Nancy on the paved part of the Thunder Mountain trail next to the highway.
We spent the night in Bryce Canyon National Park, and then got up early to ride the Thunder Mountain trail, a mountain bike trail just west of Bryce.
The Thunder Mountain trail is located in Red Canyon, a scenic drive on Highway 12. It’s so scenic that they built a five-mile paved bike trail next to the highway.
The Thunder Mountain trailhead.
After five miles of paved trail and 1.5 miles on a gravel road, you reach the Thunder Mountain trailhead.
Not another ravine!
The first four miles of the trail are up and down and up and down. There’s about ten ravines in a row, one right after another. None of the climbs are very long, but the sawtooth topography and altitude make it more fatiguing than you would suspect. We passed a father and son from Vancouver, B.C., who were feeling the effects of riding at 8000’.
A mild snowstorm came through the region a week earlier, and a few small patches of snow were lingering in the shade. The soil has a lot of clay in it, and the trail was surprisingly muddy and sticky, considering how little moisture was around.
At the trail’s high point, viewing the hoodoo formations.
After four miles of ravines and piñon pines, you reach the trail’s high point and get spectacular views of Red Canyon.
I think I know why they call it Red Canyon.
From here it’s all downhill. The trail is a little loose, with some erosion is places, but for the most part it’s pretty fun.
Nancy doing the hoodoos.
It’s a mostly intermediate trail, with a few tight switchbacks in one section.
Near the end of the red part of Red Canyon.
Once you reach the end of the red rock and hoodoos, there’s still a mile of fun, fast downhill through the pines. This takes you back to the highway, and back to the visitor center at the start of the Red Canyon drive.
Fairyland Point. Where are the fairies?
The ride took us longer than expected, but we still had some daylight to do some quick sightseeing in Bryce.
The first scenic overlook in Bryce Canyon is Fairyland Point, a “fantasyland of strange and wonderful geologic formations.”
Hiking below Bryce Point.
We then made a quick stop at Bryce Point as the sun was going down. Winter’s coming—the days are short and there’s patches of ice on the trail.
No comments:
Post a Comment