Southwest Utah: Dual Sport Riding from St. George

Seegmiller Mountain is a short side trip from the main dirt road from St. George to Mount Trumbull Schoolhouse. Good for a couple of hour round trip from St. George. Here's the Benchmark map:




Extra gas wasn't needed for this trip, but I often carry it on the AZ Strip. Never sure what opportunities might present themselves.




The turnoff to Seegmiller Mountain is well marked. Route #1069 is the main dirt road from St. George south, similar to a dirt highway. After reaching the top of Quail Canyon there is a modest descent to the left (east). The road becomes more dirt and less gravel. At the bottom of the short decline is the signed intersection to Seegmiller Mountain.




Dad and I got our schedules synched up. He's along on this ride. Always good to have partner on the AZ Strip.




Weather was overcast and blustery, but no real threat of rain. Turned out to be quite a good afternoon of riding. Thanks, Dad!




Some radio transmission equipment at the top of Seegmiller Mountain.




Warning sign. Didn't hang around here very long.




A short distance away still on the summit ridge line. Fantastic views down to the east. Lots of rugged terrain.




We skirted further around to the south and east of Seegmiller Mountain. Looking back. Radio tower visible on summit. Seegmiller Mountain is very recognizable from St. George, but not possible to see the radio tower without binoculars. East face of Seegmiller has some dramatic exposed red/orange/yellow rock.




Returning back towards Quail Canyon and Route #1069. Always great to be out with Dad!




Thanks for dropping by, inmates and lurkers.

Very cool pics of Leeds and Silver Reef...those cemetaries are very cool. I wandered through those last year and really makes you think. Great pics. Hope to get down in next few weeks to ride again...

Ringo

Went to Brian Head last weekend. Picked up two motorbikes to bring back to St. George. Riding season is finished at high elevation. Snow is falling.

Neighbor is selling two Yamaha snow machines. Good deal. Cleared out some garage space and sealed the deal. Hopefully they will turn out to be fun. Bring on the snow!




FX Nytro MTX. Should be a good mountain sled.




Second machine is a smaller Phazer, light and nimble. Only 30 miles and 3 years old.

Hope everyone is having a nice Thanksgiving weekend. I've been out almost every day with four nephews and one niece. We've mostly been on ATVs, easier for everyone to tag along. Also been out briefly with Pop once on motos. Pop is wife's dad, only in Utah for occasional visits. Very nice to be surrounded by family.

Pic of my Southern CA nephew (works for Pimco in Newport Beach). He was in St. George early. Off to Oklahoma for T-day with his girlfriend's family. The TW is a perfect bike for the occasional nephew ride.




On a different day I was out with this nephew, also a Southern CA guy. He's looking to take the LSATs and apply to law school shortly. Didn't want to risk a broken arm on the moto so we took ATVs to the Sand Hollow Sand Dunes. Also had neice and nephew from PA out on the sand dunes. They thought it was amazing. City kids . . .




Thanks for checking in. Appreciate several PMs wishing a happy Thanksgiving. Certainly lots to be thankful for. Best wishes to all for now, and the upcoming holiday season. Keep riding if you're in a place with good weather. Always make sure to eat a little dessert first -- not a bad plan. Be well, ride safely!

Sorry for taking so long to respond. Computer died at the end of October just as I was heading to St. George. Returned from St. George a couple of days ago and just bought a new computer tonight.

Although I had some nice riding, I've not come across a new, favorite place selling baked goods. I've emailed Mary, who was the owner of the old place, and get no response. Last I heard, her daughter was living in Cedar. Maybe I'll track her down and see if the business is somehow still operating in the area.

Two new, to me, culinary surprises from the last few weeks riding in that area, were www.rockingvcafe.com and http://pastels1.tripod.com/

Thanks for the reply Quota, I think my window of opportunity to get there has closed until spring!
Those links look pretty good, thanks.

Another inmate in town. Looks like a 3-4 hour dual sport ride for next Wednesday, 12/5. Likely heading towards Utah Hill and/or Nevada (via Motoqua?). Lots of options, plans flexible.

