# Bikepacking adventures in Utah. Where do you go?



## dustyduke22 (Aug 22, 2006)

Hey Guys and Gals,

I am hoping that I can find some good resources here since the interweb searches are not being very helpful. I am seeing info on the White Rim trail and other popular routes, but thats a bit over my head for now.

I recently moved to Northern Utah and am starting to plan some bikepacking adventures for the winter and next year. I also recently started volunteering at the Boy Scouts, and would love to do some bikepacking with them to get them out in nature. If the winter continues like it is, there won't be much snow to worry about.

*My question is where do you folks go in the Utah backcountry that is not wilderness?* I have been looking at many of the hiking and backpacking websites and there are so many amazing destination, but upon further investigation, most end up being in wilderness protected land.

I am not looking for the week-long adventures, I am hoping to find routes that are anywhere from an overnighter to perhaps 2 or 3 nights.

I know that there is some non-wilderness in the Uinta range, so that is an option. Including that, where do you folks go?

Thanks so much!

Dusty


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## johnnyspoke (Sep 15, 2005)

If you look through this sub, someone posted up a trip out around the silver island mountains by Wendover. That might be a good one for the winter.

I've done overnighters starting from Diamond fork up 2nd water over the ridge and down along the strawberry narrows trail, and back the next day coming down 5th water for a soak in the hot springs 1 mile from the car. 60 miles total, about 30 each day.


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## tim208 (Apr 23, 2010)

white rim


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## CrashTheDOG (Jan 4, 2004)

The Forgotten Trails of the Uintas on Vimeo


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## dgw2jr (Aug 17, 2011)

Have you checked out Dixie National Forest? Not a winter option but there are hundreds of miles of trail down there. Mostly ATV and double track but the Virgin River Rim is singletrack.


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## wolfmansbro (May 25, 2004)

BLM land, find a dirt road and just go exploring. All forest roads are in. find an area, no agenda and follow any path that you find


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## jan_nikolajsen (Oct 28, 2011)

Kokopelli's Trail. 140 miles. Search this forum or interweb for tips.


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## mtn_cyclist (Oct 29, 2013)

dustyduke22 said:


> Hey Guys and Gals,
> 
> I am hoping that I can find some good resources here since the interweb searches are not being very helpful. I am seeing info on the White Rim trail and other popular routes, but thats a bit over my head for now.
> 
> ...


My son and I bike packed the Cedar Mesa area last spring. Off road and some pavement. We explored lots of ruins and basically had an amazing time. It was hot during the day, frigid at night.


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## dustyduke22 (Aug 22, 2006)

Thanks for the responses guys. Like I said before, we are just getting our feet wet, so embarking on the White Rim or Koiapelli trail is not a reality.

I will start exploring some of the trails and routes up in Northern Utah. Single over nighters are what we are after right now, not multi day extreme adventures


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## slcpunk (Feb 4, 2004)

Check out posts by this user in the Utah forum. He's done some good things. Not sure about scout friendly ... but ....

couple of examples:
TR: Point A to Point Rad
and
http://forums.mtbr.com/utah/trip-report-more-utah-awesomeness-pic-heavy-825229.html
and
http://forums.mtbr.com/passion/exploring-utahs-paunsaugunt-plateau-utah-xpost-822023.html

I swear there was one other guy that made some trip report posts of multi-day adventures, but I searched and searched and couldn't spot it. Maybe it was utahmountainbiking.com ...


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## jmmUT (Sep 15, 2008)

Here's my write-up of the Silver Island ride at the Salt Flats http://forums.mtbr.com/bikepacking-...-overnight-utah-salt-flats-easter-909316.html

If you do the typical loop around the mountains it's longer but all easy dirt road. I went out to floating island and back (easy) then looped just Cobb peak over a mountain pass (more difficult)

Also look up Skyline drive. It's a 75 mile scenic dirt road that people call the White Rim of the Wasatch

Another popular mixed terrain ride is there is a dirt road in the summer that will take you from Huntsville to Cache Valley so you can make a Ogden to Logan ride off the major highways.

