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Gold Bar Singletrack
The Gold Bar ST is a nice but steepish climb up tilted slickrock. It's a good ride, although only about 2 miles. Then the trail joins the Gold Bar Rim 4x4 route, which is considerably less fun. The combined route is 3.8 miles with 900 vertical feet elevation change; about 1100 feet of climbing. Top altitude is 5400 feet. Gene turns away from the slickrock ledge above the Gold Bar Rim jeep road. Photos and ride description from a 4/13/2011 visit. |
| The Gold Bar ST is the 4th segment of the Magnificent 7 epic
trail. It follows the Little Canyon ST. As you follow the yellow dots, you
may not even notice that you just crossed the Gold Bar Rim jeep road.
Gene puts some vertical behind him as he follows the paint splotches up the tilted slickrock. |
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The trail is fairly straight-forward here. There are
occasional technical features, one or two of which may get you off your
bike. But mostly, it's just climbing uphill while admiring the views.
Derek and Gene continue uphill. It will be further than it looks. |
| When you reach the closed area (the old Blue Dot route is
illegal), the trail begins a rough descent to the south. It joins the Gold
Bar 4x4 route near Gold Bar Canyon. Enjoy the views and begin a stiff
climb.
Looking northeast as the trail skirts the edge of a draw. |
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The Blue Dot trail is closed to protect bighorn sheep. The closed area is plainly marked with a sign and stenciled notices on the rock. Stay on the official route. Don't be that guy. (Special Note for the Humor Impaired: This photo was staged. We didn't ride on Blue Dot. I've never been there. Don't ask me about it. Don't email me about it. And I love bighorn sheep -- I think they're delicious.) |
| The Gold Bar Rim road has some big ledges and significant
tech challenges. Keep cranking. Near the top, you'll pass the Golden Spike
connector on your right. Note this spot. You'll come back to it after
visiting the viewpoint above the cliffs.
Gene grunts out the last 100 feet before the cliffs. We've done 1000 feet of climbing to get here. |
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The views from the rim are impressive. You can see all the
way to the Book Cliffs on the north, and to the end of Spanish Valley on
the south.
As you descend, keep left and turn south if you're continuing on Golden Spike. If you're dropping back down via a loop ride, drop rightward off the rock and keep heading down. Looking north at slopes of Moenkopi below Wingate cliffs. |
| My track file continues down the Gold Bar Rim road. But it
would probably be more fun to fork R on the Gold Bar ST at mile 5.3 for a
pure out-and-back, and return via the singletrack.
We made a loop out of the first half of the Mag 7. We hit Bull Run, Arth's, Little Canyon, and Gold Bar ST, then descended Gold Bar road to Gemini Road and cranked back to 313. It's probably more work than riding the whole Mag 7, but we didn't have a shuttle. Distance 27.5 miles, vertical 3500. If you want to do it, combine the Magnificent7 and GoldBarGemini tracks from the area GPX file. Gene and Derek at the top. |
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| Clockwise loop w Gold Bar: Suggest drive into Gold Bar 0.4 miles. Park near wash just before road starts climbing. Bike up 0.1 miles and find ST on L 0.0 Northeast uphill on ST, leave Gold Bar jeep road N38 35.881 W109 40.143 1.1 Stay L. Alternate track on R N38 36.543 W109 39.961 1.5 Alternate rejoins N38 36.682 W109 39.698 2.0 Straight (R), L=closed area N38 36.635 W109 39.295 Descend toward Gold Bar 2.3 Join Gold Bar rd, fork L N38 36.419 W109 39.233 |
3.7 Keep R (L=return from closed
area) N38 36.817 W109 38.562 3.8 Straight (L) to viewpoint (R=Golden Spike) N38 36.849 W109 38.525 3.8 Viewpoint, backtrack downhill 3.9 Mag 7: L on Golden Spike Loop ride: descend Gold Bar road 5.3 Pass ST connector (option: fork R) 6.0 Keep R (L=return from Rusty Nail) N38 36.097 W109 39.346 7.0 At singletrack crossing (see 0.0) 7.2 Stay on main road (L=primitive camp) 7.5 At Gemini Bridges Road |
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Getting there, Magnificent 7:
From I-70 and Crescent Junction, drive south on US-191 for 20 miles (about
9 miles north of the Colorado River if you're driving out from Moab) to
Highway 313. Drive 13 miles on 313 to the Gemini Bridges sign and turn L
onto dirt road. Find a spot to park if you're doing the Mag 7. Gold Bar Rim road for loop: From I-70 drive south on US-191 for 22 miles (about 7 miles north of Moab). Spot the parking area on the west (right as you head toward Moab) side of the road. GPS N 38° 39.381' W 109° 40.672'. Drive up the Gemini Bridges road about 4 miles, and fork L toward Gold Bar Rim and drive along the wash 0.4 miles. You can park near the wash at N38 35.849 W109 40.304. Begin riding up the hill. Within 0.1 mile, you should spot a singletrack crossing the road. Fork left to start the Gold Bar ST. |
| Riding resources: Printable one-page ride summary GPS track file (right-click and select "Save Target as..."): Gold Bar ST to Rim only Area trail tracks GPX Mag 7 as single route Topo maps for printing: Low Res Mag 7 High-Res Gold Bar Lodging, camping, shops: Link to Moab area resources |
Copyright 2011 Mad Scientist Software, Inc |
