Over the last six months, I've been to all of the 'iconic' mountain bike locations in the desert southwest: Sedona, Moab, Fruita, and St. George. In the first three towns I listed, it's clear that mountain biking plays a big part of the culture and identity of the region (OK, not quite as much in Sedona, but it's still there). St. George is a different beast though, and I just can't crack the nut of why it's that way.
The St. George area (including Hurricane and Virgin) has some of the most iconic trails in the United States: Hurricane Rim, Gooseberry Mesa, Little Creek, not to mention the Red Bull Rampage each year. However, hit the trails on any given weekday or weekend in the spring, and you probably won't see many other riders... if any. Heck, drive around town for 30 minutes and other than the parking lot of the bike shops, you can't tell that anyone even rides mountain bikes. My guess is that mountain biking is simply overshadowed by the other attractions in the area: Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, golf, and other generally boring retiree/tourist activities. Mountain biking just doesn't get the press and attention it deserves.
Because trust me, it deserves it. Case in point: we rode the Barrel and Zen Trails on Sunday morning at 10:00am... and saw exactly two other riders over the course of three hours. If that were my hometown of Boulder, we would have passed 500 riders. Heck, we wouldn't have bothered to ride on a weekend morning to begin with.
Despite the lack of a true mountain bike vibe, I hosted an amazing private group in St. George for three days of riding last week, and despite the reputation, we had a killer time hitting over 50 miles of incredible trails that had us begging for more. We'll be back in a couple weeks to hit everything we missed this time (due to rain and muddy conditions), and I'm willing to bet we don't see many other riders then either.
I'll let the pictures do the talking, but St. George clearly deserves a place among the top destinations in the west. Hell, I'm out to prove it.
Day One: Barrel Roll - Sidewinder - Suicidal TendenciesDay Two: Little Creek Mesa and Upper to Lower JEM (separate trailheads)Day Three: Barrel and the Zen TrailSteve Mokan owns and operates Chasing Epic, a brand new adventure travel company that offers all-inclusive, guided mountain bike trips to iconic destinations across the western US, St. George obviously being one of them. Chasing Epic also runs trips in Crested Butte, Durango, Fruita, Park City, Sedona, and Telluride. Each trip includes lodging, meals, guides, high-end carbon bikes (by Niner and Ibis), customized training programs, ride nutrition, shuttles and more. To learn more about their trips, check out
www.chasingepicmtb.com
MENTIONS: @stevemokan
St. George mountain biking trails
Steve Mokan you're an asshat.
I'll reiterate. This place sucks. Don't come here. We have nothing to offer to outsiders.
Steve I also hope you have trouble on the trail. How about an intense case of Mud Butt diarrhea. Place this article under the buy/sell category.
I hope your life is plagued with flat tires and broken chains.
I'm not complaining, it's simply an observation about how incredible riding gets passed up in favor of the big name western towns. St. George deserves more recognition (and visitors) because of all the amazing riding within 30 minutes of town.
I don't know why there's such hate in a few of the comments, the article was just meant to draw attraction to an incredible destination that largely goes unnoticed.
Anyways, f*ck thay guy. I enjoyed the article, and I love that whole part of Utah. With that said, I do understand the locals tension against getting the word about the place out there. Don't let it get ya down, you'd do the same if ya lived there
The license plates turn green!