My friend and I have been thinking about going to Utah for some time and other holiday plans for the summer fell through so I think it could be time to head stateside. Has anyone been? Im not really sure if its best just to hire a car and do it ourselves travelling over the whole state or just head with a guiding company.
Any recommendations greatly appreciated 🙂
thannks

Sorry, meant to say for all-mountain riding

Hi finfhan,

I’ve spent a lot of time riding around Utah so hopefully I can be of help. I would suggest hiring a car and doing your own thing, but booking a few guided days when you get to the hotspots. A lot of people go to and from Salt Lake, but if you can sort out the flights, it may be better to fly into Las Vegas and out of SLC, or vice versa. Although a lot of people head straight for Moab, I think there are some other essential places to put on your list too:

Have a google for trails around Hurricane and Virgin in Southwest Utah. There is a good shop in St. George called ‘red rocks’ or something similar, and they can point you in the right direction.
Boulder, Utah is a tiny town on highway 12 near Escalante national forest, and it has a ride that descends from the high alpine right down to the bottom of desert canyons. I’ll see if I can find some more info for you.

Depending on what time of the year you’re thinking of going, the south of the state may be too hot to do some epic rides, in which case I would strongly recommend going north to Park City. There’s some good shops in town who can show you the maps. Everything is so well waymarked that you can easily self-navigate if you get some sound advice before you set off. The singletrack in the Aspen trees is to die for, and there’s uplifts open during peak season.

The other place would be Fruita, Colorado. There’s endless info online, but just make sure you hit The Edge loop at 18 road. You wont regret it!

Moab is worth heading to, and Poison Spider bike shop in town is a good first stop to book guiding, uplift, or just pick up some maps.

If it was me, I would start in Denver, and take in the Rockies on the way through, but it all depends on how much time you have!

Thanks for that Chris, thats really cool. Just seems like there is so much great riding in Utah. Ive hear that Park city is a good place to be, Ill certainly try and get that on the to-do list then!
I was thinking maybe heading mid-September time as Im guessing the temperatures will have started to calm down a bit then and also Ive seen photos of Utah in the autumn/fall and the colours look spectactular!Im guessing that could be a similar story in the singletrack in the Aspen trees you’re talking about also. It will probably be a 10 day kind of thing but hey when Im that far over, maybe a day or two near colorado is a good idea.
Getting excited just writing about it!

Yeah, September is the perfect time for Utah, and also the best time to ride in the Aspens as all the leaves are turning bright gold.
Post up any more questions if you have them and I’ll try to answer. I know there are plenty of other forum regulars who have spent some time over here, so maybe someone will be a long with some more suggestions.

Utah is my favourite state! The great thing about Moab is that there is loads for the family to do.

I’ve got a question as we are going back this summer, I’ve ridden a few trails but I’ve not ridden the whole enchilada: so what is it like? I’m slightly clumsy, is it very technical?

Thanks

The whole enchilada is a must do ride,get an early morning shuttle as it gets hot down on porcupine rim.The climb at the start is a lung buster but its all fun after that,not hard but it does batter your body!

Cool Chris thanks. Ive heard of the whole enchilada, supposed to be cracking

The Whole Enchilada is the best single ride I have ever done in my life, without any shadow of doubt.

It takes in absolutely everything – when we did it last Sept, the top was covered in a dusting of fresh snow. From there you descend through almost UK-esque wet steep forest, which turns into open fir forests, then aspens, which turn into open sunny alpine meadows. As you lose more altitude, the meadows give way to scrub, and in the end you are in the desert and the slick rock. Awesome. It’s not mega technical, but there’s enough challenge for most, from steep rooty sections at the top, to lengthy sections of jagged rock steps on Porcupine Rim.

It was 3degC when we started at the top, 31degC at the bottom! It’s something like 7000ft altitude loss over the length.

The local bike shops in Moab are ace – we used Chili Pepper, and they were super helpful.

Do it. You won’t regret it.

Boulder, Utah is a tiny town on highway 12 near Escalante national forest, and it has a ride that descends from the high alpine right down to the bottom of desert canyons. I’ll see if I can find some more info for you.

Chris – the goods please!!!

/pricks ears

Just got back from moab. I agree re comments re whole enchilada. Also, take Amasa back trail out the other side of Moab to do newly marked trail Captain Ahab, it’s flipping ace.
Don’t bother with the Slickrock trail itself!

i agree with rexated – Slickrock is only good to say you’ve ridden it, there’s loads more much better stuff, do it – you wont regret it 🙂

Hey guys, struggling to find any info online about the Boulder, Utah ride, but I can give better instructions to anyone who’s interested (mail in profile). Roughly: We rode it as a shuttle, leaving one car in Boulder town, and the other driving up to Roger peak on ‘salt gulch road’. From the last point you can drive to, it was a couple of miles on to the top of the mesa at ‘bur top’, and then the trail drops southeast past a big lake, crossing back over the road you drove up, and then continuing into a canyon on its way to meet back up with highway 12.

Other don’t miss rides:
Dark Hollow trail at Brian Head Peak. Great 22 mile shuttle ride. Super techy and steep. Make sure you climb the last 300 feet to the peak once you get to the trailhead, because the views are astounding.
Good water rim trail outside of Price is also excellent, with some great canyon-edge exposure on the way around. Its also a great ride to break up the drive between Moab area and Salt Lake area.

A great website with gpx files of some the classics: Utah Mountain Biking