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Little Purgatory Loop Includes Historic Babylon Trail This is a 6-mile loop with 1000 vertical feet of climbing, located just east of Leeds (about 10 miles north of St. George). The loop is best done counterclockwise, with a climb on the Historic Babylon Trail and a technical descent on Little Purgatory. Looking northeast at outcrops of Navajo sandstone from the Historic Babylon trail. Review and photos from a ride January 28, 2011. Thanks to Shelby Meinkey, who explored this loop and found it worthy. |
| This ride requires advanced skills. The climb is fairly
strenuous, with one mile at 500 vertical per mile with a couple of tech
spots. The descent has a mile of tricky rock that requires advanced tech
skills.
From the Historic Babylon trailhead, we'll be riding through the slot in the reef, crossing the creek several time (left in the photo). |
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The ride starts from the bottom of Grapevine Wash.
Immediately, you'll join the creek as it cuts through the rock of East
Reef.
Within the first 1/3 mile, you'll do several creek crossings. Riding in January, we found about 8 inches of flowing water and some very sticky mud on the creek banks. But it was possible to ride right through. The creek might be dry later in the year. The trail crosses and re-crosses the creek several times before it reaches the loop. |
| As you enter the narrow sandstone slot about 200 feet from
the trailhead, there are petroglyphs on the sandstone. Look to your left,
about 10 feet up.
Petroglyphs. |
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The trail climbs through rocky scrub, contouring around the
hill to the northeast. The toughest part of the climb is about mile two,
as the pitch gets steeper and the riding gets a little more technical.
Mike attacks a steep tech section on the climb up Historic Babylon. |
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| The slope flattens as you arrive at the top. There are views
to the west of Leeds and Silver Reef, with the Pine Valley Mountains
looming above.
Derek leads the group across the top of the mountain with Mark close behind. The Pine Valley Mountains form the background. |
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As you descend via the Little Purgatory trail, the
mountainside is steep as the trail switchbacks down toward the Virgin
River. There are sections of very technical riding. The challenge is
finding the right line, quickly, as you maintain enough speed to bang over
the rock. This will get easier as more bikers find this trail and the
lines get ridden-in.
View south at the meanders of the Virgin River as it approaches Quail Creek Reservoir. |
| I'd recommend this loop for strong and experienced technical
riders. The loop is pretty quick, so it makes a good late afternoon
"on the way into town" ride. I'd rate it both more technical and
more strenuous than Zen, which some of the riding resembles. But I'd rank
it just below Zen in overall fun factor.
Wheel-traps and fun hazards are nearly continuous for a mile of downhill. Mark makes a sudden stop. |
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Riding notes, counterclockwise loop: 0.0 Step over at gate and ride toward sandstone slot N37 12.116 W113 20.930 Petroglyphs high on your L on the sandstone Several creek crossings 0.4 Keep straight (R) on Historic Babylon N37 12.330 W113 20.958 0.5 Keep L as alternate TH path joins 1.8 Tough climb up canyon 2.3 Fence, left uphill 3.5 Summit, descend on Little Babylon 4.1 Tech stuff 5.4 At fork, L to trailhead 5.8 Back at TH From Little Babylon, view east at hoodoos in front of the Virgin River gorge. |
| Getting there: Note: the Leeds/Silver Reef I-15 exit is split in two, with each part 1.7 miles away on opposite ends of the town of Leeds. Southbound OFF and northbound ON are located north of Leeds. Northbound OFF and southbound ON are south of Leeds. Northbound from St. George, take the Leeds/Silver Reef exit. Drive north 1.7 miles through Leeds and continue north on the frontage road as you pass the freeway on-ramp. Southbound on I-15, take the Leeds/Silver Reef exit and turn left under the freeway, then left on the frontage road. From the northern I-15 access, drive north on the frontage road (east of the freeway) for 0.7 miles. Now turn right on a gravel road signed for Little Babylon and Sand Cove. Pass the Sand Cove parking area (on your left) at mile 3. Pass the alternate trailhead on your right at mile 3.5. After descending down a wash, park at the Little Babylon trailhead, 4 miles from the freeway access road. |
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| Riding resources for this trail: Single-page riding guide: View GPS track files (right-click and "Save as..."): Garmin GPX Map datum WGS 84 Topo map for printing (500K): View Lodging, camping, shops: Links to St. George area resources |
Bathroom: Sand Cove trailhead |
