Red Mountain Trail

The Red Mountain Loop Trail is just outside of Cedar City. Because it's low in altitude (6000 feet), it's free of snow from April to November. It's a loop singletrack with some advanced technical riding. Although only 3 miles in length, this isn't a cushy ride. Top to bottom altitude change is only 200 feet, but there are countless quick ups and downs.

View up into the riding area. Vertical fins of rock create rockin' rollin' technical riding as the singletrack winds through the area. Photos by Bruce Argyle, July 23, 2001.

UtahMountainBiking.com is your source for bike trail info, repair instructions, feature articles, first aid, fitness, and goodies.
The trail winds around in a wash, then climbs up onto sharp fins of dirt and rock. The turns are quick and constant; the sudden (but brief) uphills are often brutal stand-on-the-pedals-and-grunt; and the downhills have a definite thrill-factor. This trail is a good workout, and it's a riot to ride.

In the middle of the ride, the trail rises to its highest point on this fin, before descending sharply. Looking north, we see the farming areas north of Cedar City.

The "badlands" over which this trail passes are sedimentary deposits from the Triassic Period -- the age of reptiles, mammal-like reptiles, and the first bipedal dinosaurs. The steep tilt of the sediment planes was caused by "dragging" of blocks of rock by the Hurricane Fault, a southern version of the Wasatch Fault that separates the Great Basin from the mountains of eastern Utah. 

Rabbitbrush blooms at the trailside.
In the summer, you'll want to hit this trail early in the morning. 8 a.m. temperatures often are in the low 60's, yet by 10 a.m. are climbing into the 80s. Because you'll be working hard, the cool temperature is very comfortable.

At the northernmost end of the ride, near the catch-basin reservoir, looking north.

You may be a bit timid the first run around the loop. That's OK. Scout the territory, then "tear it up" on the second loop. I guarantee, two loops will make you feel like you've had a ride.

A typical trail segment, as the trail plummets and twists into a wash. Note the vertical orientation of the rock strata.

Trailhead: doubletrack in wash on left side of U-14
0.6 trail forks at top of ridge, turn left
0.8 on razorback ridge
1.2 descending off ridge, watch for right turn (if you wind up on ATV track, go north and rejoin trail)
1.5 off singletrack onto gravel road, turn right and go past the flood reservoir
1.7 turn right at fork, doubletrack becomes singletrack
2.0 fork on pass, turn right and pick route down into wash
2.4 back at fork on top of ridge, go left and descend into wash
3.0 back at trailhead

For a one-page trail guide for your printer, click here!

Getting there: On Cedar City's Main Street, turn east (towards the mountains) on Center Street, U-14. Travel 0.9 mile from the turn. Note the dirt doubletrack on the left. Find a place to park (most bikers use the truck-turnaround 100 yards up the road on the right). Trailhead GPS is N 37° 40.441' W 113° 02.735'.

For lodging in the Cedar City area, as well as travel guides and information on other activities, may we suggest:
General information, lodging:  http://www.go-utah.com/cedar-city 
Brian Head Resort:  http://www.brianhead.com/   http://www.go-utah.com/Brian-Head 
Cedar Breaks:  http://www.nps.gov/cebr/   http://www.utah.com/nationalsites/cedar_breaks.htm 
Dixie National Forest site:  http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/dixie/recreation/ 
 Cedar City area BLM info:  http://www.ut.blm.gov/cedarcity_fo/ 
Red Canyon Info:  http://www.zionnational-park.com/red-canyon-utah.htm 
Utah National Forest Camping and Picnic sites:  http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/maps/brochures/camp_picnick_utah.pdf
Bryce Canyon National Park:  http://www.nps.gov/brca  http://www.bryce.canyon.national-park.com/ 
Zion National Park:  http://www.nps.gov/zion/    http://www.zion.national-park.com/   http://www.zioncanyon.com/ 

[Go to UtahMountainBiking.com's Trails Options Page]
Copyright 2002 Mad Scientist Software Inc