MEGA TR: Utah Mountain Biking

MEGA TR: Utah Mountain Biking

Date: May 23 – May 27, 2022

Location: Salt Lake City, Park City & Moab, Utah

Riders: Enginerd & UCL

Photos: Enginerd & UCL

Synopsis: This is another super belated trip report! As I mentioned in my last Trip Report on Terminal Cancer Couloir, the snow coverage in the Eastern Sierra in CA was basically non-existent in May 2022. So Enginerd and I decided to road trip from Tahoe to Utah to hit a number of mountain biking spots over the course of a week. We ended up getting 5 very solid days of trails!

Day 1 – Trailside Bike Park & Corner Canyon

We woke up on Monday and decided to hit the Trailside Bike Park in Park City in the morning to do a bunch of laps, before driving over to Corner Canyon in SLC proper for some trail riding. Both would be a good warmup for the week.

It was our first time to Trailside Bike Park, and it was awesome! It is small and you can just do many laps on a variety of trails with nice features, and a jump park as well. All the while, just insanely good views of the Wasatch from the top.

I'm pumped to be biking after skiing a couloir the day prior!

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Just awesome flow and great features throughout the park.

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Enginerd feeling great after some laps!

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Quick video from Enginerd in some follow-cam. He wasn't sure about the recording being so low quality – will figure it out next time.

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We grabbed some sandwiches, then drove over to Corner Canyon in SLC to hit up a nice series of trails. It was a good climb and not too hot, with a good breeze. We got great views of Utah Lake past Provo.

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The ride down was a great sequence and super fun. Loose rocks to start, and then great single track through the trees. About a 2,500 ft descent overall.

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Day 2 – Trailside Bike Park & Bobsled

We woke up again the next day and basically just said "repeat it". We started the morning hitting the bike park again, and then headed over to ride the classic Bobsled trail in SLC.

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The flowers were just going off on the climb up to Bobsled.

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We really didn't get any pictures riding down Bobsled as it was too much fun and we didn't want to stop. Just crazy good flow with SO many features. Definitely a ton of things way over our paygrade, like gap jumps over broken down cars and stuff!

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Enginerd had a nice crash at the best place -> right at the bottom next to the exit road! Fortunately I didn't get the full extent of it, but a passer buy driver got to witness the yard sale!

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We packed it up that afternoon from Park City and drove over to Moab.

Day 3 – Captain Ahab, Slickrock (Partial) & Falcon Flow

It was forecasted to be super-hot in Moab this week, so we wanted to get an early start each day to take advantage of pleasant riding while we could.

Up first was Captain Ahab, which honestly was the absolute highlight of the trip for me (even more than Whole Enchilada). I just loved every part of it. The climb was technical and beautiful. The descent was technical and interesting. And we only ran into one other rider out there, half-way through. Just an unreal morning!

Early morning light on the climb.

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The climb was just so special. The vistas were incredible, there was amazing technical spots, and the weather was still perfect.

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I mean, come on! This is why you come to Moab! Such an unreal trail.

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Kept going up, views kept getting better!

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Just insanity – I LOVED it.

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The trail was just so much fun going down.

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Never-ending goodness on the down, all the way to the car.

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Another quick video from Enginerd.

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We finished up Captain Ahab around 10AM and decided to drive over to Slickrock, which is a famous trail in Moab. I have to be honest, both Enginerd and I hated it. Yes the novelty of riding super tacky rock was cool, but the entire vibe was just off putting. There were tons of offroad jeeps driving around in the valleys next to you, and they were crazy loud. Plus there were a ton of bikers. After the isolation of Captain Moab in the morning, this just felt super artificial. So we only road a part of it, and just turn around a bailed. I guess box checked?

My recommendation -> skip it. Better things to ride in Moab, by far.

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Enginerd giving the double thumbs down. It looks isolated here -> it is not. Off road vehicles everywhere honestly.

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So we headed back to the car and drove over to Falcon Flow. Many that was fun! Just perfect single track and not another person in sight. Great trail and highly recommended.

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When we finished Falcon Flow it was SO hot (like mid-afternoon). We had to ride back up a fire road to where our car was parked and that was brutally hot. Fortunately about 75% of the way up, a car drove by and agreed to take me up to get our car.

Coming back down to get Jon – still rocking the gear!

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Day 4 – The Whole Enchilada & Eagle Eye

Ok, I'll admit this was incredible too! I know I was going on about Captain Ahab – which was definitely my favorite – but this was a VERY close second. It's hard to beat The Whole Enchilada. It has everything. Starts up in upper alpine in trees, gives you huge views of mesas, has incredible single track, and on and on.

