Thunder Mountain Trail, Dixie National Forest, UT

Thunder Mountain Trailhead

Last week, before arriving in Flagstaff, I finally got the chance to ride the Thunder Mountain Trail in southern Utah. This trail is very near Bryce Canyon National Park and offers up scenery of that sort. What is that sort?, well, it’s rather other worldly and breathtaking. This trail is typically ridden as a downhill rather than an out and back. Some probably shuttle it, but using the paved bike path that parallels Utah Route 12 makes for a good loop. I opted for the paved trail on the way back since we camped near the Coyote Hollow trailhead.

view from top of first climb

While it’s mostly down hill from the Coyote Hollow trailhead, there are a few climbs.

one of the sweet ridge line descents

This trail is even better than it looks…

more fun single track

The Thunder Mountain single track is only 7.9 miles, but with 1200 feet of climbing just from the Coyote Hollow trailhead to the top of the mountain and much more downhill, it feels like more.

another great view

some of the other worldly scenery

This trail is truly unique as a multi use trail with scenery just like Bryce Canyon but outside the park.

Another fast ridge line trail among the hoodoos

Parts of this trail are really fast and flowing.  This shot was not too far from the end. The trail finishes by dropping into Red Canyon. I think I would normally be ready for more trail, but it was rather hot out and it was nice to stop at the visitor center on the way back and cool myself off at the drinking fountain. This trail gets two thumbs up for lots of berms, good flow and unique scenery.