There is also a group for Bikepacking in Utah on Meetup.com I can't remember the name but search for Utah Bikepacking and you should find it. The person who runs it is awesome and super nice and inclusive. Their trips vary from easy and short to tougher and long. And they are not bike-jocks either. Some have done things like the CDT but they are more for fun and enjoyment versus crazy endurance and speed on their rides. I'd recommend going with them to learn the little things you can't learn but by doing and being shown. You can look at their past rides too for ideas.


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## TBMD9er (May 22, 2009)

*Transcontinental Railroad National Back Country Byway*

We are planning a fall family trip on this. 90 miles of the original rail bed from Golden Spike to Lucin. Will probably have to do a water stash and shuttle. Lots of little ghost towns and a cemetery to explore. Should be some brilliant stars at night. Anyone else do this as a bike tour? 
A few links:
Transcontinental Railroad Grade

www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/ut/s...ific_railroad.Par.61216.File.dat/CPRG_map.pdf

Not our trip, but some good photos.
Our Four Wheel Camper: Driving the Transcontinental Railroad National Back Country Byway


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## brentos (May 19, 2006)

There are some great places to camp in American Fork for an overnighter. Part of day one in the trip report linked below. There is also some camping at either the northern or southern end of this three day route, also quite a bit in the middle along Skyline Drive. Heck, it's probably even allowed along Crest trail. We didn't bike pack this route, but it would make for a great bikepacking trip, or hotel to hotel trip, or support vehicle trip (as we did).

Some sections are steep or overgrown. But these challenges are isolated to the areas from American Fork to Brighton (steep), and from Big Mountain to Skyline Drive (steep & overgrown).

Epic Ride: Wasatch Traverse - Crankjoy: Mountain bike inspiration, gear reviews and trail beta.

If you need any more details reply or send a PM.


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## Rednblackbike (Apr 8, 2012)

There are some excellent Canyons to be explored in eastern Utah. Outside of Bluff there is a jeep road into John's Canyon which has some nice camping, ghost stories, and petroglyphs. a good overnight


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## TBMD9er (May 22, 2009)

*Trip Report Transcontinental railway from Golden Spike to Lucin*

Did a family trip on this route over labor day weekend. Getting the shuttle set-up along with a couple water stashes was a bit of a PITA and took about 4 hours to do on Saturday but well worth it. We started riding from the visitor center around 2:30pm on Saturday and made it about 30 miles to nice camp spot around Elinor. Rode 52 miles to just a little past Terrace on Sunday, and finished up around 11:30am on Monday with the last 20 miles to Lucin. It was a great intro for the kids into bike touring and they had a blast. I was with our 11 year old on the tandem, and my wife and 13 year old were on their mountain bikes. The first 1/3 of the route was a bit white-trashy, shot guns shells, clay pigeon debree and a few remains of pallet bonfires. The last 70 miles from Kelton on was really pristine and we didn't see another soul the whole time.
Here's the map.

http://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/b...ific_railroad.Par.61216.File.dat/CPRG_map.pdf

I also have the whole route GPS tracked if anyone is interested.


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## johnnyspoke (Sep 15, 2005)

That looks really cool! Thanks for sharing.


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## squidward (Apr 16, 2008)

Have to agree that likes like a great trip. Nice way to introduce the kids to bike touring/packing.


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## lentamentalisk (Jul 21, 2015)

Hi guys,
Please excuse my complete ignorance. My company is having a meeting in Park City in mid November (as I understand it, probably too early for ski season. Do you think there is anything I could reasonably bikepack leaving directly from my hotel in Park City? It looks like if I go due east 15 miles I'll end up in Ashley National Forest, which appears to allow "Dispersed camping" (ie: stealth camping) pretty much anywhere there is a road and no buildings.
My primary concerns are that it will be cold (I'll bring a 20deg bag, a tent, and lots of warm layers) and that the roads will be not just closed to cars, but actually impassable by bike. 

If I can't reasonably bikepack, I'd still love to get a bike ride in, so I'd love to hear any suggestions you have for that too.


