Brian Head, Utah - Virgin River Rim Trail

The Virgin River Rim Trail is considered one of the most precious continuous single-track mountain bike rides on the North American continent. It’s a 33-mile trek near Brian Head, running along cliffs overlooking the pink canyon lands, with views that stretch across as far as Zion National Park. You pedal along mountainous terrain from 8,000 to 10,000 feet of altitude through pines, firs and aspens, and by the time you finished the last descent, you’ve climbed a total of 4,000 vertical feet.

Malcolm, Jim Harlo and I completed this epic adventure in about six hours, taking two stops along the way for food and water. It’s not a loop, so you need to leave a car at one end (Woods Ranch on Highway 14) and get shuttled to the other end (Strawberry Point). We arranged a shuttle with Robbie at Georg’s Ski and Bike Shop to Strawberry Point on Friday morning, August 16.

We started with blue skies, cool weather, and incredible views from 9,016 feet at Strawberry Point. While Wiley gazed afar, Malcom and I headed down a series of curves lined by aspens. Within a few minutes we regrouped on Strawberry Road, knowing we would be dedicating the better part of the remainder of the morning climbing. So we climbed up the Virgin River Rim Trail that snaked up the mountain, with only one or two curves too steep and loose to clean. The payoff for our first climb was noteworthy, for we got our first peak over the immense canyonlands.

The up and down that followed the first climb included some rocky trails, but our three climbs in the first 11 miles were mostly through easy switchbacks on single track through the forest. After hydrating at Cascade Falls, the next mile was a tough grind through three angular turns. But eventually we did a well-deserved rampaging descent to the Te-ah Campground at Navaho Lake. We hydrated a lot there. We had done twenty miles.

The last part of the ride began with a quick descent down a road, and we barely saw the sign putting us on the Virgin River Rim Trail and another single-track ascent through the aspens. Classic single-track. This section of the ride was a little more forgiving than the first 20 miles, with rollers rather than steep climbs. We had a little trouble picking up the trail when crossing Webster Flats Road, but this brief pause was more than compensated by zipping through the aspens on the ATV trail, and a 1,000 ft descent at the end that took us back down to Woods Ranch. A quick and speedy ending to a great day.