Utah Snow Bikepacking (fill in the blank)

[gregclimbs]

(race/adventure/ride)

Time spent scheming and mapping found that the state of Utah maintains a LOT of snowmobile trails.

A lot.

And they can all be connected into a 205 mile one way route from Fairview, UT up and into Wyoming.

There is on ~6 mile stretch of pavement in the middle there.

The route looks like this:



The trails were sourced from: http://stateparks.utah.gov/ohv/snow-trails

And the course goes like:

start - trail - distance - stop (map name)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fairview - North Skyline Trail - 27.8 - Tucker (scofield map)
Tucker - US6 - 6.8 - Soldier Summit (scofield map)
Soldier Summit - Strawberry Trail - 37.5 - Strawberry Res (strawberry map)
Strawberry Res - Daniel's Loop - 25.6 - Strawberry Res (strawberry map)
Strawberry Res - Co-op Creek Trail - 18.3 - Soapstone Trail (mill hollow map)
Soapstone Trail - Soapstone Trail - 19.5 - Mirror Lake Highway (mill hollow map)
Mirror Lake Highway - Mirror Lake - 34.2 - Wyoming Border (mirror lake map)
Wyoming Border - Deadhorse Trail - 35 - Deadhorse Campground, WY

I was curious if anyone else was interested in tackling this beast with me.

-g

[MikeC]

I've never seen it all laid out end to end like that.  Nice work.

I've looked into riding sections of it, mostly up north, the past few winters.  But what keeps me from having gone yet is that you need a chunk of time to do it, meaning a need to plan ahead, set a date, take days off, etc...  And snow conditions change so fast, with so much new snow being added each storm, that it doesn't make any sense to go when the trails are 99% likely to be buried.  At least they have been every time I've looked seriously into going.

Grooming is good when it happens, but sporadic.  And the fact that something's been groomed does not necessarily mean that it is rideable--even with the fattest wheels and tires going. 

NOT trying to dissuade you!  Merely throwing out a few things to think about.  I think it has huge potential, and would be a colorful feather in one's cap to have ridden the whole thing.  I'd imagine there aren't many winters when an end-to-end traverse is even possible.  Spring seems a lot more doable.

Let us know if you give it a shot.

MC

[gregclimbs]

Our snow conditions really suck right now.... as in, there are none!

Last week I rode the Mirror Lake Highway portion and had a lovely time.  But there were sections where you could see the road.  Made me with I was wearing a helmet on the descent.

The snotel data really tells the story:

Snotel

(actually, looks like we did get some in last nights storm - most of the sites close to the course were <12" until yesterday)

But the views are lovely:



I might have to put this off til later in the spring.  But definitely going to try it as some point...

g