Arizona/Utah Mountain Bike Road Trip

This past late September/ early October, we took a nice jaunt out west from the flatlands of Florida. We have been making this trip every other year, and truly enjoy it. This year's trip focused on riding some trails we didn't hit back in 2010, and doing some things we didn't have the time to do last time out.
We left Florida en route to Sedona, Arizona for our first stop. We managed to make the drive in three days, Tampa to Lafayette Louisiana being the first day, then Lafayette to Amarillo Texas, then the last day a shorter drive into Sedona. We camped along Oak Creek at Cave Springs Campground.
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This campground is one of the few in the area that have showers and offer very large sites. Advanced reservations for certain sites can be made on Recreation.gov, but the others (such as the one pictured) are on a first-come-first-serve basis. The setting is beautiful, and the campground is quiet. We took a little stroll down the creek; talk about relaxing.
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The next day was our first day of riding. We hit the well-known Bell Rock Pathway, which is smack dab in the middle of the VOC (Village of Oak Creek). You need a Red Rock Pass to park pretty much anywhere in Sedona, but these can be purchased at any Circle K or bike shop in town. We headed off on the main Bell Rock Trail, joined up with Templeton Trail, which crosses UNDER Hwy 89, then skirts along the slickrock at the base of Cathedral Rock. This trail is quite easy and offers some amazing views of the sweeping Sedona landscape. There are a couple technical sections with some rocks, but nothing so challenging you will freak out over. My girlfriend handled all the sections with relative ease.
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There is a series of switchbacks that descend down to Oak Creek near the end of the Templeton. We had to hike-a-bike for this portion, since the rocks and soil were loose and we found ourselves skidding way too much on the way down. Not to mention, there is some pretty wicked exposure that would be pretty painful for someone if they were not negotiating the switchback properly. Once down at the creek, we had a nice lunch and dipped our feet in the refreshing water. During summer, there is a swimming hole called "Buddah Beach" a little further down from this spot pictured, and it's quite a refreshing dip if you're so inclined.
We took a trail called Baldwin Trail to exit the ride. To get there, continue along the creek until you reach a sandy doubletrack that parallels a wood fenceline. The entrance to the loop is the first break in the fence on the left. This section is fun and offers some challenging singletrack. You can choose to do the whole loop then exit back out on Templeton, then head all the way back the way you came to the TH. Or, you can do what we did, ride a portion of Baldwin and then exit out onto Verde Valley School Rd., then head back to the TH via paved residential roads. There's not too much traffic, so it wasn't all that bad.

Day two:
We headed out again early to ride some other trails that spur off the Bell Rock Pathway. I researched the Llama Trail, and we decided to tackle that one this day.
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We headed off on the BRP and rode to Little Horse Trail, veered right, and joined up with the start of Llama. There are a few challenging climbs, one of which we had to hoof it because it was too much for us older folk. The trail itself offers a lot of ups and downs, some twisty singletrack, and then a slickrock ride along the base of Courthouse Towers. Instead of taking BRP back to the parking lot, we veered left to the Big Park Loops, and rode a sweet trail back to the parking lot that was mainly downhill and had a bunch of whoops. Fun times!!
On the way back to our campsite, we detoured onto Schnebly Hill Rd. I had heard there were some nice vistas from this road, and I decided that although the road is not paved, my little 2WD Nissan Frontier could handle it. We made it about 1/4 of the way before having to turn around before our teeth rattled out of our heads. This is NOT a good road for a passenger sedan and a crappy road at best for 2wd pickups. A lot of Jeeps zipped right by us; we will be coming back out here in 2014 with the Wrangler. The sights just from this portion of road were amazing; I can only imagine what the rest is like:
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Last Day in Sedona, then en route to Page, AZ via the Grand Canyon.
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We packed up camp early, then hit the road and went up I17 though Flagstaff and then toward the Grand Canyon. We spent some time watching elk in the park, and enjoyed the scenic vistas from the different viewpoints. The South Rim is very crowded-almost like a Disneyland-like atmosphere. I plan on foregoing the south rim next time in exchange for the north rim. I hear it is much more laid-back and nowhere near as busy.
We ended up in Page around sunset, and set up camp at Wahweap RV park. I made advanced reservations here right online through Aramark. The place is crowded, offers little to no shade (be forewarned, summer tent campers), but has laundry and shower facilities.It was nice to be able to do our laundry after a week of being on the road and camping. Our clothes were starting to ripen in the laundry bag pretty bad.

