Biking around Grand Canyon, Bryce or Zion? [Archive]

moose8

03-20-2012, 10:25 AM

I'm taking a trip with my girlfriend and am going to the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park. One thing we've thought about is renting bikes and riding near/in one of the three places. She is a very timid mountain biker, but game for most road rides and easier mountain bike rides. Does anyone have any suggestions on which of the three areas would be best for biking, and any suggested routes or good rental shops other than what is turned up by google?

If anyone has suggestions on hiking/backpacking trips in the area, feel free to throw out recommendations on those too - we are thinking of an overnight probably in Bryce or Zion.

Last trip we did we biked around New Orleans and it was a highlight of the trip, and we hit spots recommended by a forum member which were great and I would have missed otherwise.

Chance

03-20-2012, 10:36 AM

Have been to all three parks but have only ridden at Zion. Depending on distance you want to go and how timid she is Zion would be my first choice because the road is closed to traffic except for park buses and the few cars going to lodge. However, it's only about 8 miles or so each way if my memory is even close. If you are looking for longer routes, road traffic could be much higher once you get out of canyon. It is beautiful though and hard to beat.

Rode my own bike so don't know about where to rent. There is a small town just outside park south entrance which might have rentals.

Ralph

03-20-2012, 10:55 AM

Have been to all those parks. I consider them to be mostly hiking vacations. And terrific ones at that. If in area, don't miss the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Our favorite, and not many people know about it.
http://www.nps.gov/blca/index.htm

Gummee

03-20-2012, 11:00 AM

If you can help it, ride the north rim. The south rim has LOTS of looky loos and LOTS more traffic. There's a nice mtn bike trail along the north rim that should be OK for a novice mtn biker. I don't remember any huge amount of technical from the trip I took there.

Same applies for road riding. Having lived in Flag for a bit, the motorhomes, etc. on the roads round Flag made even me scared. ...and that's saying something!

Now, if you want to bring cross bikes, the fire roads thru the natl forest near Flag have LOTS of great riding with less issues with traffic.

AFA the rest? Don't know.

M

goonster

03-20-2012, 11:05 AM

Of the three parks, Zion is almost certainly the best one for a day's riding on rented bikes. There are at least a couple of shops in Springdale that should have rentals. There is really only one road in the park, but riding out of Springdale would be a great way to see this absolutely gorgeous spot without using the shuttle buses.

At Zion you can enjoy a lot of stupendous scenery from the road, which is not really true of Grand Canyon or Zion.

After my two-week "recon" trip out that way last year, here's how I would spend my time cycling, provided I had access to real road bikes:
- Hwy 12 between Bryce and Hanksville (n.b. that is an ~80 mi. stretch with few services)
- Day rides out of Flagstaff or Sedona
- Kanab to GC North Rim

All the good things they say about the North Rim are true. Harder to access, but cooler in the summer, less crowded, and sunset (or sunrise) at the lodge is not to be missed.

moose8

03-20-2012, 11:09 AM

Thanks for all the excellent suggestions - other item is we are going the week of April 21-28th if that has any effect weather wise. We were thinking of spending most of our time in the bryce/zion area just because everyone says its so nice, but we do want to see the grand canyon if we are out there.

SoCalSteve

03-20-2012, 11:10 AM

buldogge

03-20-2012, 11:10 AM

Man...not sure how I missed that on my motorcycle trip thru there. We stayed the night in Gunnison and then drove right by there on the way to Montrose to hit the million dollar highway.

Definitely need to check it out in the future...thanx for the tip.

I would say that the riding around the North Rim (at least in mid-June) was the least crowded. The roads are nice, and the GC is not to be missed of course. I would definitely hike the river at Zion as well.

Bryce was nice, I had no trouble leaving it to a few hour stopover though.

There are some interesting pockets in Escalante as well...

-Mark in St. Louis

Have been to all those parks. I consider them to be mostly hiking vacations. And terrific ones at that. If in area, don't miss the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Our favorite, and not many people know about it.
http://www.nps.gov/blca/index.htm

moose8

03-20-2012, 11:13 AM

If your gonna go by the St. George area at all, check out the Gunlock Loop here: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Gunlock-Veyo-Loop-V2

Great road ride, very few cars and breathtaking scenery...

Enjoy!

This ride looks great - I'm going to look into this. Few cars is definitely a plus for any ride.

goonster

03-20-2012, 11:24 AM

We were thinking of spending most of our time in the bryce/zion area just because everyone says its so nice, but we do want to see the grand canyon if we are out there.
If you find yourself with extra time at Bryce, drive east on Hwy 12, towards Boulder, UT. You will not regret it.

