Avoiding muddy trails by taking the mountain bike to Utah and Arizona

BOISE, Idaho — Ridge to Rivers trail users need to be aware of conditions now through spring so we don't damage the trails in the foothills by using them when they are muddy.

Ridge to Rivers has an interactive map and a daily report to inform people on trail conditions, many of the trails are ridable early in the morning before they thaw out, but I've never had the motivation to get up really early and get out there, I usually stick to riding on the Greenbelt in the winter months.

But I had an awesome time practicing on pumping on the Boise Bike Park and riding the features and the trails at the Eagle Bike Park this fall, I wasn't ready for it to end so for the first time I took my mountain bike on my fall vacation to the desert and canyon country in Utah and Arizona.

Our first stop was the Richfield, Utah for the Parvhant Trail system, these were really well built trails that were so fun because of the variety of flow, tech and drops with trails rated from easy to expert, and it's not that far with Richfield being around a seven hour drive.

I'm an intermediate mountain biker so we went down a blue square called Cairn-Age, it was a bit of a grunt to get up to the top but these trails can be shuttled and you can pay locals in the area to do so and the Richfield City Mountain Bike Page can answer questions for you on trail conditions.

This trail system also has some pretty gnarly expert trails including Juniper Drop, Telegraph and Spinal Tap, trail builders finished the upper section of Spinal Tap late this summer making an 18-mile ripper of a descent that drops 4,000 feet of elevation.

We ended up having Thanksgiving with family in Arizona so we made a stop in Sedona, Arizona, this is a magical place and maybe that's because of the vortexes they say give off swirling centers of energy conducive for healing, meditation and self-discovery.

Sedona is a mountain biking mecca that features some of the hardest trails around, we got our feet wet on the slickrock with another intermediate route riding Slim Shady to Templeton and back on Easy Breazy, a fun ride that took us partly on a trail, on the red rocks and up and down a wash.

My last stop before heading home to Idaho was riding on top of the infamous Gooseberry Mesa near St. George, which is also a mountain bike destination that we didn't have time to check out.

Gooseberry Mesa was unlike anything I've ever ridden before, it had a natural skate park feel with rock rolls and challenging ups and downs that left me pretty winded as I followed white dots along the South Rim Trail.

The end of this six-mile ride took us to a point with incredible vistas of the surrounding area and I was out of energy by the end, but there is a series of trails on top of the mesa and I was able to cruise back on the jeep road.

Driving conditions to the trailhead can be accessed south of Gooseberry Mesa and the dirt road up to the Mesa was fine, but I would recommend a vehicle with a decent amount of clearance and I could see how the road could become treacherous with wet conditions.

I really got into a groove this fall riding and I have to give credit to Braydon Bringhurst and his film about riding the Whole Enchilada, if you haven't seen it you should check it out free on YouTube as it showcases much more than unbelievable riding skills.

I also want to give a shoutout to Kyle and April, I've never met these two mountain bikers from Boise, but their how to videos on places that I could go try for myself really helped develop some skills to give me the confidence to try some of these trails, here's an example.