I will be out in the SLC area for a vacation in mid-May. I am coming out for a wedding, but I am planning to dedicate a decent amount of time (several days minimum) to riding with a buddy while I am out there. My question is, where would locals recommend that we ride, taking into consideration possible snowcover at that time of year? Our preference is singletrack, anything from fast and flowy to super gnarly is fine. Fun dual track and OHV stuff is ok too. We will be camping out there, so spots that are less busy and/or offer some privacy, tree cover, etc, are definitely desirable. We are willing to drive a couple of hours if it's somewhere we can set up camp for a few days. Suggestions?
I can be a tour guide for you up until the Memorial weekend. 1st place, if it is open that you have to try is up American Fork Canyon. Some of the best single track options we have are up there. We also have some awesome stuff down near the sand dunes called Cherry Creek. Hobble Creek Canyon is another area depending on snow cover and there is also a fun trail I just found just west of Utah Lake. Lots of options. PM me in March or April and I can try and be a bit more exact. Green River Utah is probably your best bet. We will be going there over Easter weekend and then most likely Cherry Creek on memorial weekend. Your 300 will love our single track out here.
American Fork and Hobble Creek both look good; does that area usually have snow cover in mid-May, or will it be melted by then? I found this website, which has historical snow depth, and it looks like some years it's clear and others there is still snow: http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/nwcc/site?sitenum=1039&state=ut Sadly, I will not be bringing my WR. My buddy from CO is meeting us, we'll have a 300 EXC and a XR650R.
I am not too familiar with the snow levels on Hobble Creek but American fork trails are normaly open by memorial weekend with a few trails still cut off. will you be riding the 300 or the 650? If you get a choice, take the 300 of course, especially up American Fork.
We'll probably switch off on the bikes. My buddy is an animal, he and I have ridden all over the mountains in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming on those two bikes, and he'll take that 650R just about anywhere I'm willing to follow him. My 300 would be a better choice, but unless you're offering to ship it out for me... Sounds like we've got a good chance at having rideable trails that time of year, awesome! How's the camping up there? We prefer quiet dispersed/primitive camping, we will carry in everything we need in the truck. We'll have our ladies with us, so somewhere halfway decent with some tree cover and some hiking is surely a plus.
There is quite a bit of camping all over the state. We will have to get in touch a month or so before you come out. I'm assuming you have some cold weather camping gear? It does sometimes snow in May, doesn't stick for long but it can snow even at the lower elevations. I'll talk to some of my other buddies on the camping places. I'm thinking LIttle Moab would probably work pretty well. What city is the wedding in?
I can't remember exactly where the wedding is, somewhere in greater SLC. I'll try to remember to bug you when we get closer. In the meantime, I think we are going to tentatively plan on some of the areas you recommended southeast of Provo. It's also been suggested that we check out Fivemile Pass (southwest of SLC); any comments on that area? I've ridden in Moab and Green River already; not that I don't want to ride there again, but I've ridden and hiked there on several different occasions, so I am looking to see somewhere different. I've worked and done some trail running out of Clearfield, but I really haven't ventured into the Wasatch/Uinta range much at all, so I think we will stick around there (if the snow cooperates).
Digging this one back up, since my vacation is on the horizon! Right now, we are thinking about staying at Diamond Fork. It looks like there is less snow there and a good mix of trails for both moto use, and for the people in our group who will be hiking/biking. Suggestions?
