Barrel Roll Trail

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Barrel Roll Trail

The Barrel Roll Trail is an intermediate-level trail in the Santa Clara River Preserve, just west of Santa Clara. It's a loop ride 6 miles in length. Starting altitude is 3100 feet, top 3500. The trail undulates up and down, making total climbing around 700. You'll like this ride. It's quick and close to civilization, not too brutal, with nice views. It shares a trailhead with the Black Brush trail.

View west as we're climbing clockwise around the loop. We're just getting started. Bruce and Jackie hit this loop January 10, 2008. (Bruce took the pix.)

Navigation is straight-forward. There are no forks or branches. Just ride to the start of the loop 0.1 miles from the trailhead, and decide which way you want to ride. I like clockwise, because it puts a couple of tricky rock stunts on the downhill. If you like a challenge, ride the loop both directions to see if you can clear everything both up and down.

As we gain a little altitude, we see inspiring views to the north. Above Santa Clara and Ivins rise red cliffs of red Navajo sandstone from the Jurassic Period fronting white cliffs also of Navajo. In the middle are cinder cones from lava eruptions of about a million years ago, with the Pine Valley Mountains (volcanic granite) in the background. It's January, and it's a beautiful day for riding.

Long stretches of the trail are pretty smooth. Some spots have a lot of protruding rock obstacles and ledges. There's red dirt, white dirt, sandstone, conglomerate, and the occasional chunk of basalt.

Ah, we're near the top, and the fun begins. We're about to thread through some tricky rocks with the cliff about 5 feet away, then hit a rock ramp that ends in a nice high ledge. The rockpile helps us roll the drop.

As the trail winds around the mountain, you'll have some great views of mesas and eroded badlands. To the north, the volcanic Pine Valley Mountains dominate the sky above cliffs of Navajo sandstone. In the spring, prickly pear, cholla, and barrel cactus are in bloom. For a desert, there's a surprising amount of eye candy here.

To the south, mesas of the Chinle formation are formed of erosion-resistant caprock lying on skirts of softer red mudstone and clay.

Some buff riders want to connect to this trail, on dirt, from St. George. It can be done. The shortest route, from Green Valley, will add at least 12 round-trip miles to your ride. First, get to Stucki Springs. Then follow the Stucki Springs road north until you hit the Preserve turnoff. Here are the options:

1. Green Valley, 6.0 miles (plus city streets) each way: Up DH section of GV racecourse (1.8 miles). In the DT dip at top, drop down very-steep DT into the next valley, proceed west then northwest and go through the fence to Stucki Springs (1.3 miles). R on Stucki Springs Rd 2.1 miles, left on preserve road, 0.8 to trailhead.
Green Valley alternate, 8.4 miles: Head up road to Bearclaw parking, continue on Bearclaw to Stucki ATV connector 1.4 miles after Bearclaw TH. Follow connector to Stucki springs, then follow the road. Advantage: avoid the hike-a-bike back up the bluff on the way back.

There are views everywhere, constantly changing.

2. Bloomington, 8.8 miles (plus city streets) each way: Follow Bearclaw through the roller coaster section, up acid drops, then fork L on ATV-track to Stucki at mile 2.8. L when you hit the DT at 2.9 miles and proceed another 0.2 to Stucki Springs. Go through fence. R on Stucki Springs Rd 2.1 miles, left on preserve road, 0.8 to trailhead.
Bloomington alternate 11.3 miles: On Bearclaw, instead of heading toward Clavicle Hill, head northwest on the Stucki Springs trail. Follow it to the springs, then hit the road. Advantage: more miles, around 29 if you only do Barrel Roll once.

A grand vista of multiple parallel erosion tracks. Cloudbursts have created many deep chasms as water rushes toward the river.

Riding guide, clockwise:
0.0 Enter Barrel Roll Trail (left)
0.1 Fork, go left
       Gradual climb
0.6 Views to the left off cliffs
0.9 First crest, descend
1.1 Cross cattleguard in fence
       Begin climbing again
2.3 High point of ride
2.4 Furthest west, some tech fun here
3.0 Views of gorge of Santa Clara
3.1 Note Black Brush trail below you
3.4 Trail turns at end of canyon
3.6 Just a bit away from outgoing trail here
4.2 Gate in fence
4.5 Turn in canyon, not too far from cattleguard
       Cruising faster now
5.9 Back at fork
6.0 Parking

Photo: Don't hit these with your foot. They're not nice. Ride in control.

Getting there: In St. George, head north on Bluff Street and turn left on Sunset Blvd. Drive 3 miles west on Sunset through Santa Clara. As you're reaching the end of Santa Clara, look for a road crossing the river on your left. It's about 200 feet before the Jacob Hamblin Home (which will be on your right if you pass the turn). Turn and cross the river and follow the road as it turns right. About 0.4 miles from Hwy 191, turn left onto the dirt Stucki Springs road. At mile 0.7, turn right at the sign "Santa Clara Preserve." Pass the water tank, and at mile 1.3, turn right again through the fence. This road will veer left, then arrive at a parking area at mile 1.5, N37 07.253 W113 40.508.

Riding resources for this trail:
Single-page riding guide
GPS track files (right-click and "Save as..."):
Garmin GPX Map datum WGS 84
High-res topo (300 KB): View

For lodging in the St. George area, as well as travel guides and information on other activities, may we suggest:
Things to do, lodging links: http://www.utah.com/stgeorge/ http://www.go-utah.com/St-George
Snow Canyon: http://www.utah.com/stateparks/snow_canyon.htm
Red Cliffs Recreation Area - Camping: http://www.ut.blm.gov/stgeorge_fo/sgfored_cliffs.html
Quail Creek State Park: http://www.utah.com/stateparks/quail_creek.htm
St. George BLM info: http://www.ut.blm.gov/stgeorge_fo/
Zion National Park: http://www.nps.gov/zion/ http://www.zion.national-park.com/ http://www.zioncanyon.com/
Utah National Forest Camping and Picnic sites: http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/maps/brochures/camp_picnick_utah.pdf