We decided to rent a jet ski out on Lake Powell and do a little exploring on the lake. The weather was absolutely beautiful, the water was crystal-clear (hovering around 76-78 degrees at best), and we needed a short break from riding. There is only one trail in and around Page called the Rim Trail. It's considered a very easy beginner trail, but I hadn't seen many accolades about it, so we decided to skip it and get our feet wet instead. Besides, what's the point of being next to the second largest man made reservoir in the US and not partake in it's beauty?
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We launched from Antelope Point Marina, which I HIGHLY recommend for anyone with smaller craft. Wahweap is overcrowded, and if the Castle Rock cut isn't open, it's a loooong haul to get to the main portion of the lake. Antelope has a nice ramp and docks, and it is a newer facility with plenty of parking. I have launched before at Wahweap, and I will never go back there unless I rent a houseboat.
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We putted out along the lake, took a side trip down Navajo and Face Canyons, found a nice little private cove with some fun slickrock hiking, had our lunch next to crystal-blue/green water, then ventured out onto Padre Bay, taking in the sights and skirting along the shoreline. Wishing we had more time, we left Padre and headed back toward Antelope Canyon, where the afternoon winds and subsequent chop started beating us up on the little ski. We decided to take a little trip down to the dam and the "Chains" beach area that is one of the only foot-accessible/beach points of the lake from Page (aside from Lone Rock Beach, of course).We made it back with plenty of gas to spare in the Honda Aquatrax, loaded up, and dropped the ski off. There are a lot of jetski rental places in Page, but they are EXPENSIVE. I recommend trying out Skylight Boat Rental in Big Water, Utah. Their rates put the Page operators to shame, and they run a very organized business.:nod:
We grabbed some steaks in town from Wal Mart, and ended the day with some beer and good food.

We loaded up the next day and headed out of Page en route to Red Canyon, UT, which is within the boundary of Bryce Canyon, NP. We set up camp at Red Canyon campground (no reservations, first come only). The campground is in a beautiful setting, with red rock views right from outside your tent. Don't let its proximity to the road discourage you; it's one of the quietest campsites within this area. I have camped at Sunset CG in Bryce itself, and this place is a lot better scenery wise as well as crowd-wise. Not to mention it's one of the cleanest campgrounds I have ever stayed in.
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We had a cold night (got down to 37 degrees) bundled up in out sleeping bag, and woke up to a beautiful day. We were here for one reason only: to ride Thunder Mountain bike trail. The trail is one large loop, consisting of a total of roughly 14 to 17 miles depending on where you start off. I recommend leaving right from the campground and riding the paved multi-use trail that skirts alongside Utah 12 and climbs steadily for about 3 miles. This is one good cardio workout, and not a ride you want to make if you are not acclimated to the altitude...which runs between 7000 to 8650 feet throughout the whole ride. Once at the end of the trail, veer right onto a gravel doubletrack road that heads off to the Coyote Hollow trailhead and the start of Thunder Mountain trail proper. Again, be prepared for some more climbing and rapid descents before you hit the summit in excess of 8600 feet. Enjoy the views.
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From there, the scenery changes from the pine forest you were riding in to an awesome landscape of red rock hoodoos and twisty singletrack with some challenging lung-busting climbs and some wicked descents. The trail switchbacks down some rocky terrain before branching off to the right to head back to the campground- but this last 1.5 mile portion is the best. It's a sinewy singletrack ALL DOWNHILL. What a reward. Crank down it and tear it up...it's a blast. This trail is one of the best. It offers scenery, a great mix of downhills and uphills, and is one of the nicest trails to ride. Don't miss it.

