How UtahMountainBiking.com Reviews Trails

How do we pick trails?  Well, first we need some reason to believe a trail is worth riding. We have a strong preference for singletrack and open rock. (There are some great rides on dirt roads. But if you can drive your family SUV over the entire trail, we probably won't go there.) Because we have real jobs and families, it's easier to ride trails close to home -- so we review more trails in the SLC area than elsewhere. Eventually, we hope to have reviews of ALL the "decent trails" in Utah.

On Amassa Back, overlooking the Colorado, L to R: Dominic, Bruce, Mike, Matt, Chad, Gary.
Who reviews the trails?  We ride EVERY trail on this web site. Or, at least, Bruce does. Probably 90% of the trails were first seen by Bruce alone -- or Bruce with Jackie, the biking-crazed Jack Russell Terrier.

Bruce does most of the UMB trail photography. He also carries the GPS unit, the pocket recorder, and enough water for the dog. Fortunately, his biking buddies are patient when Bruce dawdles taking pictures and trail notes.

We create videos only when we're very familiar with a trail. It's just not possible to capture the spirit of a trail on a "first ride."

Bruce with Jackie at Draper's South Mountain.

How are the trails mapped?

Bruce takes notes with a paper and pencil, or more recently, a digital recorder. (This little baby pops in the back pocket of the biking jersey. When there's something that ought to be in the trail's web page, Bruce dictates it as he rides the trail. On smoother trail stretches, he can even dictate a mileage or riding instruction while the bike is rolling along.) Mileage along the trail is determined from Bruce's well-calibrated speedometer.
We now use a GPS unit to create "track files" of a trail. The GPS receiver creates a crude trail map. Sometimes the tracing is not entirely accurate (due to temporary interference from trees, mountains, fast riding, etc). For trails with full GPS information, we have downloadable track files you can use.

Some of our trails now have a base and peak altitude reported from the GPS, but the vast majority use the old altimeter-watch readings. (While the absolute altitude (how high you are) may vary as much as 200 feet depending on the barometric pressure (a storm system lowers the barometric pressure, making the altimeter watch read about 200 feet higher in altitude), the altitude CHANGE reported for the trail is accurate. And that's what you're interested in anyway.)
At his home computer, Bruce transfers his GPS information onto a topographical map. He reproduces the map in simpler form for the web site.

On the other hand, many earlier maps were created by "I think we went this way for a while, then we went left at a fork, then we crossed a road, and I think we were going kind of north-ish at the time..." So you're warned. If you can't live with that kind of uncertainty, we've got a lot of bike trail guidebooks for sale. 

Bruce creates a by-the-mile ride instruction by reviewing the trail notes and comparing GPS data. He writes a description of the ride and embeds photos in the web page. Creating a page for a new trail -- research, travel time, riding the trail, scanning the photos, creating the map, writing the description, and formatting the web page -- averages about 18 hours per trail.

Over the past 8 years, Bruce has created at least 20 new trail pages per year. We now have over 200 trails. That represents more than 400 eight-hour work days. Add the fix-it and first aid sections and...  Well, it's not a surprise that nobody else is giving this sort of information away for free.

Do our trail pages replace biking guidebooks? No. A guidebook usually gives a better riding description and a more detailed map, plus additional information on camping, reservations, local services, etc. We DO have many trails that aren't in any guidebook. For those (and for trails where the guidebook description is vague or incorrect), we give very detailed directions on how to navigate the trail. But for most trails, we describe the ride, show you the pictures, and diagram the general trail layout with our map. Then we hope you'll buy a trail guidebook -- if not from us, from your local bike store.

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