HURRICANE / ST. GEORGE, UT
Physical Exertion: Intermediate+ / Technical Ability: Intermediate+
What to Expect in Hurricane: Technical slickrock riding, flowy singletrack, and BIG views!
The area of Hurricane and St. George is often overlooked as a mountain bike destination thanks to competition from nearby Moab and Sedona, but make no mistake: St. George deserves to be right up there. Sitting next to Snow Canyon State Park and Zion National Park, St. George has a unique landscape that’s perfect for all-day riding. Some of the most famous rides in the world reside near St. George, like Gooseberry Mesa and Hurricane Rim.
The riding in St. George is unique as well, with no major climbs; here, you’ll find mostly rolling terrain with technical, twisty singletrack to keep you on your toes. There are numerous trail systems either in town, or within a 15 minute drive, and you’ll want a local to show you the ropes. That’s why we work intimately with Utah Mountain Bike Adventures to diversify our itineraries and make sure we’re riding the best of the best; it’s not hard in St. George.
Airport Options: St. George (10 min) – Las Vegas (1.5 hrs) – Salt Lake City (4 hrs)
“The Hurricane trip with Chasing Epic was truly epic in every way: breathtaking landscapes, technical terrain followed by descents winding through the desert, cutting through colored sedimentary layers of millions of years past. Our guide adjusted well to our group and challenged us with hidden trails and techniques. The 4 days were balanced so not to blow up our muscles! Steve was very well organized with all aspects of our 4-day trip. Our adventure brought us so much joy- we will definitely be back!”
WHAT TO EXPECT
Day One: We’ll meet up as a group in Hurricane (likely in Washington, which is centrally located halfway between Hurricane and St. George) around 5:30pm on the first evening. You’ll have time to unpack and get settled before we set up or build bikes, along with a welcome dinner and drinks. Get your rest, we’ve got a big itinerary planned the next three days!
Day Two: Today we’re going to hop in the shuttle and head for world-famous Gooseberry Mesa in Hurricane, a bumpy 30-minute drive away. Gooseberry Mesa doesn’t have much climbing at all, but it makes up for it with swooping slickrock descents, technical roll-overs, and edge-of-the-rim riding that will blow you away. The aesthetics of this ride are off the charts; this is one for the ages, so we’ll make sure to ride every square inch of the mesa, totaling about 15-18 miles for the day.
One of our favorite things to do with extra time in the afternoon is to shuttle the JEM Trail, so that’s what we have planned (optional, of course). We’ll drop off at the “top” of the ride, and you’ll get 7+ miles of ripping fast (and mostly smooth) descent down to the Virgin River. Yep, it’s as fun as it sounds.
Day Three: After eating breakfast, we’ll head to Little Creek Mesa, due east of Hurricane. Little Creek is often viewed as the little brother of Gooseberry, but make no mistake: in our books, it’s every bit as fun. Our guides built and maintain the trails out here, so we’re in for a treat- the riding includes long stretches of slickrock cruising, smooth packed dirt singletrack, and views into Zion National Park. The ride total will come in somewhere around 16 miles, with just over 1000 feet of climbing.
We’ll present another optional ride in the afternoon, with a shuttle of the Grafton Mesa trails (about 6-8 miles with 500′ of climbing and 1500′ of descent). These are some of the most technical and rowdy of the trip, so make sure you’ve got enough gas left in the tank!
Day Four: It’s finally here, the last day of our Hurricane trip. This morning we’ll head to the west side of St. George into Santa Clara, which is where the Zen and Barrel trails are located. This double loop will test your technical skills for sure, with lots of chunk and optional lines to satisfy every rider. All told, today’s ride will be about 12-14 miles and 2000′ of climbing/descending. Things wrap up around lunchtime today, which will give you plenty of time to start the journey home.