A panorama from the “The Point” of Gooseberry Mesa.
The Grafton Cemetery, dating to 1860-1910.
We planned to ride our bikes at Gooseberry Mesa, a trail south of Zion that is becoming well-known as an alternative to Moab. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the right 4x4 road out of Rockville that goes to Gooseberry.
We got lost a couple of times, one time winding up at the Grafton Cemetery, an old pioneer cemetery next to the Virgin River, a relic of the ghost town of Grafton.
Finally at the trailhead, the start of the Windmill Loop.
We finally found the right road to Gooseberry, but we were discouraged from going that way due to the extremely slick mud from yesterday’s rain. There’s a nasty hill climb that’s treacherous after a rain.
We detoured all the way around through La Verkin, coming in from the south off of Highway 59. The dirt roads were fairly flat, but were still beat up with very slippery mud.
Near the beginning of the trail, with the mountains of Zion in the background.
Gooseberry Mesa is a seriously funky trail. It’s kind of similar to the Slickrock Trail at Moab, but with shorter drops, more dirt between rock sections, and the rock isn’t quite as smooth.
Nancy following the white dots that mark the trail.
The views are stunning. While on the trail, you can see the mountains surrounding Zion in the distance.
You can barely see the Red Bull Rampage in the left center of the picture.
The trails border cliffs on either side of the mesa, so you have cliff views as well.
Coincidentally, a big air bike contest called the Red Bull Rampage was going on far below us, just outside of Rockville. We could hear helicopters buzzing around, filming the competitors.
Bret drops into a rock gully.
Due to the piñon trees and twisty trail, you can never see very far ahead, so it’s one surprise after another.
Nancy buzzing through some beehives.
There’s a lot of technical rock sections. Even the hard ones aren’t that scary because the drops aren’t very big.
The western point of the ride. The mesa in the background is separated by a chasm.
We rode the North Rim Trail, following it west to “The Point,” where the mesa breaks off and has cliffs on every side.
We sat and had lunch, glad for the sunshine and perfect temperatures. Other riders came and went—we saw about twenty riders throughout the day.
Nancy dropping …
We followed the same trail back, and then cut through the “Practice Loop” trail. This part had more wide-open slickrock, and was a lot of fun.
… into a rock bowl.
Working our way back to the trailhead.
The whole trail is a lot of fun, especially if you like twisty, technical solid-rock sections with crazy views.
Now we just have a bouncy ride back to the highway.
This is a great trail to ride if you’re in that area, especially in combination with hiking at Zion. Just watch out on those dirt roads if it’s been raining.
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