Utah Vacation

It's nearly time for an annual pilgrimige to Moab. I fly out with 3 friends from London Heathrow on 9th Sept heading for Denver.

We holiday for two weeks, hiring a van to get us around. For the last few trips we've spent the second week split between Moab and Fruita and this year is no different.

Previous trips have seen us ride Colorado's front range, gooseberry/jem, Sedona etc. This year, for the first week we'll head first to Laramie WY for a couple of days and then head across to Salt Lake City.

We should arrive in SLC the evening of Monday the 12th Sept, we'll be around until Friday 16th when we head to Moab. So, we have three full days to ride in and around SLC. Where do we head for?

Bear in mind we're 4 flatlanders from sea-level England!

Welcome to the site slimtim. Where in England are you guys from? Sombeech and myself where in England for two years. The trails here are endless..... :cool2: Tell us what you like to ride? Moab is certainly much flatter. In the SLC area it is all mountain riding, well the good stuff anyway. If you haven't looked thru the trip index. That would be a good place to get some info and photos. What is your riding experience and what kind of bikes do you ride. We could take you on some epic rides around here.

Oh yeah..what do you have planned for Laramie?? :ne_nau:

http://uutah.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=651

Two of us are from Nottingham and two from Derby. Both towns slap in the middle of the country.

Three of us ride cross-country full sussers and I have a hardtail Cannondale. The preference is definately for singletrack over jumps and hucking (!!). The climbing is okay - we're not in a rush - but the altitude may be a problem at least to start with. I remember a first day ride at Walker Ranch near Denver on a previous trip and that hurt.

We aim to hit the Happy Jack Rd trails when in Laramie. It's more to break up the drive from Denver to SLC more than anything else. I'm struggling to find a trail map or details of the rides there.

Welcome, slimtim!
Yeah, like accadacca said, he and I spent some time in East Anglia, and London.

If you aren't into climbing that much, we don't blame you. I'm not that fond of it either.
For the SLC area, I would suggest the Wasatch Crest. If you shuttle up, it's about 22 miles, with 19 miles of downhill. Here is a link for it with pictures.

http://uutah.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=591

By the way, do you have any pictures from your previous holidays here? We'd love to see them.
Cheers.

Don't forget www.utahmountainbiking.com for trail descriptions. Someone else will have to point out which are the good ones since I don't know the SLC area.

If you like the single track. The SLC area has all you blokes can take. As mentioned the site above has endless trail info. Once you get some ideas of trails. We would be happy to answer any specific questions here. Myself and others on here have ridden many of the trails in the valley. :five:

utahmountainbiking.com has been a great resource on previous trips. Constant routefinding can really ruin things and just having a waypoint for the trailhead helps a great deal. We always travel with a gps unit now.

Anyhow, a bit of research on the site has led me to look at:

Big Spring Hollow Trail, Deer Creek South Fork Loop and Blackhawk Loop Trail.

Are these good choices?

Hmmm....I have not ridden any Utah County trails for a while. Several years.....I do remember some of my favorites though. I have ridden the tibble fork trail many times and I believe it is part of the Deer Creek south fork trail. The tibble fork trail is in that same area and I would highly recommend it. The down hill is awesome and as good as any mountain down hill in the state. The other two look like nice little trails. I didn't see any red flags come up reading the description and thinking about the area.

http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/tibble.htm

It makes me really appreciate living in Utah when I read posts like this. 4 friends flying over the pond from jolly old England. It doesn't get any better then mountain biking in Utah. We have this stuff in our backyard and yet some people never try any of the outdoor sports that Utah has to offer. Bow down to Utah.......a mecca for all things outdoors... :hail2thechief: :hail2thechief: :hail2thechief: :hail2thechief:

Let me know what other trails you are interested in. I go with a group every Tuesday and ride a different trail. We could go check one out and do a pre-run for you guys. Then post a TR with pictures and the lot on here.

If you are planning on riding in Utah County, Tibble Fork is a great trail, as are many of the trails up American Fork Canyon. I would also suggest stopping at the Bike Peddler in American Fork (On Main Street) to ask them about some trails, the people that work there know their stuff. Around Salt Lake, Millcreek Canyon has the Pipeline Trail and Dog Lake, both of which are great. You should be able to find both on the UMB site

In addition to suggested rides, are there any sights that we should see while in and around SLC? You know, touristy-type stuff.

This might sound kind of goofy, but the LDS (Mormon) Temple in Salt Lake is pretty cool to see. It was built all built by hand from granite found in Little Cottonwood Canyon in the 1800's. Plus it is surrounded by gardens and lots of other cool stuff. I dunno, just a thought

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Originally Posted by slimtim

In addition to suggested rides, are there any sights that we should see while in and around SLC? You know, touristy-type stuff.

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This is a stumper for me, because the rides and hikes are what I would call the tourist attractions.

True, the Temple Square is always cool to see.

It depends how far outside of SLC you want to travel, and how much time you want to spend.

There's some great restaurants and clubs in SLC. Also, contrary to popular belief, there's some good breweries there too.

The Gateway is fun to go through. This is basically a shopping center right on the west side of the city center.

I'm not sure when the Soccer (football) season ends, but SLC has a new team that you could go watch.

Park City would be fun to check out. I can't remember when the Sundance Film Festival is. Anybody know if these guys will be here in time?

You can always rent some Jet Skis, or a boat and do some wakeboarding.

And finally, if you are in Moab, you might as well rent a Jeep for half a day. There's some spectacular trails you'd never do on a bike.

Go check out Kennecott's open-pit copper mine -- the largest open pit mine in the world!!!

The Great Salt Lake - Not much to do out there, but its worth a look just to say you've seen it.

Alpine slide in Park City is fun!

Sundance Film Fest isn't until February.

Some other options if you don't feel like climbing much in the mountains when you get here is to hit a couple of the ski resorts and try out their summer trails. They usually have other fun stuff to do and you can get some incredible views. I haven't biked at any of the SLC or PC resorts so I don't have recommendations, but maybe some others here can comment on them.

Only a few days to go now. The bike is packed and the itinerary is pretty much finished.

We'll be staying in the Lehi area - any suggestions for post-ride evening refuelling. Breweries/big food always goes down well.

Utah county is a little light on brewerys.
Yahoo searches for either come up empty.
You should be able to sample most local microbrews at the resturants, though.
Only one bar comes up online
http://yp.yahoo.com/py/ypMap.py?Pyt=...r:regT:1:fbT:0

Sorry to hear you're staing in Happy Valley....
:lol8:

Have van, will travel - is there anywhere worthy a little further afield?

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Originally Posted by slimtim

Have van, will travel - is there anywhere worthy a little further afield?

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http://www.bohemianbrewery.com

I go here for lunch every now and then. More like dinner tho. The food is AMAZING and I have heard the drinks are too. The deserts are also to die for! A 20 minute drive from Lehi, just down the motorway (I-15). I would highly recommend it! Anyone else been there? Kitty corner from Hooters. http://hooters.com :slobber1: Not for FOOD! :lol8:

Probably one of the better places in the southern SLC area is the relatively new Iggy's in Sandy (just off 10600 south exit). From Lehi, you're probably about 10-15 minutes away (to the north).

They have pretty good food, lots of local beers & some others, and it's a sports bar so the atmosphere is good. IMO, they have the best cheese fries I've ever had - and ask for fry sauce, it's a Utah 'thing' but you'll like it.