All welcome. Post up or PM me if interested. Probably starting about 10 am. Weather forecast is 65 plus sun.

Just passed 90,000 views. Thanks to all.

Recent posters: TheAdmiral, NSFW, purplesage, bomose, G19Tony, Bob, MasterMarine, drex, UpST8, Signal, av_mech, quota, samthg, ringokelly.

Also appreciate recent PMs on Thanksgiving and ride invites. Give me a heads up if you are riding in the area, or throw a pic up here. See you out there.

I'm in Vegas and my fiancées entire family lives up in St George. I need to get a dual sport bike! I golf up there quite a bit, but your day trips prove to me that I need to add another bike to the stable.

Had a few hours on Saturday afternoon. Rode out to see the Veyo Compressor even though the weather was overcast. Very easy to get spoiled by blue sky and sunshine in Southwest Utah. Average ride, but still fun. A few pics coming . . .

But first, thanks to PurpleSage and BMWJustin. PurpleSage - really enjoy your ride reports. Try catch them all. Too bad about the weather challenges from your trip to CA. Just to have reload. Yeah, BMWJustin, the paved road up to Kolob Reservoir is sweet. And the dirt beyond that goes through to Cedar City is good riding. Did the dirt connection about 2 years ago, prior to becoming an inmate. Here's a pic from paved road as it snakes in and out of Zion.



Check out post #240 (p. 16), Smith Mesa, and #337 (p. 23), Kolob Reservoir Road.

On to my recent ride to the Veyo Compressor. The Compressor is, I think, essentially a "pumping" station for a large natural gas pipeline that runs through the area. It is just north of Gunlock on a high quality dirt road. Well marked on Benchmark, so I won't bother with a map. Lots of rougher ATV-type trails in the area. Checked out a few, but not that much time, plus no sunshine.

First pic was leaving St. George / Santa Clara / Ivins heading west on Old #91. I'll be taking a bunch of Cub Scouts for hike to see petroglyphs in a few weeks. Good to grab a pic of the trailhead sign. Easier to give instructions.




Had fun riding the sweepers out past Gunlock Reservoir. Reservoir looked fine, but drab, so I kept going. Did stop briefly in Gunlock town to grab a pic of the old fire truck. Appreciate these things more and more, especially as you see similar items in other inmate ride reports. A couple more pics of the firetruck from Post #182 on p. 13.




The turn north onto the dirt road to the Veyo Compressor is marked by the Eagle Mountain Ranch. Also at the bottom of wash. Leave the pavement here. Easy to see, even at speed.




Passed a few ATVs returning from the Goldstrike area. Grapevine Wash exits onto the Veyo Compressor Road. See Post #357, page 24. Bike at the facility entrance.




Lots of fencing, security, and cameras. Also no smoking. Grab a pic, time to go.




Followed a pipeline connector road northeast across the ravines of the Tobin Bench. A bit rocky but fine. I knew this would connect with the well-traveled Veyo-Shoal road (good dirt from Veyo to Gunlock Reservoir). Go take a look at the Bull Valley ATV trail.




Short section of the ATV trail. Lots of loose rock. :eek1




Generally I kept heading for the Veyo-Shoal road. Easy find. Stopped and talked with a grandpa who had three young kids with him. They were having fun target shooting, but were positioned to shoot across part of the trail. :huh Guess they didn't expect to see anyone coming from my direction. Friendly "heads up" -- no issues.


Back at the intersection with pavement at the bottom of the Veyo Wall. Lots of good rides have started at this point, generally headed towards Enterprise Reservoir. Post #443 on page 30 is from two months ago and features some nice fall colors.




From Veyo I bombed back south on Highway #18. The WRR couldn't keep pace with my Versys (at all), but still has enough go to maintain reasonable highway speeds for modest distances. Much more capable than the TW. Took the "short-cut" down through Snow Canyon. Super scenic, but poor light. Some rock climbers high on a wall were attracting a few viewers from below. State Park pass makes it easy to drive through Snow Canyon rather than pound it out on #18 all the way down the hill to St. G.

