Gooseberry Mesa

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Gooseberry Mesa is quite possibly the best Mountain Biking trail in Utah!! Gooseberry has everything that Slickrock trail in Moab, has....and then some! Minus the crowds!! Fantastic scenery (Zion's National Park is over your shoulder the entire time), loads of challenging slickrock (with marked trails) and best of all, some of the most incredible singletrack through the pines! Two avid mountain bikers, Mike and Morgan, can take credit for this incredible trail. Gooseberry Mesa was built by and for mountain bikers!! Closed to motorized vehicles and too narrow and winding for horses and most hikers find the trail very frustrating to follow. Which means, the trail is all ours!!!

How to get there: From the town of Hurricane, head east on Highway 59, go 14.4 miles. Turn left onto the Smithsonian Butte Scenic Backway. Continue 2.9 miles to Gooseberry Mesa road. It will be on the left (north). Head north 3.6 miles on Gooseberry Mesa road. Turn left on Left Fork Road (at the restrooms). Go 1 mile to the cattle guard. Park just inside the fence. You will see the singletrack heading west next the fence!! From Highway 59 this road is dirt!! If it's rained recently you may have a tough time getting to the trailhead. Check locally for road conditions. We did see 2 or 3 passenger cars when we rode the trail.

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Length: Gooseberry Mesa is actually 8 or 9 interlinked trails. They vary in length from 2 miles to our favorite "figure 8 loop" of 18 miles. There is a jeep road that runs down the middle of the mesa, with trails on either side. You can access the trail network from various points along the road. I recommend starting at the cattle guard and enjoying the entire loop!

Trail Profile