More Hoes Trail

Bruce rolls over a rise early in the ride. Photos May 26, 2010 by Jake Weber, Gene Poncelet, Steve Winters, and Bruce.

More Hoes

More Hoes is a four-mile advanced technical mountain biking singletrack that climbs to a mesa top overlooking US-40 in the McCoy Flat trail system west of Vernal. To reach More Hoes, you need to ride a bit of the Got Milk trail and return via Retail Sale . The minimum ride is 7.3 miles. With Retail Sale as an optional return, the ride becomes 12.1 miles.

The actual More Hoes bike trail has only 350 feet of absolute elevation change, but up-and-down riding will add up to 800 vertical feet of climbing. There are some grunt climbs, loose corners (both uphill and down), and a few tricky spots. This makes More Hoes a ride for experts.

Steve cruises away from the junction with Got Milk. Soon desert cruising will turn to technical riding.

Bruce finishes off a stair-step descent with a ledge drop.

The ride starts on the Milk and Cookies loop, which is also the Retail Sale loop. The trail is one-way -- counterclockwise. At the fork where Retail Sale splits off (mile 1.3) keep straight (right). Pass the faint High Rollas and More Pimps that forks sharply on the right 50 feet later, and continue to the westbound Got Milk singletrack on the right 100 feet past the fork.

At mile 1.5, More Hoes forks off of Got Milk on your left. The trail will wander around, up and down. At about mile 2.5, the trail gets serious about climbing up the mesa. After a brutal 1/2 mile, you're on the mesa top.

Joel Quinn drops down a tight spot between the boulders as Bruce looks for the photo above.

The up-and-down riding will soon give way to a grunt climb to the top of the mesa.

The trail skirts the edge of the mesa, looking down at US-40 underneath, then turning south along the drop-off. The mesa ends in a narrow ridgeline. This is a fun spot, although the round (and often loose) boulders add to the challenge.

At the south end of the mesa, the trail threads along the top of a sharp ridge before plunging down.

After More Hoes, Retail Sale will seem positively tame. Follow it eastbound. Pass the Fire Sale merging trail at mile 6.2. At 6.9, you can either fork left to go back to the trailhead, or continue another five miles on Retail Sale for a longer ride.

Riding notes, shorter More Hoes loop:
0.0  From corral parking, cross road to DT
0.1 Fork R on ST (alt = 2nd ST on R)
0.3 Rejoin alternate ST
1.1 Keep R (L = Fire Sale) N40 20.830 W109 35.982
1.3 Trail merges with ATV track
        Keep R at fork (L = Retail Sale) N40 20.716 W109 36.093
1.35 Pass ST on R (High Rollas)
        Take ST on R 100 feet past Retail Sale fork
        N40 20.711 W109 36.120
(Continued next panel...)

After the first big plunge, the descent gets more fun.

An interesting trail section near the end, as the trail hugs a slope that is like petrified melting ice cream.

(More Hoes, ride notes continued...)
1.6   Fork L (R=Milk and Cookies) N40 20.811 W109 36.348
3.0   Reach mesa top
4.6   Drop off mesa
5.7   Fork R on Retail Sale   N40 20.644 W109 36.091
6.2   Keep R as Fire Sale joins N40 20.616 W109 35.647
6.9   Fork L to return (R = Retail Sale optional return)
        N40 20.759 W109 35.083
7.2   R on DT
7.3   Back at corral parking

Getting there:
While driving toward Vernal on US-40, pass mile marker 138, then turn right on the narrow paved McCoy Flats road ( N40 23.427 W109 35.752). If you miss McCoy Flats road, go to the viewpoint overlooking Vernal and backtrack exactly 2 miles, then turn left into the road. Drive 3 miles. Immediately after passing a corral on your left, turn into the large fenced BLM trailhead parking lot.

Camping: BLM land, primitive camping allowed. No developed sites.
Bathroom: At trailhead
Water: Bring your own.
Bike services, maps, trail conditions:
Altitude Cycle, 580 East Main, Vernal. 435-781-2595

McCoy Flat trails

Riding resources for this trail:
Single-page riding guide
GPS track files (right-click and "Save as..."):
   GPX More Hoes
    McCoy Flats area trails
Topo McCoy area map for printing:   View map
Lodging, camping, shops:   Links to Vernal area resources