Guacamole
The Guacamole Trail is located near Zion National Park on top of a mesa overlooking the Virgin River. The mountain bike trail is a mix of undulating open-rock riding plus singletrack through pinion, juniper, and brush. The trail is upper-intermediate in tech requirement, with a short area of advanced tech at the southeast corner of the loop. For the expert techies, there are ledges and stunts just a few feet away from the main trail, plus some side-dish trails that are significantly more challenging.

The classic Guacamole Trail is shaped like a lollipop, with the sweet part on the south end. The two-mile stem of the lollipop is called the Marguarita Trail. The loop at the end is 2.5 miles around.

At the east end of the Guacamole loop, there's some add-on trail for tech-lovers. The first is a half-circle off the Guacamole loop called "Lime with a Twist," one mile in length. And off that half-circle, there's another 3.2-mile semicircle of technical trail called "Holy Guacamole" Those trails are described on the South Guacamole Trail Page .

There's a technical option called "Salt on the Rim" that forks off the Margarita trail and rejoins later. It's one mile long, as it bypasses 1/2 mile of Margarita. The trail heads for the Mesa Rim at mile 1.1 from the trailhead and reconnects at mile 1.6 of Margarita. There are cutoff trails at mile 1.4 and 1.5 that join Salt on the Rim to the Margarita trail.

The Guacamole trail starts at 4350 feet elevation and tilts very slightly uphill as you head south. There's less than 150 feet of absolute elevation change over the first two miles of trail. The ride's highest point will be just before you hit the loop. Constant up-and-down riding will bring your total climbing to around 400 vertical feet. If you started from the bottom of the mesa, make that 700 vertical.

First, a note on where to start your ride. The last 0.6 miles of the dirt road to Guacamole climbs steeply up the mesa. It's over 10% grade. When the road is wet, it's slippery and dangerous. After rain storms or when rain is forecast -- and throughout winter and early spring -- start your ride on the road and bike up the mesa. There's a wide spot for parking at the road fork below the mesa.

The classic Guacamole ride is a lollipop shaped route of 6.5 miles. If you start from the parking spot at the fork below the mesa, the ride will be 7.7 miles. And add 300 vertical feet of climbing for the grunt to the mesa top.

At the south of the "lollipop" are first Lime with a Twist, then Holy Guacamole . These options are discussed on a separate trail page.

In slickrock areas, the trail is marked with small rockpiles. Navigation has improved a lot since my first visit in 2006, but you may occasionally need to stop and look around for the ongoing path. As you pass one rock pile, look for the next. If you don't see one, keep straight.

The terrain is very similar to nearby Gooseberry Mesa or Little Creek . In fact it's the same stuff.

The rock is Shinarump conglomerate from the Triassic Era (about 240 million years ago). Mountains of metamorphic quartzite in the west of Utah were eroding, sending gravel and sand down into this area. Pebbles of quartzite and petrified wood are everywhere on the mesa. (PLEASE leave the petrified wood where it is!)

For a group of rock-lovers, Guacamole can fill up a half-day or more of tech riding. The tech sections will be more work per mile than you'd think. Even with leg power to spare, the upper body may get worn out after an hour of hitting the technical challenges. Take your time. This is more of a stay-and-play than a grind-the-miles.

The Classic Guacamole can be done as a quickie, finished in under 90 minutes by a skilled rider. With a couple of short rock-scrambles, it's within the ability level of an experienced intermediate rider.

For the hard-core rider, the optional rides (Salt on the Rim, Lime with a Twist, and Holy Guacamole) can be added on for a satisfying day of riding.

Getting there: From La Verkin, turn towards Zion National Park on Highway 9. Go 7 miles from the traffic light where you turned east in La Verkin, through the town of Virgin, and past the Kolob Reservoir Road on the left. At 7.3 miles, you'll see a dirt road on the north (left) side of the road (N37 11.874  W113 09.876). This is Dalton Wash Road. Drive north 1.9 miles. As the road turns to the east past a farm, you'll come to a fork (N37 12.456  W113 08.268). Turn left (north). Go 1.7 miles. As you approach the steep mesa, there's a wide spot in the road and a fork. The uglier road straight ahead is the correct one. In winter and early spring, or if the weather has been wet, park here and bicycle up the mesa. With any mud at all, the next 0.6 miles can be ugly and dangerous. Immediately as you get to the top of the mesa, the road forks again. Go right (south) about 100 yards. Look for a big open slickrock area on your right (GPS N37 13.575  W113 06.852). This is where the ride starts. Head west across the rock area to pick up the trail as it enters the trees.

Over the Edge Sports (76 E. 100 S., Hurricane) is happy to provide current trail and dirt-road conditions. Call 435-635-5455.