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## stremf (Dec 7, 2012)

lentamentalisk said:


> Hi guys,
> Please excuse my complete ignorance. My company is having a meeting in Park City in mid November (as I understand it, probably too early for ski season. Do you think there is anything I could reasonably bikepack leaving directly from my hotel in Park City? It looks like if I go due east 15 miles I'll end up in Ashley National Forest, which appears to allow "Dispersed camping" (ie: stealth camping) pretty much anywhere there is a road and no buildings.
> My primary concerns are that it will be cold (I'll bring a 20deg bag, a tent, and lots of warm layers) and that the roads will be not just closed to cars, but actually impassable by bike.
> 
> If I can't reasonably bikepack, I'd still love to get a bike ride in, so I'd love to hear any suggestions you have for that too.


You may want to post this in the Utah section to get better responses. What sort of riding do you want? There is a rail to trail/fireroad that goes from Park City to Echo reservoir that would be a good ride. You could camp at the lake, then turn around and come back. But it's fairly flat and not the most scenic. May be dry or snow packed by that time of year. There are other trails that you could ride, but again, snow/ice may be a factor. Maybe rent a car for a couple of days and head to Moab or St. George? 3-4 hours away and lots of good riding.


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## brentos (May 19, 2006)

lentamentalisk said:


> Hi guys,
> Please excuse my complete ignorance. My company is having a meeting in Park City in mid November (as I understand it, probably too early for ski season. Do you think there is anything I could reasonably bikepack leaving directly from my hotel in Park City? It looks like if I go due east 15 miles I'll end up in Ashley National Forest, which appears to allow "Dispersed camping" (ie: stealth camping) pretty much anywhere there is a road and no buildings.
> My primary concerns are that it will be cold (I'll bring a 20deg bag, a tent, and lots of warm layers) and that the roads will be not just closed to cars, but actually impassable by bike.
> 
> If I can't reasonably bikepack, I'd still love to get a bike ride in, so I'd love to hear any suggestions you have for that too.


In Mid-November, chances are about 50/50 on whether there will be signifcant snow up high. If no snow, and you're looking for a Single Track route, then I would head West up to Crest Trail and to Desolation Lake to Camp. IF you're really looking for adventure you could go up Crest, then up through Brighton and drop into American Fork Canyon, where there is a ton of camping. Be aware though that option 2 is pretty rugged and will require a fair bit of Hike-a-Bike...even unloaded.


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## stremf (Dec 7, 2012)

brentos said:


> In Mid-November, chances are about 50/50 on whether there will be signifcant snow up high. If no snow, and you're looking for a Single Track route, then I would head West up to Crest Trail and to Desolation Lake to Camp. IF you're really looking for adventure you could go up Crest, then up through Brighton and drop into American Fork Canyon, where there is a ton of camping. Be aware though that option 2 is pretty rugged and will require a fair bit of Hike-a-Bike...even unloaded.


Crest in mid-November? It will be covered in snow by then up at that elevation. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember a single year when it was clear past October.


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## brentos (May 19, 2006)

stremf said:


> Crest in mid-November? It will be covered in snow by then up at that elevation. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember a single year when it was clear past October.


Not sure I remember anxiously waiting for snow until December every year. But I guess that's a skiable amount of snow, in early December, so stream may be correct.


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## MSU Alum (Aug 8, 2009)

Ski areas try to open on Thanksgiving. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't, but it's rare that the higher elevations are bare by mid-November. Usually the snow starts flying by Halloween above 7000 feet, which is right about where I live.


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## woody.1 (Jun 10, 2008)

I'm trying Cedar Mesa loop at the end of this month. Picked the date because there is very little moon and the stars should be awesome. Below link has GPX track.
The Natural Bridges Monument became the first dark sky park and this whole ride is all right around there.
Cedar Mesa Loop: Ruins and Monuments - BIKEPACKING.com


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## lentamentalisk (Jul 21, 2015)

Wow, that looks unbelievably beautiful! You've got me really strongly debating bringing my bike along. I could even slam out a big part of the loop in a single day if I took the full day. But that will require renting a car. I'm still in search of the holy grail leaving from Park City, but that may not exist.


