Vernal Riding

[Mtnbiker]

Well, we finally got to do a little riding in Vernal over the Holiday weekend. I'd seen the trail descriptions on UMB and have been wanting to try it. I'm glad we did, they have some great stuff out there!

I talked to the bike shop in town and they claim that there are 250 miles of singletrack out there. I believe it!

anyway, we were camped up at Paradise Park Reservoir and made the short trip down to Vernal, and hit Retail Sale. Just in that one area, there were trails heading out in every direction. We rode the add-on loop to Retail called Slippery When Wet, to make a roughly 16 mile loop.

All SUPER skinny singletrack, rocky, not much sand, a few short climbs, some slickrock, but mostly just fast desert cruising! I'd call this trail system about 85% classic Fruita skinny-track and 15% Goosebery-ish features including slickrock and ledges. very fun! The quality and flow of the trails really rivals that of Fruita. Hats off to the builders. they did a great job!

The pictures aren't fantastic, but the scenery really is beautiful out there.

At just 3 hours away, it's a great alternative to Moab and Fruita for some sweet desert singletrack. I'll be back!

[mtnbiker62]

I'm gonna have to make the trip one of these days. Nice pics!

[accadacca]

Cooooooool!!!

[Mtnbiker]

Yeah we had a lot of fun. The trail seemed like it would never end.. it just kept snaking in and out of the canyons on 8" wide trail. If you didn't know any better you'd think you were in Fruita!

[Ross]

looks like a fun trip. Trails look pretty sweet too.

nice pics.

[Sombeech]

Cool pics and write up! Those skinny trails look like fun.

I want to add this to the Trip Report Index, but I'm not sure what section to put it in. Utah Valley? Or should I rename some of the sections?