SOUTHWEST SLICKROCK: Moab and beyond! Utah, USA

We leave Vegas at 1 pm for the 2-hour drive to St. George. After checking in to our hotel and building our bikes, we'll head out for a late afternoon warmup ride and sample of what's to come.

We'll start off with the fantastic Bear Claw trail. This trail is located right in St George and is best done as a shuttle downhill. Famous features include The Three Fingers of Death, Clavicle Hill and the BMX that can be challenging for even expert riders. However, intermediate riders can pick a less technical line and can equally enjoy this trial. The trail only takes about 40 minutes to ride, and often we will do a second or third shuttle to the top. After lunch in St. George, we'll head out for another go at the local trails.

Today we ride the legendary Gooseberry Mesa trail and the JEM trail, outside of St. George.

Gooseberry Mesa is now being mentioned in the same category as the Slickrock Trail and Porcupine Rim in Moab as one of the elite mountain bike trails in the world. Gooseberry is an amazing combination of technical, slick rock ups & downs, and single track. The mesa is only three miles wide and a rough dirt road bisects the mesa. Trails requiring different technical ability loop from the road. (The South Rim loop is more technical than the North Rim loop). Views from the edge of the mesa will take your breath away.

The JEM Trail is eight beautiful miles of single track down hill running between the lower edge of Gooseberry Mesa and the town of Virgin, UT.

The Hurricane Rim trail climbs to the cliffs over the Virgin River near Hurricane. This is a beautiful trail with undulating narrow singletrack, often rough with large rock slabs, upper-intermediate to advanced technical. Although there's only about 300 feet of altitude difference, up-and-down riding will raise the climbing total to around 1000 vertical feet.

In the afternoon, we'll ride the Virgin Rim Trail, a spectacularly beautiful trail along edge of the Markagunt Plateau overlooking Zion National Park to the South. Although the trail is 18 miles long from Strawberry Point to Woods Ranch, it can be broken up into three 6-mile segments. You will be riding trough aspens and pine intermixed with bright pink rock cliffs. Be sure the memory card in your camera is empty before starting this epic trail!

The Rainbow Rim Trail is the only singletrack along the entire rim of the Grand Canyon that is open to mountain biking. The trail located along the North Rim on the Kaibab Plateau and is 18 miles long. Getting to the trailhead is quite an experience on it's own as once you turn off the pavement there are another 30 miles on dirt forest roads that roll through groves of aspens, tall pines and beautiful green meadows. The trail is part mountain bike ride, part gawk fest. The Rainbow Rim trail goes out to five points jutting out into the Grand Canyon and then follows mild drainage contours around to the next point. The general rule is you ride up and away from the canyon then down and towards the canyon then cruise along the rim for a ways before heading turning away from canyon again. This trail was made with mountain bikes in mind so you will find great sight lines, exceptional flow, and expansive views of the Grand Canyon which make this one of the one most unique trails in the U.S.

In the morning we'll take a bit of a rest and head out to Bryce Canyon on foot. What is Bryce Canyon? Words confound when no comparisons exist. A cave without a ceiling? A forest of stone? Even 'canyon' is misleading since Bryce is carved by freeze-thaw cycles, not a river. Yet, the 'world's largest pothole' is neither adequate nor flattering. It's one of the most unique places you'll ever see, and a great place to start our morning. In the afternoon we'll ride Thunder Mountain (rated #1 trail in Utah by Bike Magazine). Thunder Mountain is the most scenic trail in Utah (Bike Magazine). You will ride through the bright red and pink "hoodoos" unique to the Bryce Canyon area. Although the trail is only eight miles long, often riders take over two hours to ride it because they are off of their bikes taking pictures. One of the most photographed areas is called the "spine" where you ride across a 3 foot wide spine dropping off at 45 degrees on both sides. The last 2 miles of Thunder Mountain is a fun, flowing downhill through the aspens and pines.

On our first day in Moab we'll ride local's favourite Amassa Back. It's a technical out-and-back over a mixture of slick rock and double track jeep roads. This is the favorite ride of most of the locals. The views off the back side of the mesa, towards Poison Spider Mesa are definitely worth the climb up!

Slickrock is probably the most famous bike trail in the world. Often because it is so well known people mistakenly think it is easier than it really is. This is a slick rock trail marked by white dots to guide your way, and it's not a beginner or even lower intermediate trail - it's a technical romp through spectacular scenery, and a ride that will stay with you forever. The views across the slick rock, especially in the early morning or late afternoon will take your breath away. In the afternoon, we'll leave the bikes behind and go for a short hike in Arches National Park.

Porcupine Rim ranks at the top of most people's list of the top rides in North America. We'll shuttle the van up as high as we can go, then start off with a moderately strenuous 1,000 foot climb. From the Rim, it's a technical downhill, dropping off multiple small ledges and on the edge of some high cliffs. It's an incredible 2,700 foot descent all the way to the Colorado River - a ride you will never forget! After wiping the drool of your face, we'll take you up part way for another go at the bottom section of the trail, then head into town for the last night's celebration.

We'll head out in the morning for one last quick ride in Moab before hopping in the van for the drive back to Vegas, arriving at around 7 pm. If you are flying home this evening, we'll drop you off at the airport. Otherwise, join us at the South Point Casino for an end-of-tour celebration in Las Vegas!