It is a HUGE day, so bring plenty of water. Even with the shuttle to the top, it's still an incredibly long day. Ours was made even longer as we decided to do a side jaunt off the trail to add on Eagle Eye, which is a great flow trail that breaks off about 1/3 the way down. The issue is you then have to ride back up a big fire road, and by that point it was super-hot. This caused issues for me later when I ran out of water, as I thought I had brought enough!

Enginerd's buddy Brendan who lives in Ridge, CO drove over the night before to meet us and join us on The Whole Enchilada.

The start is pretty surreal, as you are at like 9,000 ft up in the trees. Snow cover prevented us from going even higher!

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After some amazing single track through the woods, you start hitting incredible views and just amazing trails down the mesa.

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Looking back up to the land of green, heading down to the land of red and brown.

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Just incredible.

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We still got spicy in there too!

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Overall it was just an incredible day. Really hard to even describe how big this ride is. It has everything. And definitely add the Eagle Eye loop as an extension – just bring more water than you think!

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We got to the bottom and I bonked SO hard the last 20 or so minutes. I was long since out of water and it was ludicrously hot out. When we got down by the Colorado River, Enginerd and Brendan let me chill why they road back to get our car on the road. I just didn't have like a 9 mile ride on blacktop in me, even it was mostly downhill. Fortunately, got a Gatorade and then jumped in some water to cool off. And we spent the afternoon in a pool!

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Day 5 – Navajo Rocks & Park City

The next morning, we woke up again early and headed over to Navajo Rocks. It was a great loop trail that had a little bit of everything. Slick rock, climbs, descents and views. We really didn't see anyone and found it to give you exactly the same feeling of riding slickrock as "The" Slickrock trail, but with a WAY better experience. Do this instead!

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Seriously, don't go to Slickrock trail. Just do this instead! Highly recommended alternative and if you go early morning you will see no one!

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After a great ride, we then packed up the car and drove back to Park City. We ended up just pedaling up the resort proper and doing some great downhill flow trails back to the base, where we got some beers and burgers. A great day with two WILDLY different environments. Pretty cool to ride the desert in morning followed by the alpine in the afternoon.

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Awesome lookin trip, thanks for the TR!

Looks like an amazing trip. Great report.
Agree 100% on Slickrock Trail. I rode it my first time in Moab (23-24 years ago) and just felt like "Meh, OK, I did it, never have to do it again".
Also agree with opinion on Capn Ahab and Whole Enchilada. May be the two best trails in the world. So much so that I miss many other great trails in Moab because, if I'm there for a few days, I'm NOT going to not ride them.
It's very trendy to dump on Moab and yes, the town itself has become a shitshow but the riding is still unexceeded (Although the Fruita triumvirate of 18 Road, Lunch Loops, and Loma are right there)
Everyone else is still trying to catch up.

Moab is like Stans TL fluid. Every new product strives to be "as good".

If you get on slick rock early or late, you can miss most of the chaos. Last week I rode it at 8:00 and didn't see another rider until the final climb back out, and didn't see a jeep. I did hear one. Ahab gets as crazy, but without the motorcycles on the trail. That said, it makes me feel good that you were smiling while riding things where I spend my time. I wish I could / would remember to stop and take photos like you did here. Thanks

Sick trip! Though, you shoulda done I Street/Bobsled on Day 2 instead of Trailside/Bobsled. Trailside is fun but I Street is world-class.

Want to feel humbled? I took my son and another 12 y.o. on TWE (Hazard down like you did, but without Eagle Eye) and they cruised the whole thing in under 3 hours including an extended snack break and some video stops. Kids these days....

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Originally Posted by Roxtar

Also agree with opinion on Capn Ahab and Whole Enchilada. May be the two best trails in the world. So much so that I miss many other great trails in Moab because, if I'm there for a few days, I'm NOT going to not ride them.

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Ahem, Mag7, or more specifically the Gold Bar to Portal portion, might be better than both. It's really hard to say which is "better," but Portal is unquestionably on the "rides to do before you die" list.

I always give people the same advice regarding Slickrock--ride the practice loop first. If you finish that and want to do 10 more miles of the same stuff then go for it, but by that point the novelty has worn off for 99% of people.

Nice TR, I like the ride early morning in Moab and afternoon in Park City to escape the heat.

Great TR! No one likes the Slickrock trail, its just where they send the tourists like Mineral Basin at the bird..... (just kidding, i like both)
nice to read a mountain bike TR the day I sign up for the PC P2P.

Excellent pictures and TR. It looks like the trip of a lifetime!

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Originally Posted by Dantheman

Ahem, Mag7, or more specifically the Gold Bar to Portal portion, might be better than both. It's really hard to say which is "better," but Portal is unquestionably on the "rides to do before you die" list.

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Portal is definitely on that list. Just haven't gotten to it.