The Cholla loop is a fast ride. A conditioned rider can hammer this loop in under an hour. There's about 500 feet of climbing in the loop, most of it in a single chunk around mile 1. There's a lot of variety -- a couple of sand pits, in-and-out of washes, slickrock, twisty desert riding, and wide-open flat cranking.

The trailhead area allows on-site primitive camping. There's no water or plumbing. It's bring-yer-own and pack it back out.

About 3/4 mile into the loop, you'll climb up onto a slickrock section. It's not too technical, and not too long. Just a taste of open-rock riding. Dropping off the slickrock, you face a 300-vertical climb over the next mile.

From the race's high point, you'll drop abruptly down a doubletrack to the valley floor. If four-wheelers have chewed up the track, it'll be a bumpy white-knuckle descent. On race-day, riders will have knocked most of the rocks off the trail, so it's not too tricky.

Next comes a couple of miles of twisting up-and-down singletrack. I think this is the highlight of the entire loop (but there's plenty of other stuff to like). After crossing the main road, you'll crank to the southeast end of the valley, where you'll climb up a bit, then plunge into the wash for a high-speed cruise downhill between the high red walls. After riding north along the red cliffs, you'll cross the valley again before cranking back to the starting point.

Getting there (Southbound, through Hurricane = recommended route): Get off I-15 at the Toquerville/ La Verkin exit and head south to Hurricane. Turn south at the Chevron Station in Hurricane (700 West). Go south 2 miles and turn right at 2060 South. (If you arrive at a T-intersection, with a right turn going into the airport, you went too far.) Follow the road west of the airport and past the Sky Ranch to end of the pavement at a cattleguard. (About 6 miles, GPS N 37° 05.425' W 113° 18.696'.) Keep straight on the biggest and leftmost of 3 roads that fork after the cattleguard. Continue another 2.2 miles on gravel to a junction at GPS N 37° 03.501' W 113° 18.375' and turn right. Just 100 yards later, turn right onto a small doubletrack. After another 100 yards note a doubletrack going right across a catch-basin levee. That's the trail. Park here, GPS N 37° 03.467' W 113° 18.547.

Getting there (East from St. George, scenic route): Head south on River Road in St. George. (River Road is reached by turning left at the St. George Blvd exit from I-15, then right at the light. Or from the Bluff Street exit, turn left and drive about 1/2 mile on Riverside Dr, turning right at the light where it intersects River Road.) Immediately after crossing the Virgin River, at 1450 South on River Road, turn left (east). About 2 miles later, the road turns 90 degrees right onto 3000 East. Turn left again immediately (there should be a "Warner Valley" sign here, but it's missing - summer 2001). Heading east towards Warner Valley, the road will turn 90 degrees right, then left, then right again to head south. At mile 5.4 from River Road, turn left on the gravel Warner Valley Road. Zero your odometer here! From this turn drive eastward over the ridge. At mile 5.4 on the dirt Warner Valley Road, keep straight. At 5.8, keep straight (R goes to Ft. Pierce). At mile 7.3, turn right at GPS N 37° 00.832' W 113° 22.632' (straight takes you to the dino tracks). Drive about 5 more miles, until your road ends on another large gravel road. Turn around and backtrack 100 yards, veering left onto the first doubletrack and find the trail as above.

Note: Map at left is "Classic" (2004-2006) race route.

GPS Track files (right-click, then "Save target as..."):
   Classic route (see map above) GPX
   2007 race route (map at right) GPX
   Senior Games 2006-2008 GPX
   Cholla race 2009: GPX
Alternate topo maps for printing:
   Topo map, Classic Route
   Topo, 2007 Route
   2009 Cholla race route
Lodging, camping, shops: Links to St. George area resources