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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 and Rim Rock trails. |
| 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. |
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| 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. |
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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.
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| 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. (There are other ways. See the GPX file.) Here are the usual options: |
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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. 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. |
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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. |
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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 0.8 Keep straight (L=Sidewinder) 0.9 First crest, descend 1.1 Cross cattleguard in fence (R=shortcut) 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. |
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| 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 as it climbs
steeply south. At mile 0.7,
turn right at the sign "Santa Clara Preserve" or "Cove Wash
Trailhead." Pass the water
tank, and at mile 1.3, turn right again through the fence. This road will
veer left to a log-fence parking area at mile 1.5, N37 07.253 W113 40.508. There's a singletrack trail you can ride from the valley to the trailhead. After crossing the river and following the road as it turns right, pass the dirt Stucki Springs road. About 100 feet past the road, a doubletrack heads obliquely westward uphill on the left, turning quickly into singletrack heading up along the wash. at about 1/3 mile, keep R at the fork (L rejoins the road). The trail will climb up and west of the water tank, then join the road right at the fence of the preserve. |
| Riding resources for this trail: Single-page riding guide GPS track files (right-click and "Save as..."): Garmin GPX Map datum WGS 84 Connecting via Green Valley (5 options): GPX St.George southwest, interactive map: Load High-res topo (300 KB) for printing: View Lodging, camping, shops: Links to St. George area resources |
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