| Three Peaks Trail System |
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The Three Peaks Trail System has lots of goodies:
singletrack loops of varying length and difficulty, and
a technical rock area that's definitely worth your attention. This trail system is located just northwest of Cedar City at the Three Peaks recreation area, at an
altitude of 5800 feet. Peak altitude is 6150 for the loop rides. Riding season is
March through early December, but the trails are often clear of snow and
dry during breaks between winter storms. While it's much cooler than St.
George, Three Peaks gets hot on mid-summer afternoons.
View south from the Three Peaks Loop. Rough granite outcrops mix with pinion pine and juniper. Photos June 11, 2003. |
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| Let's start with the picnic and camping area itself. Large junipers and pink granite compete for
space. At least for now, there are no signs saying you can't play on the rock outcrops near the
picnic pavilion. ATV's and trials motorcycles play here, so you might as
well, too. There's some excellent hucking potential here, and you could spend most of the
day contentedly attacking the rocks. Rocks within the picnic/camping area provide lots of entertainment! Here Alex (age 14) maneuvers through the granite obstacle course. August 2004. |
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The trail system is maintained by the Color Country Cycling
Club. It's well-designed and fun.
Three loops start from the same trail. The easiest is the Race Loop. This singletrack climbs up to the ridgeline, then plunges back down. I'd rate it an intermediate technical, but beginners can manage nicely if they walk a couple of very short rocky side-tilted areas on the trail. On the ridge, Alex and Kristen pause while riding the Race Loop. August 2004.
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| The Big Hole Loop is an upper-intermediate ride, 7 miles long, with about 500 feet of climbing.
The route follows singletrack below a rock-quarry area on the far side of the
mountain. A slightly shorter
and easier upper route (used for racing) follows doubletrack above the
quarry. (See Ride Notes.)
From the Three Peaks Loop, you'll see other mountain ranges, where several mines are visible. The igneous intrusion that created Three Peaks brought iron, which deposited in nearby limestone. (You'll ride through a limestone strata on the northern end of the Loop.) |
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The Three Peaks Loop is my favorite. This is an advanced ride 10.2 miles in length, with up-and-down riding equal to about 1000 feet of climbing. There are some technical stunts such as
Double-take Drop, and some very interesting granite slickrock on the south side. The granite is
worth mentioning: this fine-grained pink granite presents a riding surface you won't find
elsewhere in Utah. The traction is so good that you'll be able to make moves on the granite that
you couldn't do on sandstone.
Some trail markers show a bit of whimsy. You'll see old road bikes, carts, vacuum cleaner, and other weird stuff marking the trail. This tree is found on the Big Hole Loop. There are numerous bike parts such as chains, a lizard, an eagle, used cow parts, etc.
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| Riding Notes, Race Loop: 0.0 Left (west) towards camping 0.1 ST goes over rock on R, Follow ST as it crosses DT 0.4 L on DT at fence 0.5 Straight off DT onto ST, N 37 46.330' W 113 10.601' 0.7 R on DT through fence, then R 1.4 Fork R (L = Three Peaks), N 37 46.531' W 113 11.251' Climb hill on DT, 6100 ft 1.5 Hilltop, veer R and stay on DT 2.0 R onto ST. N 37 46.940' W 113 11.038' 2.3 Fork R (L = Big Hole), N 37 47.058' W 113 10.948' 2.7 Fork R, join Big Hole, N 37 46.957' W 113 10.675' 3.5 Straight off DT, enter rocks 4.0 Back at road fork An area of open granite slickrock on Three Peaks. The trees are growing in cracks in the rock. |
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 Cruising downhill on the Race Loop. Looking southeast. |
Riding notes, Big Hole Loop: 0.0 Left (west) towards camping 0.1 ST goes over rock on R, Follow ST as it crosses DT 0.4 L on DT at fence 0.5 Straight off DT onto ST N 37 46.330' W 113 10.601' 0.7 R on DT through fence, then R 1.4 Fork R (L = Three Peaks), N 37 46.531' W 113 11.251' 1.5 Hilltop, cross onto ST on (Race itself follows DT) 2.2 ST merges L onto DT 2.3 L off DT on ST 2.4 Cross DT 2.5 Fork L (R = Race Loop), N 37 47.058' W 113 10.948' 3.3 Fork R (L = Three Peaks), N 37 46.968' W 113 11.438' 3.4 DT, cross for lower route (DT = upper route 0.1 shorter) 4.0 ST merges L onto DT 4.1 Fork R onto ST (joins upper trail). N 37 47.255' W 113 10.985' 5.7 Fork L, join Race Loop, N 37 46.957' W 113 10.675' 6.6 Straight off DT, enter rocks 7.0 Back at road fork |
| Riding Notes, Three Peaks Loop ccwise: 0.0 Left (west) towards camping 0.1 ST goes over rock on R Follow ST as it crosses DT 0.4 L on DT at fence 0.5 Straight off DT onto ST N 37 46.330' W 113 10.601' 0.7 R on DT through fence, then R 1.4 Fork R (L = Three Peaks) N 37 46.531' W 113 11.251' Climb hill on DT, 6100 ft 1.5 Hilltop, cross onto ST on L (Race itself follows DT) 2.2 ST merges L onto DT 2.3 L off DT on ST 2.4 Cross DT 2.5 Fork L (R = Race Loop) N 37 47.058' W 113 10.948' alt=6150' |
3.3 Fork R (L = Three Peaks) N 37 46.968' W 113 11.438' 3.5 Fork R (L = Cutoff, 0.7 miles) N 37 46.969' W 113 11.545' 4.5 Cross DT, follow DT up canyon N 37 46.594' W 113 12.110' alt=5800' 4.7 Straight on DT (L = up on Cutoff) N 37 46.518' W 113 11.972' alt=5800' 4.8 Hard R uphill on ST N 37 46.482' W 113 11.933' 5.8 Cross ridge onto S side of mtn 7.1 Slickrock area, watch for paint and rock piles 7.4 Exit slickrock Climb up over ridge 8.8 Fork R, joining Race Loop Retrace trail back 10.2 Pavillion |
| Getting there: Just north of Cedar City, take the Enoch/Minersville I-15 exit #62. Go north on U-130 (towards Minersville) 2.6 miles, then turn left on Midvalley Road. Drive 6 miles straight west.
Just past a large graded parking area , turn right on a gravel road (with flag poles and Three
Peaks sign). At the fork in the road, turn right to the picnic pavillion, GPS N 37 46.172' W 113
10.259'. The fork in the road west of the pavillion (near the bathroom) will be the starting point for
all rides. Begin by traveling west (left as you drive into Three Peaks)
from this fork, finding the singletrack 0.1 mile down this doubletrack.
[Simplified single-page riding guide designed for printing] [Go to
UtahMountainBiking.com's Trails Options Page] |
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For lodging in the Cedar City area, as well as travel guides and information on other activities, may we
suggest: |
