountains. Brian Head Mountain lies to the east of Cedar City and looms directly above the town of Brian Head.

Two of the mountain biking trails started a half mile down the road from Brian Head Summit. Another ride started a couple miles to the south, while a fourth ride wound along the Virgin River Rim Trail, south of Brian Head. Two more treks were in the Three Peaks area, just to the west of Cedar City, while the last one was near Bryce Canyon National Park, 20 miles east of Brian Head.

I found the trails into Brian Head area picturesque, fun, uncrowded, and well maintained. Signs appeared at every junction (sometimes too many signs). On most rides I came across no more than a half-dozen trail users, even though I was visiting in August, a time when tourist traffic should have been high.

The only conditions we experienced with great regularity were thunder storms ... almost every day. However, I only got soaked on one ride, but later that same day we were hit by the heaviest hail storm we'd ever witnessed ... stones the size of peanut M&M's. We were happy to be in the car, and pulled over until the storm passed.

One of the best things that occurred in Brian Head was running into Jens Jensen and his wife, Catherine. They were so helpful to two Californians they had never met. Jens gave me personal tours of two different riding areas, and all three of us (Jens, Catherine, and I rode together for one ride. Later that week after a morning ride, Jens got us into Bryce Canyon National Park with his annual park pass, and then took us on his favorite short hiking trails (no bikes allowed). We felt like part of their family.

For that matter, we have always found the citizens of Utah to be very friendly. Complete strangers didn't hesitate to step up and help us during our attempts to locate certain places.

Park City lies roughly 250-miles to the north of Brian Head and was pretty much as we expected ... a ski resort town somewhat deserted due the season. Not as deserted as we found Brian Head, which resembled some ghost towns we've visited in California. The same was true on the trails. Park City mountain bikers probably outnumbered Brian Head riders 5-to-1.

We found the price of condos much less in Park City as opposed to Brian Head ... which didn't make any sense to me. My one economics class taught me the opposite should have been true ... since no one was in Brian Head, the demand was low, so the prices should have been low. Or maybe, since the price of condos in Brian Head were so high, no one wanted to rent them ... so nobody was around.

We also discovered the Park City area much more developed than Brian Head, with the major department stores, movie theatres, and supermarkets. Much of this development was due to the fact that most of the 2002 Olympic Alpine events were held at ski resorts in the Park City area. Of course having major ski resorts only a few minutes from huge Salt Lake City means more visitors than Brian Head too.

The Utah Olympic Park, which sits about 3 miles from downtown Park City, was the location of the Olympic bobsled and ski jumping events, among others. We visited the museum and watched skiers practicing stunts while 30 feet in the air ... before plopping into a swimming pool with air bubbles boiling up from the bottom.

While in Park City I managed to do three rides ... all being top notch. The Wasatch Crest Ride took me from Park City to Salt Lake City ... what an incredible Utah Mountain Biking trek! Over 28-miles of trail.

Over 3,000 vertical feet of climbing ... the Wasatch Crest Trail ... the best ride I've been lucky enough to experience!

The Saint George/Hurricane area of southern Utah is supposed to be a popular place for Utah Mountain Biking ... but not in Summer. I managed to squeak in a ride near Saint George in August by starting at 7:00 am and finishing by 9:30. I have planned to return to this area during our Spring Break of 2012. Jens tells me his "Best Ride Ever" lies in this region. I can't wait to go there and try it!

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