The Grand Canyon really has to be seen from below the rim. Budget your time, and allow double the descent time for ascending.

A few pictures from my trip (http://www.flickr.com/photos/81336337@N00/sets/72157627103317587/)

buldogge

03-20-2012, 11:47 AM

+1

We came that way thru Escalante from Moab...very nice road. Cool pockets here and there. I can't remember the exact location but there was a waterfall/swimming hole, like an oasis in the middle of all the dry somewhere along that route (closer to Capitol Reef actually, maybe RT 24).

-Mark

If you find yourself with extra time at Bryce, drive east on Hwy 12, towards Boulder, UT. You will not regret it.

The Grand Canyon really has to be seen from below the rim. Budget your time, and allow double the descent time for ascending.

A few pictures from my trip (http://www.flickr.com/photos/81336337@N00/sets/72157627103317587/)

tiretrax

03-20-2012, 03:03 PM

+1 for St. George. That area is one of the most beautiful in the country, and the terrain is so variable for such a small part of the world (i.e. Bryce vs. Zion vs. Grand Canyon). If you can, head up to Moab, too. There's a lot of great mountian biking there.

Late April should be a great time to go. Definitely want to hit it before schools let out and summer vacations. Motorhomes pickups are definitely a hazard. Take good care when on the roads.

schwa86

03-20-2012, 06:17 PM

Moab is very fun (note when I was last in that part of Utah, a cold beer was not so easy to come by), awesome mountain-biking scene, check out slick rock trail

http://www.utah.com/bike/trails/slickrock.htm

maunahaole

03-20-2012, 08:51 PM

We went to Zion for vacation a couple years back. It is a great spot. Riding in Zion park will be limited, but the traffic should be light as was mentioned. There are a couple of miles of hardpack dirt trail that parallels the river and road on the valley floor in Zion as well. Zion Cycles in Springdale is a friendly little shop that has a bunch of rentals. You may be able to ride to some of the mild hikes in Zion and do those and make a nice day trip in Zion. One thing you may want to consider is riding all or part of the way between Zion and Bryce. Really beautiful countryside with a lot of small towns. We were there in July, so I cant really speak to how weather will be in April - keep in mind that the top of Bryce is at 7000ish feet, so you could still get some winter.

In Springdale, stay at the Desert Pearl. It was recommended to me by a forumite and was very nice. Backroads uses it for their trips.

CunegoFan

03-20-2012, 10:18 PM

If you are going to do some hiking then you have to do Angel's Landing. It's not as bad as this pic looks.

http://www.abbeville.com/images-catalog/full-size/0789208016.interior01.jpg

Steve in SLO

03-20-2012, 11:19 PM

victoryfactory

03-21-2012, 04:58 AM

Great ideas here...thanks! I am following with interest. In about 2 weeks, our family with my wife, and 14 and 12 year old 'novices' will be staying 4 days in Zion, then 3 days outside Sedona at the Red Agave, which was originally run by a MTBer.

Family biking is doable in Zion. There is a short bike trail up the canyon road, and bikes are permitted
on the main canyon road (you need to share with the shuttle buses)
Zion is a place where the shuttle bus system really works. There are so many
of them that you rarely have to wait more that 5 minutes and the route is dead
easy to figure out as it's just an out and back.

Sedona is bliss. There are miles and miles of great road riding too.

have a great trip

VF

victoryfactory

03-21-2012, 05:08 AM

If you are going to do some hiking then you have to do Angel's Landing. It's not as bad as this pic looks.

http://www.abbeville.com/images-catalog/full-size/0789208016.interior01.jpg

Uhhh.... Yes it is.
For those of you who don't like heights (I'm the president of that society)
I highly (pun intended) recommend the trail to Observation Point. It is longer
with well built switchbacks and when you get to the end you look down on
Angel's Landing and the whole Zion Valley as well. Unforgettable.

VF

thinpin

03-21-2012, 05:15 AM

goonster

03-21-2012, 08:19 AM

Bad as this looks?

There is chain that goes all the way up the "spine", and lots of people scramble up there in Vans, deck shoes, etc.

However, over the last decade the trail has averaged almost a fatality per year, so it is not a joke.

http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~wenger/images/zion_vegas/Full_size/angels_landing9.jpg

tiretrax

03-21-2012, 08:53 AM

There is chain that goes all the way up the "spine", and lots of people scramble up there in Vans, deck shoes, etc.

However, over the last decade the trail has averaged almost a fatality per year, so it is not a joke.

http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~wenger/images/zion_vegas/Full_size/angels_landing9.jpg
vertigo in the office, oh my!