Normally, I would not recommend the San Rafael Swell in Utah for a biking getaway weekend in the desert. Instead, I’d point you to the surrounding areas like Moab, Fruita, Hurricane, or even Saint George. But with our dog, Gregor, recovering from a successful “ACL” surgery, we were forced to take things a bit slower, and that meant parking the van in one spot for the weekend. Since, we’d be doing a lot more hanging out than wandering the desert, we settled on one of the best campsites in Utah for the long Memorial Day Weekend. The south side of the San Rafael Swell, just outside of Goblin Valley State Park. And it did not disappoint.
Heading down a day earlier than normal, we were able to secure a great spot to park the van, tucked into a small canyon, by ourselves, with an excellent view of the San Rafael off in the distance. Gregor had just been restricted to no/minimal walking for the past four weeks while he recovered from surgery. Now he was able to walk around by himself, as long as he was tethered to a leash and couldn’t go far. We figured being confined to a space, with the orange desert under his paws would be much better conditions to recover in than the small bedroom he was stuck in for the past month. And he seemed to agree with us, especially since we parked the van Thursday night and didn’t move it until Monday night.
When people mention they’re going down to the San Rafael Swell, a 3 to 4 hour drive south from Salt Lake City, they are going to explore the slot canyons, hike the winding trails up the mesas, raft the ephemeral San Rafael River in the spring, or rip around on their Side-by-Sides. There really aren’t many routes for the average rock climber, and there are even fewer mountain biking trails. Well, with Gregor out of commission, we had to find a place that we could just enjoy hanging out in, under the warming Utah desert sun, and maybe go for some runs and bike rides on the roads. Little did we know, that would turn out to be an absolute blast
From camp, we could go in three different directions to get some miles in, Court training for her marathon in August, and myself training for a mountain bike race in July. Over the weekend, while one person stayed with Gregor by the van, the other would head out for our own adventures into the desert. Figuring I’d be in the saddle pedaling for most of the rides, I brought my gravel/adventure bike with the 2″ tires mounted onto my rims to handle any soft sand that the trail could throw at me. To that point, I almost wish I had a 4″ tires for some section because of how sandy it got. But I think it was the right choice, though even a little bit of suspension could have prevented the ruts and brake bumps from rattling my brain around in my skull.
I decided to head south from camp to explore the Big Wild Horse Mesa Wilderness, which I never knew existed before that ride. Sticking to a well defined doubletrack cut into the dirt by years of off-road vehicles. The road winds downhill to follow the wash through the steep canyon walls until it eventually dumps out into the wide open mounds of the wilderness tract. The shocking part of this ride was how green the edges of the wash bank were, despite it being bone dry, showing how resilient these desert plants are, surviving year after year. The riding was equally as fun, with enough rises and drops to keep me on my toes, especially when you’d hit a sandy patch forcing you to walk the bike.
Another day, for my long ride of the weekend, I pointed the bike west, for what was supposed to be a 30 to 40 mile day. Of course, on paper, that would not have been an issue. It was a Saturday, I had all the time in the world. The desert landscape, on the other hand, had different plans for me. The road quickly transitioned from pavement to dirt, and I was stuck navigating the ruts and bumps in the road for a few miles before hitting an impassible section of soft sand. Semi-defeated, I turned around to find another way around the difficult section, and climbed up a steep, technical road to see a desert expanse that I’d never imagined. Even compared to the endless views found in Utah from the bluff edges, this was completely new to me. Something straight from a photo send back by the Mars Rover. The road seemed to be endless, and in fact, it went over 35 miles from camp to the town of Caineville, near Hanksville. Needless to say, that was not in the cards for me on that day, but a lovely spark for a bikepacking adventure one day.
The road swept up and down over small and large mounds, as it contoured across the topography. The condition of the road was surprisingly great up on the top of this mesa, allowing me to put some more power down into the pedals, but ultimately, after a week of riding, the desert proved too tough for the long day I wanted in the saddle. I ended up turning around at mile 13, and with my tail between my legs, I started the ride back to camp. 5 miles short of my minimal goal of 30 miles, I pedaled up to the van. But overall, getting to ride my bike for a weekend in the desert can’t be beat, no matter how many miles I put in.
Hi there, my name is Zachary Kenney and I’m an adventure filmmaker & photographer. My passion is to tell stories that will hopefully motivate you to go live a more adventurous life. Whether that is to experience the view from the summit of a mountain, or wandering through a new town on a road trip. Currently based out of Park City, UT.
