The Zen trail is probably the most technical ride in the St. George area. It's also one of the most famous and most-beloved. It has quite a few little rock tricks that challenge the rider. I recommend Zen for advanced riders, or for very experienced intermediates with a good attitude and a sense of adventure. (It doesn't take that long to walk your bike through a spot that spooks you.) But realize: this is a strenuous ride that requires power and skill.
Initial photos and review of Zen by Bruce on January 12, 2008, with the latest update November 5, 2025.
The trail starts at 2700 feet in the bottom of the valley, with an access trail from parking near the power substation. (The substation road runs south from the road to the Bearclaw Poppy trailhead.) Top elevation is 3450. The trail can usually be done year-round, weather permitting.
The Zen Trail offers many different experiences. Done counterclockwise, there's fairly stiff climbing on the lower and northern sides of the loop. Nice aerobic workout. There are the technical challenges as you enter areas of pillow-shaped sandstone and hoodoos. There's the eye candy. The rock monoliths are so visually interesting, it's hard to keep your eye on the trail. Scenery? There are expansive vistas. Want variety? One minute you power along snaking desert singletrack and the next you're route-picking over slabs of rock.
From Dixie Drive in St George's Green Valley area, turn onto Canyon View Drive. At the top, veer to your right onto the dirt road. Now veer a bit left to a smaller road that turns and drops off the hill, turning to the left as it does so. Keep left at the bottom, and stay to the left as you pass the road to the Bearclaw Poppy trailhead. Continue south for 1/2 mile. As you pass the power substation, look a bit to the right and spot the parking zone for the Zen trail. The singletrack begins on the uphill side of the parking zone.
Be sure to take the northbound trail (heading to your right). The smaller trail to the south, coming out of a wash, is a technical alternate route that's best done downhill.
You can intersect the Zen trail by pedaling from the power substation dirt road at two points further south. The first is at mile 1.2 from the Bearclaw trailhead access road (0.7 miles south of the power substation). Just after the road passes through a fence, the trail is on your right. It's 0.2 miles into the wash, where you'll encounter the eastbound trail turning north and climbing up a rock slope.
For the second access, go 1/2 mile further, then turn to the right and go 0.2 miles. Spot a path on your right, heading north. It will climb 0.4 miles up a ridge to meet the loop trail in a bare sandstone area. (Additional GPS tracks can be found in the Mega Zen area file.)
The singletrack trail uphill to your left is the return path from upper Zen. This is where you'll arrive when you complete the loop.
The continuing Zen trail actually angles a bit downhill at this spot. The segment is designated FTNC on Strava.
I failed clean three of the climbs on this section. Some of these uphills are pretty steep, with loose dirt alternating with rock barriers as you struggle up from the bottom of the wash.
Once you reach the hoodoos near the top, things get more interesting! The hoodoo segment of Zen has a bit of up-and-down, but is fairly flat overall. The fun-to-work ratio is high here!
Stop at the trail fork on the far side, drop the bike, and make a hard right. Walk about half-way around the little circle of cliffs, and you'll enter a deep grotto. Nice lunch spot on a hot day.
At the top, you can fork right and follow an out-and-back path to a viewpoint, or simply keep left as the trail follows the cliff edge. You're now on the cliffside segment of Zen. There are some easy view spots right along the trail. You can look south over the Roller Coaster section of the Bearclaw Poppy Trail. The town of Bloomington is on your left. Stucki Springs is way off to your right.
Shortly after the viewpoint, the trail will fork. You're now at mile 4 of the ride. The trail to the left (eastbound) is the continuation of the Zen loop. This will take you rapidly away from the cliffs.
The trail that continues straight at this trail fork will drop through a bowl and enter some high-expert tech riding and cliff-clinging exposures. This is the Uber Zen section of the Mega Zen ride (see below). We'll assume you forked left.
As you get toward the valley floor, you'll pass a connector trail on a sandstone slope at mile 4.9 from the trailhead. The Zen loop trail curves around left to drop into a wash. The connector runs downhill to a dirt road.
Soon after you drop into the wash, before it opens onto the valley floor, head for the left side and hug the wash edge. Watch for a fence post and a trail on the left heading into a short side-branch of the wash. This is the return path. (Unless you're toasted and want to bail by riding out to the dirt road.) You're at mile 5.3.
Just 1/10th mile from the wash, there's a subtle trail fork. The main Zen loop turns to the left and climbs a bit uphill. The trail on the right is an alternate route called Mario World on Strava. It will traverse the hill 0.5 miles before rejoining main Zen just before the Power Substation connector trail.
The initial north-to-south lower singletrack crosses some broad areas of open slickrock. To navigate, watch for bicycle tire tracks and small rockpiles. A couple of the spots make it fairly easy to blunder off-trail if you're not actively looking.
And when you reach the carsonite post where a singletrack and doubletrack cross (mile 6.3) you're back at the connector. Fork to the right to descend 0.3 miles to the trailhead.
About "Mega Zen"
The ride called Mega Zen is a double-black highly-technical alternate descent that adds considerable work and cliff exposure. It includes the Mega Zen trail and further descending through the trails known as Bloomington Rim, then a return via dirt road to lower Zen. This route is discussed on the Bloomington Hill trail page. It should only be done by true experts!
