I am a proud father, and my soul beams. Standing aside a desert singletrack-trail, I watch my son, Ridge, pedal his small mountain bike past me. I snap a few photos of him and his best friend, Pimm, as they race through sage and juniper with a sweeping vista of Southwestern Utah’s red rock desert beyond. My feeling of pride comes not just because the boy is mountain biking, but that, at 5-years-old, he’s mountain biking in Moab. Specifically trails that start at the Moenkopi Yurts at Dead Horse Point State Park.
Mountain bike trails that are easy enough for small children can be tough to find. When choosing one, there is a lot to consider. Can my kid pedal up the hills on a single speed? Are the descents too steep for caliper brakes? Will a rigid kid’s bike withstand the trail’s technical rock features? In short, the main question is this: will my child (or his bike) break if they attempt to ride a supposed “green” trail? The Moenkopi Yurts at Deadhorse Point State Park is a vacation spot where we found exactly what we needed.
Moenkopi Yurts
The yurts at Deadhorse Point State Park are the most unique way to camp (or glamp) in the area. The Moenkopi Yurts are one of two yurts systems (the Wingate Yurts are another option and are located in the campground.) When our group arrives, we are surprised at how large the yurts are. With room enough to sleep six, there’s nice furniture including bunk beds, futon couch, dining table and chairs. An air conditioner/heater unit keeps the interior comfortable. On the deck we find a propane grill, picnic table, and a fire ring for evening s’mores.
But the most important yurt amenity in my book is access to recreation, and the Moenkopi Yurts are ideally situated right at a major trailhead for the Deadhorse Point State Park trail system.
Intrepid Trail System
Deadhorse Point State Park used to be a place to just hike and look at pretty views. But after the Intrepid Trail System opened in 2009 and was completed in 2014, the park has become a destination for mountain bikers looking for an alternative to the usual Moab scene (read: it’s 10-degrees cooler atop the plateau.) The park features 16.6-miles of desert singletrack, slickrock, and doubletrack, with difficulty levels ranging from beginner through expert.
Right outside our yurt door is Raven Roll, the easiest mountain bike trail in the network. Immediately after moving into the yurt, the kids have their helmets on and are bestride their bikes ready to ride. Raven Roll heads south from the yurt towards the park’s visitor center. It’s a wide, smooth trail with an occasional rock obstacle to keep the pedaling honest. Halfway through the ride, at the top of a downhill section, my parent-brain goes into panic mode as I watch Ridge speed to the edge of one such drop, but he clears the technical bit like it was nothing. I am proud and impressed.
After a mile of kids racing each other to be first, and adults taking photos of their precious offspring hucking themselves off 2-inch-high rock outcrops, we stop at the Colorado River Overlook where Raven Roll intersects the Intrepid Trail. From this vantage, I can look out across a magnificent landscape replete with buttes, mesas and rock towers. Two-thousand feet below the overlook, the Colorado River’s dark waters slowly flow through the canyon.
After taking in the view, we get to ride Raven Roll the other direction back to the yurt for a 2-mile out-and-back. The trail is perfect for mountain biking families with small children, and it offers just enough technical spots for kids to gain confidence and practice on chunky terrain.
Finding the Kid’s Limit on Big Chief
After a restful night of sleep in the yurt, we gear up first-thing next morning for an early ride. The weather forecast predicts a high temperature over 100-degrees, even at our high elevation. This time we pedal north from the yurt on Raven Roll. Much like its southern counterpart, this bit of trail wide and flat with plenty of room for kids to weave and go fast.
Raven Roll ends at the intersection with Crossroads, a singletrack that crosses Highway 313 to access the more difficult west-side of the Intrepid Trail System. Instead we continue straight on Big Chief. This trail is labeled as “intermediate to beginner” on the map, so we decide to test the kids on it since they made easy work of Raven Roll.
The first section to the trail’s northernmost point is great fun. The path winds through juniper and pinyon trees and ducks through dry washes – it’s classic desert flow-trail. The Big Chief Overlook is another mind-blowing viewpoint where the kids take a snack break on a bench.
Beyond the overlook though, things get dicey for those with short legs. From here Big Chief descends to the canyon rim and becomes much more technical with large rock gardens, tough obstacles, and enough constant elevation gain/loss that a child’s heavy singlespeed is impossible to pedal. I find myself off my bike more often than not to push Ridge up hills so he can ride down the other side, only to have to push him up another hill. It goes that way for the next three miles until we finally intersect Great Pyramid, which connects back to Raven Roll just south of the yurt.
Obviously we overestimated the kid’s abilities on Big Chief, not because they couldn’t handle it, but because their gear-less bikes were not suitable for grinding over steeper rock gardens and tight switchbacks. However, we were now armed with the knowledge that Big Chief to the overlook was perfect for them and would make a good out-and-back. The Crossroads trail also looked promising for a future ride.
Technical Mountain Biking at Deadhorse Point State Park
It’s our final morning at the Moenkopi Yurts. Me and my buddy, Matt Walker, woke before the wives and kids to bang out a more adult-oriented ride. The west side of the Intrepid Trail System is a newer section of the park and features more advanced routes. To get there, we ride up Ravens Roll and take Crossroads west. The trail is flat and rolling, as if it’s embroidered through the terrain.
At the terminus of Crossroads, we ride a loop that connects Whiptail, Twisted Tree, and Prickly Pair. All three of these trails are moderately technical with hundreds of rock features to negotiate. Interspersed through ledge-strewn rock gardens are sections of slickrock coupled with worn singletrack etched into the desert floor. The loop is great fun and never dull as I concentrate at every stony protrusion, weaving my front tire through narrow gaps and off geologic shelves.
The loop drops us off at Raven Roll where we easily pedal up back to the yurts.
Getting ’em Young
Aglow with satisfaction from a memorable mountain biking trip, I slowly pack gear into my truck bed so as to delay departure, even for a bit. Ridge and Pimm also don’t want to leave. Still jazzed, they both laugh and ride bikes around the yurt in endless loops. When it’s finally time to say goodbye to the Moenkopi Yurts, Ridge asks if we can come here again. I tell him someday, but in my mind I think, “hell yes!”
To book your own trip to the Moenkopi Yurts, visit stateparks.utah.gov