[kpm700]

I'm just curious if anyone has been up to those trails lately and how the conditions are. It's been about 6 years or so since I was up there last (sold my bike when we had our first kid). It was one of my favorite trails but don't really hear anyone talking about it much.

 

[k2rider1964]

Your opinion may vary but we went on Ice House in 2012 and it was the single worst trail I've ever been on....keeping in mind that we thought it was a "must do" in St G and it was a major let down all around. Everybody in our group felt the same way about this trail. Maybe the hype was to much....?

 

[kpm700]

I've mostly ridden broken mesa rim. Didn't know much about icehouse back then. I took the fam for a Sunday drive a few weeks ago and the road was worse than I remember. I think that's a big reason it doesn't get ridden a ton. I'm going to try and get up there in the next few weeks to see how it is.

 

[mightybrick]

I'll be headed up to it next week. I can let you know how it is.

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[digitalsoul]

I rode Broken Mesa a few years ago and agree with a previous poster that is was one of the worst trails I have been on and have no desire to ever ride it again. I'm not sure what trails you have been on but I went to St George a few weeks ago and rode the Zen trail, which was much more enjoyable. Plus the Zen trailhead is close to Bearclaw Poppy and other trails you can ride.

 

[kpm700]

Thanks for the replies. Seems like I'm in the minority in liking broken mesa rim :/ The last time I rode it was 2008 so I was just curious about current conditions/opinions of the trail. I've been riding the Santa Clara River Preserve area, Hurricane RIM trails, Gooseberry and Guacamole quite a bit lately. Just wondered if it was worth beating up my truck to get back up there again. I was debating heading up there this weekend but will probably go do Little Creek instead.

mightybrick- looking forward to hearing what you think of it

 

[mightybrick]

I read that Broken Mesa had been cleaned up by a trail crew and is in much better shape than it has been.
Also, the scout troop I was talking to Ice House changed their plans, so I'll be riding elsewhere. :/

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[drboudreaux]

Rode Broken Mesa/Icehouse in Jan. 2014. It was awful. Actually, it was the worst experience that I have ever had on my mountain bike. The trail was miserable. I will never ride that trail again unless it gets serious love and shovel time. Apparently there was a fire there last year, so much of the vegetation burned. The lack of vegetation caused the trail to turn into a small stream. It is not steep enough to enjoy the chunder that exists throughout the trail.

The trail now consists of a rut appx. 10" wide and 6"-8" deep filled with golfball to softball sized rocks. I am not kidding. Probably 70% of the trail is described by the foregoing sentence.

It absolutely sucks.

 

[mightybrick]

Rode Broken Mesa/Icehouse in Jan. 2014. It was awful. Actually, it was the worst experience that I have ever had on my mountain bike. The trail was miserable. I will never ride that trail again unless it gets serious love and shovel time. Apparently there was a fire there last year, so much of the vegetation burned. The lack of vegetation caused the trail to turn into a small stream. It is not steep enough to enjoy the chunder that exists throughout the trail.

The trail now consists of a rut appx. 10" wide and 6"-8" deep filled with golfball to softball sized rocks. I am not kidding. Probably 70% of the trail is described by the foregoing sentence.

It absolutely sucks.

Yikes. Thanks for the more current info.

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[JoshP]

Another vote for worst trail I have ever ridden. We did it Spring Break 2008 as the last ride of a really fun weekend. Total buzzkill after a great weekend of Gooseberry, Bearclaw Poppy, Barrel etc. I would suggest to anyone to not waste your time with it. YMMV.

 

[rideitall]

Too bad, I had read previous reports on Broken Mesa that were positive. We are heading down for 4 days riding in early May.

So far Gooseberry is on the list for sure (road it 12-13 years ago) and perhaps Barrel. Could also add Grafton Mesa and Babylon/Little Purgatory from descriptions I have seen these appear to be good as well. Not certain on Flying Monkey.

Need to nail down some ride options, we will have one vehicle, but do still may want to do some of the trails that can be shuttled. Are there any shuttle options out of STG or Hurricane, similar to what is in place in Moab?

 

[Silver_Slug]

ok, not great.

Another vote for worst trail I have ever ridden...

We did this trail back in 2012. I wouldn't say it was the worst trail I've ever done, but it was well....kind of forgetful. The weather was beautiful the day we rode it however. There were some beautiful open spaces. We had a pretty stiff breeze blowing that day too. I put together a video of the footage we shot, in case you want to click in on it and see what the trail had to offer a couple of years ago.

Regards,

-SS

<p><a href="http://vimeo.com/22740599">Icehouse, St. George Utah</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/steveconnolly">Steve Connolly</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

 

[KRob]

Worse trail ever?? Admittedly I haven't ridden it in a few years so maybe rains have eroded it some, but it was always rocky. I like the tech climb up to the Mesa and the rolling semi tech along the rim. The descent from Icehouse down is pretty fun if you asked me.... you have to have some suspension and not mind some rocky trail though.

Not the best trail in the area, but certainly not bad at all.

 

[drboudreaux]

I rode it on my Giant Reign. It sucked.

 

[drboudreaux]

Too bad, I had read previous reports on Broken Mesa that were positive. We are heading down for 4 days riding in early May.

So far Gooseberry is on the list for sure (road it 12-13 years ago) and perhaps Barrel. Could also add Grafton Mesa and Babylon/Little Purgatory from descriptions I have seen these appear to be good as well. Not certain on Flying Monkey.

Need to nail down some ride options, we will have one vehicle, but do still may want to do some of the trails that can be shuttled. Are there any shuttle options out of STG or Hurricane, similar to what is in place in Moab?

For XC, I would definitely add Sidewinder/Suicidal Tendencies to the list - very fun.

If you are considering Flying Monkey, you should also consider Grafton. In fact, I would likely start with Grafton, and if you are feeling good, then go do Flying Monkey. Flying Monkey is pretty technical and exposed in places. Grafton it also pretty technical and exposed, but not as much as Flying Monkey. Grafton starts on the road that heads south out of Rockville towards Gooseberry Mesa and can be shuttled.

Part of Grafton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86w_oe_dRRE

Suicidal Tendencies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l95LTX6Jao0