Moab Bike News
After a brilliant Saturday of Take a Kid Mountain Biking
Day, perusing the simpler trails in the Klondike Trail System of Moab, loving
the fact that a new footpath has opened, so the non-biking family members could
enjoy access from a single parking lot in the backcountry, have to shout,
“Hail! Moab Trail Mix!”
The volunteer
organization, Moab Trail Mix, has been busy constructing new bike trails. Keep
in mind the agencies, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the National Forest
Service, National Park Service, the City, and local bike businesses and riders
sit at the table and collaborate. The BLM used National Public Lands Day to
encourage volunteers to shape a pedestrian path to the Dinosaur Stomping
Grounds. It is an area that received tremendous press in August 2014. It is a
trail that parallels the Mega Steps mountain bike trail in the Klondike Bike
Trail System to an expanse of trace fossils. Close by find the Copper Ridge
Track Site, both areas of tracks are from the Jurassic Period in the fluvial
Morrison formation deposit.
Trail report bike-wise? The Agate trails make a delightful loop and
Chilkoot Pass are the right trails for a 10 year old, new to single track. The
success was measured by the need to get off and walk the bike. Sensibly it is
less frustrating to ride than having to push the bicycle frequently. Looking
for similar rides, caliber of easy? Raven Roll in Dead Horse Point State Park, Rusty
Spur in the Moab Brand trails are proven for this particular 10 year old.
MOAB BLM has determined this year that motor assist bicycles
(electric or fueled) are motorized vehicles, therefore, motor assisted bicycles
are NOT allowed on non-motorized trails. The Moab Travel Council posted
a terrific Motorcycle Trail Ride page in September 2014. Go look at it now. http://www.discovermoab.com/motorcycle_moab.htm
Now onward to the New Trails!
In the La Sal Mountains, standing regal to the east of Moab,
the Forest Service completed the Geyser to Burro singletrack trail and Jimmy
Keen Flat Trail is 9 miles. Get a little respite from the summer heat and pedal
these trails in the warmer summer months.
Back in the canyons below, there is this tally of new
mileage.
HyMasa Trail is 2.7 miles of singletrack in the Amasa Back
riding area. It is moderately strenuous and requires technical skill which is
the case with the Amasa trails in general.
Hymasa is an alternative to get off the brutal jeep route comprised of
gruesome ledges. A pit toilet was installed in the Amasa parking lot this year
too.
The Klondikes have had the Miner’s Loop completed near the
southern parking lot. It is an advanced 1.8 mile loop over a lot of slickrock
with twisty turns through pinon-junipers, sweeping by an old mining area. A
beginner mile loop named Chilkoot Pass was also added. Chilkoot is located off
of the Klondike northern parking lot.
The KLONZO II trail system has carnival themed trail names. These 11.3 miles of trail have been added to
Moab’s inventory in 2014. It has good beginner, intermediate and
intermediate/advanced pedaling options
from a single parking lot. This area is unique: Roller Coaster and Red Hot is
intended to be a ‘progressive skills trail’, the bumps can be rolled or jumped
or even avoided.
Hotdog - .7 miles
Topspin – 1.2 miles
Midway - .9 miles
Zoltar - .6 miles
Houdini – 1.8 miles
Red Hot - .5 miles
Roller Coaster - .6 miles
Carousel – 1 mile
Wizard - .2 miles
Magician .3 miles
Gypsy - .2 miles
The Edge - .6 miles
Gravitron – 2.7 miles
Navajo Rocks has leapt into existence with the completion of
4.4 convoluted miles called Rocky Tops and 3.2 miles of undulating dirt track
and sandstone outcrops called Ramblin’. Three more sections are slated for the
future to be known as Big Mesa, Big Lonely and Coney Island trails. This set is
situated off of State Road (S.R.) 313.
Dead Horse Point State Park installed the first 8 miles of
the Intrepid Trails in 2009. Another 8.1 miles were completed at Thanksgiving
2013. The newest loops lay to the west of S.R. 313 in Dead Horse Point State
Park and have been ridden by 2014 travelers often. The park also built three yurts that are now
online for reservations. Each sleeps up to six people and is another camping
opportunity to add to tent and RV camping already established within the state
park. Plan to mountain bike from the yurts.
Transit Hub officially opened providing parking at the
crossroads of the S.R. 128 bike path and the northerly stretching Moab Canyon
Pathway to S.R. 313. The hub is also one of the bus stops in Moab for Elevated
Transit, a daily bus service connecting Salt Lake City to Moab and farther
south to Blanding Utah.
Finally, a Moab Trails app was released in early spring. Go
to apps and type in “Moab Trails”. Visitors can also download trail maps from
the website DiscoverMoab.com or purchase those area maps from local Moab bike
shops for $2 each focus area. The money goes straight to the treasury of the
Moab Trail Mix, the volunteer organization building and maintaining many of these
bike opportunities in Moab.
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