Last pic of a beautiful yellow tree near bottom of Snow Canyon by Red Mountain spa. No sunlight so the colors have no pop, but lots of the trees in town are still sporting their final colors. It is fading, but still spectacular. The fall color season in Southwest Utah starts about Sept 15th at Brian Head and works down elevation and slightly southward for a solid two months. Lots of good reasons to ride, just pick your elevation and go.




Thanks for riding along. And thanks for all the positive comments.

Open invite for inmate ride on Wednesday, 12/5. Dual sport bikes. Starting about 10 am. Heading towards Utah hill and/or Nevada, likely 3-4 hours. Post up or pm if interested.

Thanks for the latest pics, great as usual!
We had a LaFrance engine and truck of the Gunlock FD engine era, but they were CA Special Editions, (no top)

Thanks for the info. I've ridden Kolob Res road before with the MegaMoto. It sucks stopping at the end of a pavement road just to see a great looking dirt road/trail continue up into the mountains. I just have to convince my other half that selling my Atom is a good thing (to get a DS bike and pay off my Jeep).

Took a little ride with inmate RingoKelly earlier today. Good to break up the week! Went down to Bloomington and started onto dirt at the end of Navajo Drive. Did a 3-4 hour loop. Reached a high point above the Virgin River Gorge, passed close to the Apex Mine, then descended past Bloomington Cave. New territory for RingoKelly. He was impressed with the views even though the weather was average.

Our bikes at one of the Virgin River overlook points. Easy to look down onto I-15, near Cedar Pockets.




Here's the man with his trusty KLX250S. I think he has a red too, plus about 5 other bikes.




Took a short break on top one of the bluffs before dropping back down. It really is a lot more scenic than it looks.




I've done lots of rides starting at Navajo Drive. The listing on page 1. Rides #3, #17, #44, #95, #142, #264, #285, #317, #411. Best ones are #44 on page 3, #95 on page 7, and #411 on page 28. Overall, this is a great area.

We did see about 15-20 ATVs, all in a big group. Lots of dust down low, but easy to avoid. Friendly people out having a good time. As always, thanks inmates and lurkers for checkin' in. Ride safe out there.

RRR, that was a great ride and appreciate the guidance. It really was scenic and amazing how many fire roads and trails there are. We could have gone on for 3 more days and never see it all. Thx mucho!

Ringo

Had a great ride with Dad this weekend. South onto the AZ Strip from Washington Fields. We were intending to follow BLM 1035, also known as the Sunshine Trail on Google Maps, about 20 miles south (between East and West Mesa) to Navajo Trail. We'd then return to St. George via BLM 1069, the "dirt highway" from Mount Trumbull Schoolhouse.

For those following along, here's the map:




We either missed a sign (marker) or just turned east too soon. Lots of little roads/tracks in this area. Often when Dad and I go out exploring we don't have a firm destination/route in mind. I'd say more of a general direction. All good.

So, we turned east and followed along a powerline road. Lots of little ups and downs, a few spots with loose gravel and washed out dry stream crossings. Wouldn't be a good place after dark or in the rain (mud). Gradually we realized we missed the 1035 turn to the south, but we just continued on the powerline road towards the Hurricane Cliffs. These cliffs are very prominent and visible for many miles. We knew from prior rides that we'd hit BLM 1036 (not a good road) at the base of the cliffs and be able to turn back north. Rode home through Warner Valley. Lots of dust. About 65 miles, lots of it at slower speeds. Will have to try again for 1035. Promises to be a good ride deeper out onto the Strip.


About 10 miles south of St. George, crossing in to AZ. Little Black Mountain Petroglyph site in this area. Also easy to access from the River Road exit onto the AZ Strip. Navajo Trail was our intended destination. Good reason for another ride, hopefully soon!




Starting out on BLM #1035. We let a guy in a truck get a little distance on us. Too much dust for close following.




Quick elevation gains once you enter AZ. Nice dirt curves!