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## woody.1 (Jun 10, 2008)

lentamentalisk said:


> Wow, that looks unbelievably beautiful! You've got me really strongly debating bringing my bike along. I could even slam out a big part of the loop in a single day if I took the full day. But that will require renting a car. I'm still in search of the holy grail leaving from Park City, but that may not exist.


Yep you could park car at Kane Gulch ranger station, ride 6 miles up road to SnowFlats road to Comb Wash road to road 163 to Valley of the Gods road, which spits you out at the bottom of Moki Dugway. Climb up that and take paved road back to Kane Gulch ranger station. There is a B&B at Valley of the Gods road and Moki Dugway where you might could call ahead and see if you could get some water. If weather is good it would be very doable in a day. Hit house on fire ruin on the way out if there's still daylight.
FWIW-You'd have a pretty good 6 hour drive from park city down to cedar Mesa.
Check out hurricane/st. George area as well, but still a drive. I don't have any first hand experience on that area.


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## H0WL (Jan 17, 2007)

Woody.1, How was coming down Snow Flats Road? I've got some ride ideas in mind for that area and wanted to incorporate Snow Flats Road. 

I'll look at my Utah map to review the route you described.


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## woody.1 (Jun 10, 2008)

June Bug said:


> Woody.1, How was coming down Snow Flats Road? I've got some ride ideas in mind for that area and wanted to incorporate Snow Flats Road.
> 
> I'll look at my Utah map to review the route you described.


I haven't done it yet. We are doing it the last weekend of this (October) month, but I'll let you know. I saw a video of it and doesn't look bad.


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## H0WL (Jan 17, 2007)

Looked at a Vimeo of Snow Flat Road taken by motorcyclists. Looked gorgeous, but lots and lots of sand in some areas.


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## Klainmeister (Apr 14, 2012)

I have been up and down that many times. Couple ledgey spots and sand, but otherwise should be no problem. Saw a Land Rover 3 break and axle there, now that was interesting!

Just going to throw this in the mix: my wife and I took fat bikes to Horse Canyon in the Needles District in winter last year. Used to be a jeep road, so they allow you in as long as you stay in the wash/remaining double track. Only bummer is lack of water. Figured since Salt Creek is right there, camping at Peekaboo and hiking lower SC would be a good day and fat biking up Horse is another full day and could be multiple. Link with some photos and short video.

Winter Biking in Canyonlands - K3 Travels

Have fun out there


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## H0WL (Jan 17, 2007)

Looks like a wonderful trip. Yes to fat bikes in the sand!


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## Snoopshomes (Aug 28, 2014)

dustyduke22 said:


> Hey Guys and Gals,
> 
> I am hoping that I can find some good resources here since the interweb searches are not being very helpful. I am seeing info on the White Rim trail and other popular routes, but thats a bit over my head for now.
> 
> ...


We go down to Ephraim every Fourth of July. It's a pretty awesome 3 day trip. We bike and fish and bike and fish and camp.

We hit Kokopelli every spring. You are free to join us if you wish!


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## Snoopshomes (Aug 28, 2014)

lentamentalisk said:


> Wow, that looks unbelievably beautiful! You've got me really strongly debating bringing my bike along. I could even slam out a big part of the loop in a single day if I took the full day. But that will require renting a car. I'm still in search of the holy grail leaving from Park City, but that may not exist.


There are TONS of routes leaving from Park City. Just head to Heber, turn east on Center and head to the top of the mountain... literally. From there you can hit strawberry (take forever tho), or any other fire road that suits your fancy.


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## woody.1 (Jun 10, 2008)

Did the loop last weekend. 4 days 3 nights. Moon house ruins, house on fire ruins, valley of the gods, Moki dugway, muley point. Snow Flats road had very little sand and all rideable. Only bad sand was on CR 235 "comb wash road" that's the only section where a fatbike would had been nice.


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## Snoopshomes (Aug 28, 2014)

woody.1 said:


> Did the loop last weekend. 4 days 3 nights. Moon house ruins, house on fire ruins, valley of the gods, Moki dugway, muley point. Snow Flats road had very little sand and all rideable. Only bad sand was on CR 235 "comb wash road" that's the only section where a fatbike would had been nice.


