Bluff Street Cliffs (Owen's Trail)
The Bluff Street Cliffs trail has been renamed Owen's Trail. This is a short but fun expert-level ride on the cliffs along the north edge of St. George. Owen's Trail is a quick out-and-back lariat ride of 3 miles (1.5 miles each way) that features some very nice rock.

The trail requires good technical skills. There's a lot of rough rock -- some so tough and steep that you'll carry your bike at least a couple of times. It's for expert riders only.
Because it's within a couple of bicycle-minutes from most of St. George's motels, you can hit this trail during the morning chill and be back before your roommates have shaken off the morning groggies.

This trail is used by hikers for the fabulous views and the rock-scrambling. It's not likely you'll see another bike rider there, because well, this trail has a high techy-tricky to cruising ratio.

Owen's Trail can be reached via several connector trails. The most direct route is from the Pioneer Park parking on the north side of the Red Cliffs Parkway. Take the trail under the parkway then turn right (uphill) on the paved Red Cliffs Parkway Trail. Shortly after crossing Skyline Drive, Owen's Trail begins at a step-over on your left.

The trail begins as a dirt single-track. Keep right and uphill as connectors join from streets below. Continue up onto the slickrock. About 1/3 mile up the trail, you'll need to pack your bike up a rocky chute. Once on the rock, the trail isn't too hard to follow. When in doubt, keep your eyes open for the rockpiles that mark the way.

Most of the rock in the St. George area is from the late Triassic to early Jurassic Era (the early age of the dinosaurs, around 200 million years ago). This area was a flat plain near the seashore, so most of rock is layered from successive deposits of dirt and rock laid down by floods in river flood-plains and deltas. You'll climb from the valley bottom Chinle shale, through the red multi-layered Moenkopi formation, to the capping layer of Kayenta Sandstone that forms the broad bluff.

At GPS N 37° 07.206' W 113° 35.332', keep left at the fork (right loops up to the ridgetop and the City Creek Trail, with links to the highway). If you notice a second fork at GPS N 37° 07.353' W 113° 35.420', keep left. (Forking hard right goes to the bottom of a wash 1/2 mile later. There also used to be a route straight over the top here. If bikes start riding it again, you might notice another route heading uphill.)

The slickrock becomes more technical, and much more fun. The side-slope becomes steeper on both the uphill and downhill sides as the trail contours a small shelf.
The trail has become a bit harder to follow in recent years, as the little rockpiles (cairns) that marked transitions have been removed. You may follow some false paths a time or two on the way out. The trail is much easier to follow when coming back.

As you come up to the top again, the route continues west on top of the now-narrow ridge. You'll reach a spot with some drop-offs where the trail seems to disappear. This isn't the end!
Watch for a narrow 20-foot chute descending steeply on the left. For me, the chute was unrideable -- my handlebars would not fit through the drop-off area in the chute. As you hit the bottom, veer right again.

Follow a twisting course west through the rocks, aiming for the top of the next hill. As you begin climbing, there are some ledges and the trail becomes hard to follow. Pick your way uphill -- probably on foot -- until you get above the rocks and find a singletrack in the sage brush.

When you reach the singletrack, celebrate by circling around the cliffs over the golf course. In 2017, the passage up to the singletrack was a guessing game, and the circle route itself wasn't seeing as much traffic as in years past.

After completing the loop, backtrack. On the way, consider hitting one of the connecting trails up to the City Creek trail or try a bit of the Pioneer Park trail across the parkway.

Pioneer Park trailhead:  From St. George Blvd (the main drag), head north on Main Street (towards the "Dixie" painted on the big rock above the cliffs). When you reach Hope Street, turn right, then immediately take the left fork and climb Skyline Drive to the top of the cliffs. Turn right. Just east of the junction of Skyline Drive with Red Cliffs Parkway, there's paved parking at the west end of Pioneer Park. Hop on the paved path on the south side of the parking lot and descend under the parkway. Now turn right uphill, cross Skyline Drive, and find the step-over entrance to Owen's Trail just a bit uphill.

You can also park on the far west end of the picnic loop in Pioneer Park -- east of the trail parking lot above. (To get on the loop, go east on Skyline Drive past the Pioneer Park parking lot and take the next left.) Head straight west onto the slickrock, keeping on the edge of the small cliffs that are to your right. You'll dump out onto the west parking area, where you'll take the paved route as above. This adds about 1/3 mile of rock riding to your trip. And, the Pioneer Park area is a good spot for non-riders to have a little fun while you skin your legs up.

Via City Creek trailhead:  You can also get to Owen's Trail by parking in the big lot at the top of the hill, starting out on City Creek, then forking left on the connector as shown on the map. But you'll miss the fun technical rock-garden on Owen's at mile 0.3 to 0.5.

Bathrooms and water:  east end of Pioneer Park