Following the powerlines. We're off-track at this point, but probably could still loop around to find 1035, but the riding is good so we keep going.




Park the bikes and take a look around at the top of a little hill climb. Just enough loose rocks to make it interesting. Pine Valley Mountain in the background.




Big powerlines. These same powerlines extend west to the Gypsum Mine by the Black Rock Road exit on the AZ/UT border. Same powerlines cross Virgin River then climb Beaver Dam Mountains (Apex Mine area), then descend Bull Dog Canyon to Old Highway 91 in Nevada.




Cool gate. Take a pic. Carried extra gas, but didn't end up coming close to needing any of it.




Dad on his Honda. Good bike for these roads. Dad is always up for exploring. Much more about the "journey" rather than the "destination." Get out and ride with your dad and/or son. I always appreciate the Dad/son rides posted on ADV.




Impressive multi-colored rock almost everywhere you look. Lots of erosion patterns. This is canyon country.




Dad checking back on me. I had the camera out frequently, always looking for the best backdrop.




View of the Hurricane Cliffs. Mostly white rock. Very prominent. By this time, we have formulated the new plan to go back north, then cross Warner Valley. Always a chance of an impassable washout though. Until you connect with familiar roads you never know.




Lots of easy, flowing sections between the rocky steep spots.




We hook back onto a "known" road, BLM #1036. Turn north to head back to Utah.




Here's Dad popping through one of the easier wash crossings. All the standard hazards: lips/ledges to enter or exit, deep loose sand or gravel in the bottom, and most often lots of big rocks. Nothing ominous here. Even though this is only ~20 miles from St. George, you probably wouldn't see another person here all day. Area is just too vast, lots of little dirt tracks, and a very small number of people once you leave town.




Some early Mormon Pioneer history. This was a rough wagon road to the St. George Temple. I assume the couples had different accommodations for the coming and going trips. http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/st__...esources/historic_trails/honeymoon_trail.html




The road improves markedly as you go north towards Hurricane. The red rock bluff is very visible from the south end of Warner Valley.




Here's Dad on a different section of road. We were enjoying using the higher gears on our bikes after picking through a lot of slower stuff earlier.




Rather than continuing north to Hurricane and coming home via pavement (backside of Sand Hollow Reservoir would be best), we turn west and go through Warner Valley. Lots of dirt bike and ATV off-roading here. Easy access to Sand Mountain.




Dad in Warner Valley with the red bluff and Hurricane Cliffs directly behind him.




Late afternoon light on some of the cliffs of Sand Mountain. Great ride Dad, thanks!




Hope all you inmates and lurkers and starting to enjoy the holiday season. Best to all!

Great stuff RRR!!! Wish my old man and I were able to ride together, that's some precious time right there.

AZ Strip Power line Ride looked like a fun ride. Desert(ish) riding makes me daydream of what it must have been like back in the old horse riding days, only we get to travel the distances quicker. I still think it is so neat your dad goes out on the rides with you! Take Care.

That's great that you and your Dad ride together. I'd give an awful lot for another day with my Dad.

I'll be up your way in a few months. I live in LV, and plan to ride that area when I start getting time off. Get a cheap hotel and truck the bike up for day trips.

Thanks, UpST8, TheAdmiral, G19Tony.

Dad and I both recognize our good fortune to be able to ride together so often . . . special times!

G19Tony - St. George has lots of inexpensive hotels along the main street, St. George Blvd. Give me a "heads up" when you come this way. We can catch a ride together. Lots of nice scenery, different from Las Vegas.

Merry Christmas to all!

We had a bad stretch of weather, some rain, cold and overcast. Not typical for St. George. Been busy with holiday parties, work, family affairs -- all good. Finally had a sunny day so I used the Zuma for some errands around town. My nephew used the Zuma all summer. He added a few decorations for me.




And the decorations. Very 1970s.




And the family on X-mas morning. Big smiles all around. Best wishes for 2013 to all.

How far are you from Monument Valley? I just bought a Zuma this week It's about the only bike my wife will ride.