Do you have a GPS of your route?


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## dustyduke22 (Aug 22, 2006)

woody.1 said:


> Did the loop last weekend. 4 days 3 nights. Moon house ruins, house on fire ruins, valley of the gods, Moki dugway, muley point. Snow Flats road had very little sand and all rideable. Only bad sand was on CR 235 "comb wash road" that's the only section where a fatbike would had been nice.


Looks like quite the trip! Do you have a breakdown of what you carried? How much water and food did you have etc?

Nice pics

Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk


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## woody.1 (Jun 10, 2008)

Snoopshomes said:


> Do you have a GPS of your route?


Yep, got it off another site. We started at Kane Gulch Ranger station, which we were able to leave our car there as well.

Cedar Mesa Loop: Ruins and Monuments - BIKEPACKING.com


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## Snoopshomes (Aug 28, 2014)

That's killer. I remember when they posted that. How was the weather? Was water an issue for you? Your pictures are great!


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## woody.1 (Jun 10, 2008)

A few more


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## woody.1 (Jun 10, 2008)

Snoopshomes said:


> That's killer. I remember when they posted that. How was the weather? Was water an issue for you? Your pictures are great!


Weather was perfect. High 70's low 80's during the day, nights in low 40's. On the water, I live in Cortez so I drove over and stashed some water ahead of trip. There is a B&B at the bottom of Moki Dugway at the end of valley of the gods road that you might call ahead and ask about arranging water. Food - we carried enough to make it to Mexican Hat on 3rd day. I think water would be a problem on last day to get back up to Your vehicle.


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## woody.1 (Jun 10, 2008)

dustyduke22 said:


> Looks like quite the trip! Do you have a breakdown of what you carried? How much water and food did you have etc?
> 
> Nice pics
> 
> Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk


I posted a reply about water and food, but I carried 6 liters of water.
Moon house ruins only allows 20 people a day and need a permit. House of fire is awesome. Moki Dugway is a climb at the end of the day, but worth it.


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## Snoopshomes (Aug 28, 2014)

wolfmansbro said:


> BLM land, find a dirt road and just go exploring. All forest roads are in. find an area, no agenda and follow any path that you find


Don't tell them our secret.


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## mikesee (Aug 25, 2003)

wolfmansbro said:


> BLM land, find a dirt road and just go exploring. All forest roads are in. find an area, no agenda and follow any path that you find


Yep, this.


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## dustyduke22 (Aug 22, 2006)

mikesee said:


> Yep, this.


Beautiful vid Mike. Makes me want to go adventure

Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk


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## NickSmolinske (Mar 8, 2008)

On the dirt road front, I've been pondering a dirt road loop in the southern part of Escalante. Some cool country there that you either need a real 4x4 to get to, or a bike. I found some GPX files on a jeep website somewhere and put them on a caltopo map, it's a nice resource for planning. I added a few tracks of my own, but there are more roads than what's shown, for sure:

escalante dirt roads

Red lines are dirt roads, blue lines are side-hiking opportunities. I was thinking a two-nighter trip linking up the nipple creek and tibbet canyon roads would be sweet (with a long side hike to camp at Navajo Point). Left hand collet is supposed to be pretty neat as well.

The blue side hike on there right now are because I really want to camp on the south end of that plateau. 16 miles one way from the loop I described above. Hitting it from the end of the 50 mile bench road would be the easier, after ascending sooner slide. No trail but should be an easy hike.

The other HUGE question is water sources out there. I think you could find some in the canyons if you hiked a few miles off the roads. Or hike down to Lake Powell. But I would want to research that beforehand, I haven't really looked into it yet.


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## TBMD9er (May 22, 2009)

*Cedar Mountain Overnighter*

We did a 57 mile Cedar Mountain Loop (3 ranges west of Salt Lake) as a family overnighter last weekend. A great way to spend earth day and a good shakedown for the new tandem. The peace and solitude only an hours drive from Salt Lake was awesome. We were passed by one car on Saturday, and a couple of ATV's on Sunday. Three wild horse sightings, antelope, coyotes and plenty of cows of course. The final half mile climbs over Radalch and Hastings passes were steep.


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