Mt. Dutton secret stashes
Over the last couple years we've been slowly exploring all the hidden singletrack trails up on Mt. Dutton north of Bryce Canyon. Its remote and seldom visited. Most visitors are Elk hunters and sheep herders let alone some fools on bikes. Actually one of the first explorers was John Wesley Powell on one of his expeditions exploring what is now the Grand Staircase National Monument, he was looking for a high vantage point for reference on what lied ahead. More reading. The whole mountain range is littered with old cowboy trails that are mostly marked, mapped and legal to ride.
Although seldom visited trails get seldom maintenance and with the fire that occurred on most of the mountian back in 04' there is a lot of dead fall that happens. Especially early season. We remove what we can with small hand saw and the trails usually get cut by mid summer by herders for the most part.
The trail to be rode was the Cottonwood trail which parellels the main road heading up to Dutton. Once on top of the mountain it was 6 1/2 mile descent with over 200 feet of loss. Of course we had to stop every 50 to 100 yards due to trees, its still a blast and im thinking about some sort of camping trip which involves a lot of shuttling, a rhino and the T2 bike rack. You could get shuttled up to the top in 15-20 minutes and have a good 1 hour descent through the trees. This is the first trail we have found that can actually be shuttled quit painlessly.
So the secret stash trails so far are: Showalter Trail, Hancock Trail, Upper Cottonwood Trail and the Cottonwood trail. Hancock trail has the best descent in my mind but Cottonwood trail is easier to access, sees more traffic and is capable to shuttle.
Although seldom visited trails get seldom maintenance and with the fire that occurred on most of the mountian back in 04' there is a lot of dead fall that happens. Especially early season. We remove what we can with small hand saw and the trails usually get cut by mid summer by herders for the most part.
The trail to be rode was the Cottonwood trail which parellels the main road heading up to Dutton. Once on top of the mountain it was 6 1/2 mile descent with over 200 feet of loss. Of course we had to stop every 50 to 100 yards due to trees, its still a blast and im thinking about some sort of camping trip which involves a lot of shuttling, a rhino and the T2 bike rack. You could get shuttled up to the top in 15-20 minutes and have a good 1 hour descent through the trees. This is the first trail we have found that can actually be shuttled quit painlessly.
So the secret stash trails so far are: Showalter Trail, Hancock Trail, Upper Cottonwood Trail and the Cottonwood trail. Hancock trail has the best descent in my mind but Cottonwood trail is easier to access, sees more traffic and is capable to shuttle.
On top looking down the canyon will be riding.
The trail goes through a few meadows near the top
Wild Country
What most of the upper trail looks like
i need to hit it!
ReplyDeleteI'm with fixie. That singletrack looks delicious.
ReplyDelete