With connections to Wire Mesa and Big Fatty Mesa
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| Grafton Mesa With connections to Wire Mesa and Big Fatty Mesa |
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Grafton Mesa is part of the same mountain as Gooseberry Mesa, located just west of Zion National Park. Most riders come here for the gnarly advanced-technical singletrack, which can be done either as a shuttled DH ride or a loop. The loop ride is 9.5 miles. It features a boring but strenuous climb and a terrifying technical descent. Altitude change 1100 feet, to 4850 at the top. Seriously, it's for experts only. But you can also do the traditional easy out-and-back on doubletrack to a viewpoint overlooking the Virgin River valley as it rises into Zion Canyon. The out-and-back is easy technically, and not too much work at 4.2 miles. Nearby, there are shorter doubletrack rides to views on Wire Mesa and Big Fatty Mesa. From the west side of Grafton Mesa, we're looking west at banded curtains of Moenkopi shale on Pastry Ridge. To the left is the north rim of Gooseberry. The Pine Valley Mountains are in the background. Photos by Bruce on March 18, 2008. |
| Most riders will want to shuttle this ride. It's seriously
painful to pedal a big-hit bike up the Byway to the top of the mesa.
Before you've even warmed up, you're looking at 3/4 mile of 11% granny
grunt. (This isn't a good trail for light XC bikes. You want big tires and
a lot of suspension.) But the loop isn't bad. I just happen to hate
commuting on gravel roads.
Another option is to ride out to the viewpoint via the singletrack, then turn around for an out-and-back. You can stay on the mesa doubletrack for the return trip, or if you're up for adventure, ride the singletrack the other direction. But be warned: the singletrack is WAY harder when southbound. The rocks and stunts are arranged to flow in a slightly-downhill, northerly direction. Climbing up toward the top of the mesa, we're looking at Smithsonian Butte. The white stuff is snow. |
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For the loop ride, park at the fork in the road. There's a
spot on the left along Horse Valley Wash.
Side dishes: On the way up for the loop ride, consider
a short out-and-back (1.5 miles round trip) on the ATV track of Big Fatty
Mesa. The ride is fairly flat and easy, with views over Wire Valley Wash
on your left. At the end of the mesa, you can
look across the valley at the entrance to Zion Canyon. We're at the end of Big Fatty Mesa, looking east at Zion Canyon. |
| When you reach the doubletrack for Grafton Mesa on your
right (there's no sign 3/08), go past it. Pass the next doubletrack. Also
a third, fainter doubletrack. When you see a DT that goes steeply uphill,
you're almost there. You can go uphill on that DT about 100 feet to find
the singletrack, or you can continue on up the main road another 0.1 mile.
When it looks like you're about to hit the top of the mountain, make a
hard right into doubletrack. Coast downhill, and as you spot the main road
peeking through the trees on your right, look for the entry to the
singletrack on your left.
The first 1/3 mile of the singletrack is the hardest to follow. One spot deserves mention: The first time the singletrack reaches DT, the continuing trail is straight ahead. About 100 feet after that crossing, there's a spot where an obvious trail heads downhill, but you want to turn left and ride along a rock ledge to find the continuing trail. If you head downhill, the trail will become fainter, and will end on the mesa doubletrack. It's not a bad ride; it's just not where you want to go. If you find yourself down on the road too early, loop around and watch for the fork on your second pass. We're at the end of Wire Mesa, looking across the valley. The Slickrock Swamp (Rockville Bench) trail is on the ledge in the middle of the photo. |
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The mesa singletrack drops about 200 feet over its 1.5
miles. On the Tech Meter, it's a few notches up from Gooseberry Mesa. The
ST will hug the edge of the mesa, then turn and join the mesa road. Turn
left here and ride to the viewpoint. When the road suddenly ends in
nothing but air, that's the viewpoint.
To find the continuing trail, look at the cliff edge to your left. That little passage around the tree is the trail. As you get closer, you can see the trail below the tree. Get ready for some serious bike-control issues. The trail here has been worked over recently (2008), so pretty much every inch is capable of being ridden. But it's steep, spooky, slippery, and bumpy. Get onto the rock, work around the cleft (it's possible to roll it if you've got the perfect line, but I had to use a little hop of the back end) then head along the "balance beam." |
| The plunge off the mesa follows an old eroded coach road.
You'll drop 600 vertical in 0.6 miles. That's a 20% down-grade. Loose
slippery stuff, rocks to drop off or bang over -- it's a lot of work going
downhill. To your side, the slope breaks away like a cliff. Crashing is
not a good idea.
Arrive at the bottom with your triceps burning and your knees trembling, and hang a left on the DT heading down the valley. Or just for laughs, ride the wash-bottom of South Wash. When you reach the cemetery, turn right to close the loop. It's 1.5 miles back to the car. Much of the upper-mesa singletrack hugs a steep side-slope just below the crest of the mesa. There are smoother spots like this, but plenty of rock-drops and tight spots. |
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Clockwise loop ride: 0.0 Start up Scenic Byway N37 09.090 W113 03.542 1.5 Big Fatty Mesa DT on R N37 08.047 W113 03.845 (0.75 miles to viewpoint) 2.0 Wire Mesa DT on R N37 07.881 W113 04.179 (1.5 miles to viewpoint) 3.8 Pass DT (Grafton Mesa DT) N37 07.847 W113 05.894 4.0 Pass another DT 4.1 DT on R, keep on road 4.2 Turn hard R on DT, downhill N37 07.569 W113 06.170 4.4 L onto ST N37 07.683 W113 06.131 Reset mileage This is the viewpoint where the doubletrack ends. From here, you find the continuing singletrack plunging down on your left. |
| Continuing from the Singletrack! 0.0 Start ST N37 07.683 W113 06.131 0.2 Cross DT at angle, find continuing ST N37 07.828 W113 06.059 0.25 Critical fork, keep L uphill N37 07.846 W113 06.043 (R down = goes to mesa road) 0.4 Trail splits, R = easier N37 07.972 W113 06.025 0.45 Trails rejoin N37 07.996 W113 06.029 1.4 ST ends on DT, go L N37 08.629 W113 05.700 (R = return to main road) 1.8 Keep L at DT fork N37 09.032 W113 05.596 2.4 Viewpoint on cliff N37 09.432 W113 05.319 ST on L on side of cliff, go steep downhill 3.2 L on DT near wash bottom N37 09.456 W113 04.977 3.6 Pass cemetery, R on Grafton Road N37 09.817 W113 04.826 5.1 Back at car (9.5 miles from start of loop) We're on the final descent. The bottom half isn't as steep, loose, or bumpy as the first part. Here you can finally let it go. The first half is so steep, loose, and bumpy, it's hard to stop for a photo! |
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Getting there, from Rockville: In La Verkin, turn
toward Zion National Park on Highway 9. When you get to Rockville, drive
until you're seeing the end of town then turn south (right) on Bridge
Road. Cross the Virgin River on the old bridge. Follow the road as it
veers right (west). At the fork in the road 1.5 miles later, turn left and
park near the wash. Start riding south uphill on the Smithsonian Butte
Scenic Byway (may or may not have a sign). If you're shuttling to the top,
it's the last doubletrack (on your right) before the top of the mountain,
4.4 miles up, just after the road has turned south again. N37 07.683 W113 06.131
Getting there, from Gooseberry: From the spot where the Gooseberry road leaves the Scenic Byway, proceed north 1/2 mile. Just after you start more steeply downhill, watch for the first doubletrack on your left. |
| Riding resources for this trail: Single-page riding guide GPS track files (right-click and "Save as..."): Garmin GPX Large-format topo map (600K): Click here |
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