Beaver Bench Trails

The Beaver Bench trail system lies at the mouth of Beaver Canyon, just outside the edge of town. There's over 11 miles of trail here, completed in 2021 through 2022. The expected riding season is June through October. The trail system is suitable for beginning riders both in technical requirement and fitness level.

The system also includes the Ramblers NICA race loop, which is discussed on a separate page.

The key to this eight-trail system is a three-mile lariat loop called Sage Advice. There are four one-way downhill flow trails and three additional two-way trails that create several riding loops. A ride that hits everything would be at least 13 miles in length with 1500 vertical feet of climbing. A nice loop ride is Sage Advice plus Boulder Ridge which is 6.6 miles.

Mammoth Crossing
The Mammoth Crossing trailhead is on the Beaver Canyon Road (Highway 153) and is reached by taking 200 North 3.3 miles east of Beaver's Main Street. There's no water or bathroom at the trailhead, but there is a bike repair station.

At mile 0.2, the outgoing trail will split. The uphill fork is Sage Advice and the lower trail is Boulder Ridge. I'm going to suggest you take Sage Advice uphill.

Sage Advice is a lariat ride consisting of a 1.1-mile stem that climbs the hill and a 2.3-mile loop around the edge of the bench. A ride around Sage Advice and back down would be 4.5 miles with around 250 vertical feet of climbing.

The trails lie on the delta of a prehistoric river that flowed from the Tushar Mountains into a large lake occupying the Beaver valley. The ride starts at 6150 feet elevation with a high point of 6350 on top of the bench.

The trail surface is brown dirt surrounded by river-rounded boulders. Much of the ground is bare, with a sparse forest of juniper, cedar, and pinion pine.

The riding is easy. Turns are banked for smooth uphill climbing and fast downhill turns.

The Sage Advice trail starts on the west end of the trailhead parking with a repair station and kiosk. It will quickly cross the Harris Ditch irrigation canal, then begin winding back and forth across the edge of the bench as it gains elevation. This lower part of the trail is prone to flash flooding from summer storms, so don't be surprised to encounter a washout or two.

At mile 0.2, keep left uphill as the trail splits. The trail on the right is Boulder Ridge (unmarked in October 2023).

At mile 1.1, keep left for a clockwise ride around the loop. The trail on your right will be your return. All the other area trails are reached via the Sage Advice loop.

At this point, the trail contours the slope of the old river delta. It stays just a bit downhill from the flat top of the bench. At mile 1.9 of a clockwise ride, you'll cross a ridgeline where the Static Noise trail joins from the left.

On the far side of the Sage Advice loop are two short downhill flow trails with a return climbing trail. At mile 2.2 of a clockwise ride, you'll pass the Terrain Robber return trail coming uphill on your left. Then two DH trails start next to each other on the left just 1/10th mile further along the trail.

As you continue around the Sage Advice loop, it will climb up to the top of the bench around mile 2.9 from the trailhead. This will be 1/2 mile past the DH trails on the clockwise ride. Here there's a trail fork. Go hard right to cross the old river delta and close the Sage Advice Loop. Go left to drop down Rambler. Or keep straight to ride Boulder Ridge east to Flow Hollow -- the newer eastern loop.

After crossing the top of the bench, Sage Advice descends west to close the loop at mile 3.4. Here a hard left turn takes you back to the trailhead.

The Static Noise trail links the far western end of the Sage Advice loop to the bottom of the DH flow trails. The trail is 0.6 miles long with just under 100 feet of elevation change over its length. It's a two-way trail, but most riders would use this as a climbing route from the bottom of the DH trails.

You can tie together upper Static Noise, Terrain Robber, and a bit of Sage Advice to form a small two-way loop. See the map. Everything else at the bottom of Static Noise is one-way downhill, so you'll have nowhere to go but straight back uphill.

In the uphill direction, Static Noise starts at the bottom of Flow Hollow and Sundance Skid. It heads west at a gentle rate of climb. At 0.1 miles, the bottom of Channel Surfing joins from the left. At mile 0.3, Static Noise continues straight while Terrain Robber turns hard to the left for a more direct -- and slightly steeper -- climb back to the Sage Advice loop.

At mile 0.6, Static Noise reaches the westernmost end of the Sage Advice loop on a ridgeline. The trail fork occurs where an ATV track runs along the ridgeline. If you keep straight, you're headed counterclockwise on the loop -- toward the trailhead. If you turn left on the Sage Advice singletrack, you're headed to the DH flow trails and Boulder Ridge.

Terrain Robber runs between Static Noise and Sage Advice. It offers a quick return to the top of the DH flow trails.

Terrain Robber is 0.2 miles long with a bit under 100 vertical feet of steady climbing. It will go through a couple of climbing turns.

As Terrain Robber joins Sage Advice eastbound, just keep straight and in 0.1 mile you'll be back at the top of Channel Surfing and Sundance Skid for another descent.

Boulder Ridge begins as a traversing trail at the far east corner of the Sage Advice loop. It connects to the top of the Flow Hollow DH trail before climbing around in a long loop to the east, finally descending back to Sage Advice near the trailhead. Boulder Ridge is 3.5 miles long.

