Looking west on the western DH trail in Clear Creek. Photos and mapping by Bruce on May 25, 2023.
Clear Creek (Middle Applecross) MTB Trail System
The Applecross MTB system lies along North Fork Road, reached on Highway 9 just one mile east
of Zion National Park. When complete, there will be around 35 miles of
singletrack trail in
the system. This page discusses the trails in Clear Creek Canyon. Trails
range from easy to
difficult. At 6400 feet elevation, the expected riding season will be
late May through October.
In May 2023, trail markers were not installed. I believe the trails are now fully marked, but if not, you'll need to know where you're going and have
a good nose for sniffing out the right paths.
The Clear Creek trails are linked to the North Fork Road and the
upper Applecross trails
via the Canyon Connection trail. The Canyon Connection passes through Clear
Creek
Canyon then runs eastward
to reach the
lower Applecross group of trails.
See those trail pages for further riding options.
Looking northeast from the Canyon Connection trail while descending into Clear Creek from the lower trailhead.
Manzanita and pinion line the lariat loop on the northern side of the canyon.
This part of the Applecross system includes Canyon
Connection (which arrives from the lower Applecross trails and descends
the southern side of the Clear Creek Canyon then climbs from Clear Creek
up to the North Fork Road), an easy lariat loop on the northern edge of
the canyon called Baby Ridge, a tech traversing trail on the border of the
cliff called Wile E Coyote, and two top-to-bottom trails (Road Runner and
Aces High) that most riders will use as downhills.
Upper trailhead.
Upper Applecross Trailhead
Turn onto the North Fork Road from Highway 9 about one mile east of Zion National Park. Drive 4 miles uphill. Shortly after a connecting trail crosses the road, turn to the right and drive uphill into the parking area. The parking zone is organized as two loops with multiple small "parking lots" along the loop. This trailhead has a nice bathroom with flush toilets and sinks.
To get to the middle trail group, fork downhill to the right after you ride past the trail kiosk. Cross the road and continue downhill.
Roadside parking just downhill from the upper Applecross system.
Roadside upper parkingThis parking area is just below the Ring Around the Rosie trail of the
upper Applecross system
and 0.5
miles above the connector singletrack to the top of the Clear Creek
trails. Drive 3.2 miles uphill from Highway 9
on North Fork Road. Turn left into a large gravel parking area. From this
parking area,
coast 0.5 miles downhill and spot a singletrack that crosses the road.
(If
you see a dirt road on your right, you went 100 feet past it.) Turn to
the right
and the singletrack will take you to the main loop. (The entry to the
upper Applecross system is through a squeeze chute in a log fence, 100
yards
up the road from the parking area at the apex of the turn.)
Lower Applecross trailhead, looking north.
Lower TrailheadThis trailhead is located on North Fork Road, just one mile outside the eastern border of Zion
National Park off Highway 9. From inside Zion, drive uphill and out of
the eastern gate, then
a mile later turn left onto the North Fork (Zion Ponderosa) road. If you're
coming from US-89,
turn westbound at the Carmel Junction onto Highway 9. Drive 11 miles then
turn right on the
North Fork road.
About 0.2 miles after turning onto the North Fork road,
there's a fenced parking strip on your
left.
Pedal through the opening in the fence, then turn left onto the Little Dipper trail. Ride Little
Dipper around the hill, then up the Waterpocket Creek canyon to the upper
end of the
lower
Applecross system.
It will be 1.1 miles to a 4-way trail intersection. Turn to the left on Canyon Connection,
and it will take you to Clear Creek.
Four-way trail intersection. Far left is Bison Escape. Behind us is the connector to Clear Creek Ranch. Ahead left is Little Dipper, and ahead right is Canyon Connection.
The connector trail for ranch patrons enters the juniper forest.
Ranch Access Trail
Across the North Fork Road from the ranch main entry is a gate into a meadow. Turn right after
you go through the gate and follow the path west into the junipers. In
0.2 miles, you'll come
to a 4-way trail fork. Keep right for the Canyon Connection trail. (The
other trails are Bison
Escape and Little Dipper.) This will take you to Clear Creek.
Canyon Connection from the Upper Trailhead
When riding the Canyon Connection trail from the Upper
Trailhead, it's 1/10th mile down to the North Fork Road. Find the
continuing trail on the other side. 100 yards from the road is a trail
fork, where you should go right. (The left trail is Canyon Connection,
climbing from the bottom of the canyon.) Just a bit further down the trail
is a fork with three trail choices.
Looking from the connecting trail to the loop fork. On the left is the climbing trail (one-way, do not enter). To the right, the trail goes 50 yards to a three-way split where you can select your adventure.
Left to right: DH, tech traversing, lariat loop.
