Meet in St. George, ride the JEM Trail
Today, meet your guides in the recreation capital of southern Utah: St. George at 10am. After introductions, we head to the JEM Trail?s gateway town of Hurricane to dial in our bikes and get ready to ride. Today?s trail is packed with smooth, rolling singletrack with gooseneck turns and wild descents that'll give your brakes?and your adrenal glands?quite a workout. Follow your experienced guide on a rollercoaster of well-trodden dirt, surrounded by desert shrubs and succulents?all framed by the white- and red-rock cliffs of Zion National Park. This afternoon we settle into our campground in, or near Zion National Park. We?ll enjoy a delicious guide-prepared dinner in camp, getting to know each other and swapping fat-tire stories while the sun sets. Lunch and dinner included.
Mountain Biking: 14 miles, Elevation gain/loss: +909? / -909?; Van transfer: 45 minutes
Ride the Hurricane and Gould?s Rim Trails above the Virgin River
After breakfast in camp, we gear up and head back to the JEM Trail area, to do some more high-speed desert cruising and cliff-side riding, adding in the Hurricane Rim and Gould?s Rim trails this time around. Our guides lead us through trails they call ?easy technical?, which means you can flex your intermediate and advanced riding muscles without the exhilarating anxiety that comes with super-technical riding. We?ll level our pedals and stretch out over our tires to ride fun, downhill singletrack along expansive ridges. Peer down on the muddy Virgin River, up at Gooseberry Mesa, and climb steep switchbacks to take in the views of Zion. When was the last time you put aside deadlines and to-dos and just rode all day? It's going to feel so good. Our guides provide all the trail details, the mechanical support, the technical instruction, a fresh lunch and plenty of snacks so you can focus on just having a blast. With plenty of bailout and extension options in this complex trail network, every rider can customize their own perfect day of riding. Tonight we return to our campsite to rehash the day?s best moments under the glow of the Milky Way. All meals included.
Mountain Biking: 24 miles, Elevation gain/loss: +2,426? / -2,426?; Van transfer: 1 hour
Gooseberry Mesa
No alarm clocks here?wake up to the smell of fresh-brewed coffee and a hot guide-prepared breakfast while your bike patiently awaits your company. We load up and drive to our trailhead, 2,000 feet above our campsite and with a view you?d flatten a tire for. Our chosen trails sit atop Gooseberry Mesa, a plateau with plummeting edges known for their expansive edge-of-the-world panoramas. Between long segments of idyllic slickrock flow, enjoy short sections of soft, loamy trail carpeted with pine needles from the twisted juniper trees we wind between. Put your guides? hard-won knowledge of the area to use and piece together your own puzzle of technical moves to negotiate your chosen route. Welcome to some of the best mountain biking in the southwest! A must for serious riders, and a day of challenging singletrack you won?t soon forget. All meals included.
Mountain Biking: 14 miles, Elevation gain/loss: +713? / -713?; Van transfer: 3 hours
Bike the Whole Guacamole Trail, then return to St. George, UT
We begin our day with our final breakfast together in our home-away-from-home. Then we pack up and set out with just one goal in mind: how do we top an already-perfect mountain biking trip? Well...tucked between Zion National Park, Kolob Canyon, the Vermillion Cliffs and several Wilderness Areas, you?ll find The Whole Guacamole, and we assure you it is up to the challenge! Here we find a rollercoaster trail network as fun as Gooseberry, but with far fewer people to share the singletrack with. The slickrock is playful, surprising, and a great medium for testing your technical handling skills. We?ll rest our dust-encrusted bodies over a picnic lunch where our guides remind us to look past the handlebars and take in the views of the snowy peaks, desert flatlands, and carved red rock around us before it?s time to journey back to St. George for a 4:30pm drop-off. Breakfast and lunch included.
Mountain Biking: 10 miles, Elevation gain/loss: +536? / -536?; Van transfer: 1.75 hours