Boulder Ridge starts at a four-way intersection that includes the top of the Rambler DH flow trail. When riding clockwise on Sage Advice, just keep straight. If you're riding counter-clockwise on Sage Advice, turn right for Boulder Ridge.

When riding clockwise Boulder Ridge has a bit of gentle up-and-down riding, but very little overall elevation change over the first 1.5 miles as it heads east from Sage Advice. This portion of the trail is easy both technically and aerobically.

At mile 1.0 of Boulder Ridge, the Flow Hollow trail takes a 180 degree left turn downhill. Flow Hollow is one-way downhill trail. And this is where many riders part company with Boulder Ridge.

After the trail fork with Flow Hollow, Boulder Ridge will climb out of the pinion and juniper forest and reach an open area. It will begin climbing the hill to the east and will gain 350 feet of elevation as it grinds uphill through a set of climbing switchbacks. This section is best in the clockwise direction, which is the way I'm describing it here.

At 6700 feet elevation, the trail traverses south before beginning a descent westbound back down to the trailhead area. You'll lose 450 feet of elevation over the next 1.3 miles.

Boulder Ridge will tie back into Sage Advice 3.5 miles after you left it. But you're only 0.2 miles from Mammoth Crossing trailhead. And the angle at which the trail joins will send you back there. If you want to head back uphill, pick your bike up and turn it around.

Quick overview...

There are four one-way downhill flow trails in the Beaver Bench system. All are fairly easy to ride, ranging from beginner to early-intermediate in skill requirement. The elevation change is around 120 vertical feet for each. From west to east, they are:
- Channel Surfing, 0.25 miles.
- Sundance Skid, 0.3 miles.
- Ramblers Revenge, 0.5 miles.
- Flow Hollow 1.2 miles.

Channel Surfing and Sundance Skid share a common beginning on the Sage Advice loop at mile 2.3 of a clockwise ride, or mile 2.2 of a counterclockwise trip. Both of these downhill routes end on the return trail Static Noise, but the Sundance Skid trail will have a slightly longer return. Ramblers Revenge begins on the western end of Boulder Ridge while Flow Hollow is on Boulder Ridge's eastern end. These trails also descend to Static Noise.

Turns are highly banked for speed. There are rollers and occasional table jumps between turns. Overall, these are intermediate-level descents.

The Channel Surfing DH flow trail forks downhill from Sage Advance The Sundance Skid trail starts alongside it to the left. The Channel Surfing trail (to the left as you face downhill) is just under 0.3 miles in length. It descends 110 vertical feet. It will have a 0.3 mile return climb back to Sage Advice via Static Noise and Terrain Robber.

The second DH trail (on the right as you face dowhill) is called Sundance Skid. It's 0.3 miles long with 120 feet of descent. At the bottom of Sundance Skid, the Flow Hollow trail comes in from the right side. Veer left for the uphill return trail Static Noise. If you turn onto Terrain Robber after 0.2 miles, it will be a total of 0.4 miles back to Sage Advice.

Ramblers REvenge is a one-way DH flow trail that begins at the eastern corner of the Sage Advice loop. The trail intersection is also the western end of the Boulder Ridge two-way trail. At the four-way intersection, Ramblers Revenge is the one that goes downhill.

Note that Ramblers Revenge was originally named "Rambler" but was renamed when the NICA race loop was given the trail name "Ramblers." You may still find the old trail name on maps and on-line guides.

Ramblers Revenge is 0.5 miles long. It angles downhill and west at first, passing through a pinion and juniper forest. There are some rocks strategically placed for jumping.
Once Rambler reaches the burn scar, it begins to wind back and forth across the slope, similar to the other DH trails.

Ramblers Revenge ends on the Flow Hollow trail, about 400 feet from where Flow Hollow ends and the Static Noise climbing trail begins. Just keep straight as you join Flow Hollow, then veer to the right as Sundance Skid and Flow Hollow end on Static Noise.

Flow Hollow begins as the continuation of the Boulder Ridge two-way trail. Boulder Ridge turns hard to the left downhill, and at that spot becomes the one-way Flow Hollow trail.

Flow Hollow is 1.2 miles in length, dropping 100 vertical feet in elevation. It will be joined from the left by the Ramblers Revenge DH flow trail near the bottom. At Flow Hollow's lowest point, the Sundance Skid trail also joins from the left and Flow Hollow turns into the Static Noise two-way trail.

At Flow Hollow's lowest point, you may see a trail heading north toward the dirt road. This is your route to the Ramblers NICA race loop via doubletrack connectors, if you're inclined to go there. These doubletracks start at the gravel road. If it's a race day, turn to the right and go east on the dirt road for a long ride up and around the race loop. (The two more-direct options heading north tie into the race loop itself.)

A full loop of Boulder Ridge, Flow Hollow plus Static Noise and Terrain Robber -- with a piece of Sage Advice to where Boulder Ridge starts -- is 3.2 miles.