At this three-way fork, the left-most trail is Aces High. It
drops to the bottom of the canyon, joining Road Runner for a short while
on the way down.
The trail in the middle is a tech traversing trail called Wile E Coyote
that follows the edge of the canyon. From the end of this trail, you can
transfer to Baby Ridge, or drop down Roadrunner, an intermediate DH trail.
The trail to the right is the entry to the Baby Ridge lariat loop ride,
an easy cruise that loops around the canyon edge. (See below for details
on these trails.)
Canyon Connection Trail from the Lower Trailhead (Little Dipper to
Clear Creek)
Rolling around the head of Waterpocket Creek, just below the North Fork Road, shortly after leaving Little Dipper.
The Canyon Connection trail links the lower Applecross
riding area to the upper trailhead, passing through Clear Creek Canyon on
the way. It's 1.8 miles from the top of Little Dipper to the bridge over Clear Creek in the bottom of the
canyon. Here it offers connections to Road Runner and Aces High. As it
nears the North Fork Road a mile later, it connects to the stem of the
Baby Ridge loop before continuing across the road to the upper
trailhead.
From Little Dipper, the trail rolls through a rough area as it descends
to Waterpocket Creek then climbs up the other side. Keep straight and
right at the trail fork with the Ridge Runner trail (if you even see it;
it's pretty sketchy).
Meandering west.
We've arrived at the canyon edge.
The trail will now gradually climb as it heads west through
meadows and groves of pinion and juniper.
The trail arrives at the edge of Clear Creek Canyon and veers left
along the canyon edge. Then it drops down the hillside through a series of
switchbacks. The trail is a machined bench-cut. There's a bit of
up-and-down riding between the switchback turns.
The trail bobs up and down as it clings to the steep side-slope.
Things are looking much greener on the lower elevations in Clear Creek Canyon.
The turns are engineered for bicycles. The turning radius is quite
generous, considering the steepness of the hillside.
As you descend, enjoy the frequent views into Zion National Park to the
west and Clear Creek Mountain to the northeast. On this north-facing
slope, the pinion are larger. There will be an occasional fir, with an
understory of manzanita and gooseberry.
Looking north as the Canyon Connection trail arrives at the climbing trail.
At the bottom of the canyon, the trail turns east to run
uphill along Clear Creek. Ignore the first bridge across the creek. That
bridge is one-way for riders coming downhill and crossing over to the
Canyon Connection trail. The second bridge will take you to the climbing
trail, where you'll go up to the top of Clear Creek Canyon.
Canyon Connection Trail (Clear Creek to Baby Ridge)
Heading west up the climbing trail.
The Canyon Connection climbing trail begins at the uphill
bridge over Clear Creek. Here riders who descended the DH route all the
way to the bottom, and riders coming from downhill switchbacks of the
Canyon Connection trail, will begin their climb uphill. This is a two-way
trail.
The trail is fairly easy to ride but has a sustained pitch.
It's 0.9 miles long, with a bit over 300 vertical feet of elevation gain.
At 0.3 miles from the creek, keep to the right and uphill as the bottom
of Roadrunner joins.
From the climbing trail, we're looking south across Clear Creek Canyon. You can see the path of Canyon Connection.
Almost to the top.
At the top of the climbing trail, it joins the stem of the
Baby Ridge lariat loop trail. Turn right to head for North Fork Road or
the upper Applecross system. Keep straight to head for the Aces High, Wile
E Coyote, or the Baby Ridge lariat loop.
The trail is a broad bench-cut on a flat area above the edge of the canyon.
At the three-way split on the connecting trail (see the trail description above), take the
right fork to enter the stem of the lariat loop. In 200 feet, the trail
will split into a loop.
I rode it counterclockwise by forking to the right.
The loop is 1.7 miles long, with very little elevation change. The trail circles around to
follow the edge of the canyon. It's a fairly smooth bench-cut, suitable
for beginning riders.
The Navajo sandstone cliffs of Zion National Park can be glimpsed from the trail.
View across the canyon.
On the canyon edge, the loop lies above the tech trail (see below) and runs exactly parallel
to it. At mile 1.2 of the counterclockwise loop, there are two short connectors
that tie the
loop to the tech trail below. Each connector trail turns the rider 180
degrees as you "swap
trails." It appears that one connector is to turn uphill from the tech
trail to join the loop
going counterclockwise, while the other seems designed to take a rider
off the loop onto the
DH trail.
Wile E Coyote (Technical traversing trail to Roadrunner)
This trail runs along the "break" where the flat area drops off into the canyon.
At the three-way trail split (see above), the center trail
is an often-narrow, often techy traverse on the edge of the canyon. It
runs parallel to the lariat loop ride described above.
