Zen Trail

This trail is one of the most technical rides in the St. George area. It has quite a few little rock tricks that challenge the rider. I recommend it for advanced riders, or for intermediates with a good attitude and a sense of adventure. It doesn't take that long to walk your bike through a spot that spooks you. The ride has much to offer. It's much like Gooseberry Mesa, if Gooseberry were tilted onto a slope.

The trail starts at 2700 feet, just left of the road to the northern Bearclaw Poppy trailhead, in the bottom of the valley. If you're riding counterclockwise, you can climb either of the first two doubletracks -- I strongly recommend the first DT. It's much more fun, and it offers some tech riding before the two routes join.

Top altitude is 3450. There'll be about 1100 feet of climbing if you do the loop ride that returns by the lower singletrack. The loop is 6.2 miles if you use the singletrack return.

The Zen Trail offers many different experiences. There's the straightforward but fairly stiff one-mile climb to get to the "business area" of the ride. Nice aerobic workout. There are the technical challenges as you enter areas of pillow-shaped sandstone and hoodoos. There's the eye candy. The rock monoliths are so visually interesting, it's hard to keep your eye on the trail. Like scenery? There are expansive vistas. Want variety? One minute you power along snaking desert singletrack and the next you're route-picking over slabs of rock.

At mile 1.8, you'll spot trails running everywhere. Keep left and drop straight across the small valley, then climb the big rock to a shelf on the other side. There are interesting nooks and hideaways in the hoodoos here, and that's the reason for so many trails.

Stop at the trail fork on the far side, drop the bike, and make a hard right. Walk about half-way around the little circle of cliffs, and you'll enter a deep grotto. Nice lunch spot on a hot day.

After a switchbacked singletrack climb to the top of Bloomington Hill, you can look south over the Roller Coaster section of the Bearclaw Poppy Trail. The town of Bloomington is on your left. Stucki Springs is way off to your right.

Shortly after the viewpoint, the trail forks, and you'll head east downhill. (The fainter fork heading south goes to a viewpoint 0.6 miles later, with little forks to two other overlooks. The drop to the bowl where you see the continuing trail is ugly, and I'm not sure you'd find the trip worth it.) Lots of adventure still to go, as the feel of the trail changes significantly here. Plenty of tech stuff, just not as tough as a mile ago. Plunge on downhill.

The lower route is a good option to close the loop, assuming you want to play some more. Soon after you drop into the wash, before it opens onto the valley floor, head for the left side and hug the wash edge. Watch for a fence post and a trail on the left heading into a short side-branch of the wash.

The route will turn north and climb steeply up a rock slope. Once you're on the trail northbound, it should flow pretty well, but watch for spots where singletrack leaves DT. If you wind up in the valley, you missed something!

If you're riding north-to-south on the lower singletrack, watch for bicycle tire tracks and small rockpiles. A couple of the spots where singletrack leaves doubletrack are fairly easy to ride past if you're not actively looking for branching trail.

About "Mega Zen"

The ride called Mega Zen is a double-black highly-technical alternate descent that adds considerable work and cliff exposure. It includes the Mega Zen trail and further descending through the trails known as Bloomington Rim, then a return via dirt road to lower Zen. This route is discussed on the Bloomington Hill trail page. It should only be done by true experts!