The next day we got up to do this ride again, but barely a mile and a half into it, I missed a shift and DESTROYED my rear derailleur and broke the hanger right in half. After a quick fix and a singlespeed conversion, we limped back to the parking lot and decided to call it a day.
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yes, my cogs are hideously dirty. Part of the reason it contributed to my missed shift. Just a word of caution: there are no bike repair facilities anywhere close to Panguitch and Red Canyon. If you bust something, you're done. In this case, I had to wait until Moab before riding again. I called ahead to Rim Cyclery in Moab and they advised they'd be able to fix it in a few hours, so I felt a lot better.
At least we took in some sights at Bryce Canyon...
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Out last night in Red Canyon..
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http://youtu.be/opcu6bS2RWc
A short video as we headed down a slot in Navajo Canyon..


Sent from my iPhone4S using Tapatalk

Wow, looks like an epic trip!

We dipped out of Bryce early to get on the road for a long day. The drive is not technically far, it's LONG because it's an extremely scenic one. Utah Scenic Byway 12 is the only way to travel between Bryce and Moab, if you ask me. The road snakes through Capitol Reef National Park, some beautiful scenery in the Dixie National Forest, through portions of the San Rafael Swell, and a few small towns in the middle of seemingly nowhere. We stopped numerous times along the way to take pictures of the Aspens along the road, and hiked off a little side road to take some nice pictures of a stream and the trees changing color.
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We stopped off in Capitol Reef where we took pictures of some petroglyphs and enjoyed the awesomeness of the area.
We drove past Hanksville where we turned off and joined Ut24 that eventually ran into I70 East. We were in Moab by late afternoon, set up camp at Devil's Garden Campground in Arches National Park (reservations made via Recreation.gov, site #....eh, I won't divulge too much info), then quickly drove to the Delicate Arch TH where we hauled butt up the slickrock to make the arch by sunset.
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The next day we headed off to Canyonlands National Park, where we took a couple hikes. One on the Aztec Butte Trail to see some ancient Pueblo granaries atop a mesa. I tried to see the path to get to the false kiva, but due to spotty cell reception and not being properly prepared, we never found the route. Live and learn. Next time I'll bring my handheld Garmin and waypoint it before I go. We also took a quick hike to Mesa Arch right off the main roadway. This arch is particularly beautiful at sunrise, so if you head over to it around that time prepare to get some great shots.
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Also had time to cram in a quick ride on Amasa Back Trail, which runs off Kane Creek right at the south end of town. Drive to the TH parking lot, do the brief climb to the Cliffhanger/Amasa Back trail, then get ready for a rough climb over boulders and skirting along ledges with a deadly drop off (doubletrack wide, but hairy nontheless), culminating in a slickrock lung-buster to the top of an overlook called the Amasa Back. Enjoy the views at the top of the Colorado River and the Potash plant, then bomb it all the way downhill to your vehicle. A nice out-and-back that shouldn't take you all that long.
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Later that evening we took a horseback ride out at Red Cliffs Lodge, which is off of the Colorado River Scenic byway running out of Moab. Great horses, great views.

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The last day before we headed home, we rode at Slickrock. My first time out there and I loved every minute of it. I have to say that this trail will test every limit of nerve, endurance and resolve you have. The uphills are rough, the downhills are fun but can get downright hairy, and the scenery is downright amazing. This is certainly not a beginner level trail. The Hell's Revenge trail intersects Slickrock bike trail numerous times, and it's even rough going in a motorized 4x4! Regardless, it was an epic ride and a great way to finish out the trip. The Sand Flats rec area is really awesome if you have four-wheelers or OHV's also. I'll definitely be back out here with the Jeep one day.

Here's a vid I took from Thunder Mountain back in 2010. Wish I had some newer footage..:angryfire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5e9bCh0LmQ&feature=share&list=PLF 8F8D5A80 1E1C6C3

Sweet Trip!!:2thumbs: