Chinatown Wash is a lesser-beloved trail in the Hurricane Cliffs riding area. But it's a worthy one. It connects the middle of JEM to the Hurricane Rim trail along the Virgin River gorge. This creates some interesting and fun loop options that let you hit the more-fun eastern Hurricane Rim while staying on top of the mesa (without having to descend Hurricane Hill and grunt back up via Goulds).
If you climbed Hurricane Rim from the lower trailhead, you'll reach Chinatown Wash at mile 2.7. To climb the wash, go to the right up the wash as Hurricane Rim drops down to cross it.
The rocks are fairly straightforward to bang over on the way down (from JEM to the Hurricane Rim). But dodging bigger rocks and avoiding pedal strikes is challenging on the way uphill if you ride from the Hurricane Rim to JEM.
Once you've descended 1/3 mile, the trail becomes a straightforward dirt path, switching sides of the wash. There's only very gradual elevation change after the stepper spots of the first 1/3 mile or so.
If you're on a shorter version of the Hurricane Loop, go left to descend to the Hurricane Hill trailhead. If you're looping back toward JEM, go right and in 4.6 miles Hurricane Rim will take you to the JEM trail. If that's too much for you, consider forking off Hurricane Rim onto Cryptobionic at mile 2.8 for an easy ride back to the Sheep Bridge Road trailhead.
The Chinatown Wash trail creates some nice riding alternatives in the Hurricane Cliffs riding area. The loop ride that includes the 4.6 miles of eastern Hurricane Rim is one of the more rock-intensive cruises in this riding area. Don't let the rocky section of upper Chinatown Wash scare you away!
In Hurricane, turn south on US-59 (towards the Grand Canyon). Drive exactly 5 miles uphill. Turn left on cindered doubletrack right as you approach the base of Gooseberry Mesa. Drive another 0.3 miles to the parking area. Cross the cattle guard at the gate, then immediately turn right on singletrack. This section of JEM is one-way only.
You can reach Chinatown Wash by descending JEM 3.5 miles. (Be sure to take the left turn onto the original JEM at mile 3.4 -- instead of the easier JEM tech bypass alternate.)
This trailhead with bathroom and bike stand is found
half-way along the gravel Sheep Bridge Road, which connects US-9 to US-59. Drive toward
the upper JEM trailhead on Highway 59 as above. But at mile 3.3 (while
still on the flat area), turn left on gravel Sheep Bridge road. Drive 2.9 miles on Sheep Bridge
road to a fenced parking area with a bathroom. Cryptobionic and
northern Dead Ringer can be found here.
Option, roadside
parking off US-59: If you turned onto Sheep Bridge Road from Highway
59, immediately park on the
right, just inside the fence. Pedal 0.4 miles northeast to where the JEM
singletrack crosses.
From Sheep Bridge trailhead, you can quickly arrive at Chinatown Wash by taking Cryptobionic northbound (across the road from the TH) to JEM. Make a left turn and ride uphill 0.8 miles.
From Highway 9 in Virgin, turn south onto Sheep Bridge Road. Drive 1.7 miles. As the gravel road drops into a dip, there are two paths on your right. The ridgeline road is the race staging area. There's a connector to Carne Asada in about 100 feet on your right. The second dirt road, around 50 feet downhill, is the primitive camping and trailhead area. JEM crosses this road at the bottom of the camping zone, and Carne Asada is found to your right on JEM downhill from the road.
From the Quarry camping area, take JEM uphill (south) for 2.2 miles to Chinatown Wash..
This trailhead serves the Hurricane
Rim and Gould's trails. Other trails in the system are reached via these
trails. In Hurricane, turn south on US-59 (towards the Grand Canyon).
Follow the road uphill 0.9 miles, then turn left into the trailhead
parking near the cell phone towers. The dirt road 0.2 miles back down U-59
is the trail's start.
Option, Gould's Wash corral: As you head uphill on Highway 59, pass
gravel Sheep Bridge road on your left (about half-way between Hurricane
Hill and the JEM trailhead). Now watch for a dirt road on your right. It
will take you to the corral. If you're heading for the rim, go directly
west from the corral for 1/2 mile.
Chinatown Wash can be reached in the middle of the Hurricane Rim trail or the middle of the JEM trail once you're up on the Hurricane Cliffs riding area.
This trailhead is more popular with hikers than mountain bikers, but it can be a good choice for riding a loop of the eastern Hurricane Rim, Chinatown Wash, and JEM. Near the Sheep Bridge Road trailhead, find the road sign for the northbound dirt road to the Virgin Dam trailhead.
At the trailhead, take the Hurricane Rim trail westbound along the edge of the canyon for 2.8 miles. When the trail drops into Chinatown Wash, turn left up the wash and find the eastbound singletrack.