The Wile E Coyote trail is 0.5 miles long. The tread is much more
narrow than the loop that lies just above it. There are intermittent rock
challenges.
Approaching a rock-drop.
A bike-handling challenge.
This rock ramp is the connector between the Baby
Ridge lariat loop and the Wile E Coyote tech trail.
The end of this trail segment comes with two connectors to
the Baby Ridge trail above. It appears that one connector is designed to
take you uphill to the loop, but change your direction. The other takes
riders from the loop and reverses their direction to drop them onto the
top of the Roadrunner DH trail, which continues where Wile E Coyote ends.
Roadrunner (usually done as a DH)
Looking down the trail through a few wiggles and bumps. Not too steep here.
The Roadrunner trail starts as a continuation of the Wile E
Coyote trail, at the point where there are two direction-reversing
connectors located close together. This DH is 1.1 miles long, if you
follow it all the way to the bridge over Clear Creek. (There's a connector
that links over to the climbing trail without descending all the way down
to the creek.) Your descending will be 350 vertical feet, from an
elevation of 6400 feet to 6050.
This route is appropriate for upper-intermediates. Some of the pitches and turns are relatively
steep. The nature of the soil here makes the turns a bit loose. Go with
the flow and roll them.
If you try to check your speed in the middle of a turn, you're going to
side-slip.
Rolling into a sharp and steep turn.
From lower down, we're looking across Clear Creek.
On the way downhill, the Aces High trail joins on your left
at mile 0.5.
At mile 0.8 there's a trail fork. The trail to the left will take you
to the Canyon Connector northbound climbing trail. This "link"
trail is only 1/10th mile long. When you reach the climbing trail, turn
hard left uphill to climb out of the canyon.
If you continue downhill at the trail fork at mile 0.8,
you'll descend to Clear Creek. Cross the bridge at mile 1.1 of the
descent. If you're headed south on Canyon Connection, turn right to begin
your climb up the south side of the canyon. This route will take you to
the
lower Applecross trails.
If you're going back uphill on the Clear Creek trails, turn to the left
as you cross the bridge. In 50 yards, the trail will turn onto a second
bridge. You're now on the northbound Canyon Connection trail, headed for
the top of the northern rim of the canyon.
Bridge to the Canyon Connection trail. Use it for a loop, or to head for the lower Applecross system.
Aces High (intermediate two-way trail)
Heading south downhill. The climbing trail is on the opposite side of this ravine.
At the three-way trail split described above, take the
left-hand trail. The Aces High trail will descend 0.4 miles, joining
Roadrunner to continue downhill (see above).
This downhill seems significantly easier than the western Roadrunner
DH. I'd rate it for intermediate riders. An experienced beginner could
manage.
The combined trail will then descend another 0.3 miles to the short
link trail over to the climbing trail, or 0.6 miles down to the bridge
across the creek. For navigation instructions, see the Roadrunner
description above.
Compared to the western DH route, this descent is relatively tame.
View of the middle group of Applecross trails.
Getting there:
Lower Trailhead: From inside Zion National Park, it's around one mile outside the east gate. Turn left onto
the North Fork (Zion Ponderosa) road. From US-89, turn westbound at the
Carmel Junction on
Highway 9. Drive 11 miles then turn right on the North Fork road as above.
About 0.2 miles
after turning onto the North Fork road, there's a fenced parking strip
on your left. To reach
the upper trails, take Little Dipper to Canyon Connector.
Upper Trailhead: Drive three miles uphill from Highway 9 on North Fork Road. Shortly after a trail crosses the road, turn to the right into a large parking area. Turn to the right downhill as the trail splits as you pedal east from the parking area.
Roadside parking: Drive 3.2 miles uphill from Highway 9 on North Fork Road. Turn left into a large gravel parking
area. The trail entry is in a log fence, 100 yards further uphill at the
apex of the turn in
the road. (From this parking area, you can also get to the top of the
Clear Creek connector
by coasting 0.5 miles downhill to singletrack on your right.)
Roadside spot above Clear Creek (unofficial).
Drive
2.7 miles uphill from Highway 9 on North Fork Road. As the road turns
slowly to the right, pass a gravel road on your left, then turn into a
second (gated) dirt road on the left. Immediately hook to the left for
a
single parking spot just off the road. The access trail crosses the road
100 feet uphill. To get to the upper trails, find singletrack on your
right. It will take you up to a turn-around area of a dirt road. Keep
right and you'll find singletrack that will take you to the southwest
corner of the Elliptical loop. For the Clear Creek trails, go 100 feet
on
North Fork Road as above but turn left onto singletrack and descend to
the
main trail fork.Bathroom at upper trailhead.
Other trails in this system:
Upper
Applecross
Lower Applecross
