Tag: Bryce Canyon National Park

Back to the Utah ride: Day 4 in Bryce Canyon

My sister arriving at Red Canyon.

This is the way to ride Bryce Canyon National Park: Put your bikes on the back of the truck and drive it to Yovimpa Point, the end of the road. There you can hike on several trails: Riggs Spring Loop Trail, Under the Rim Trail (that looks the longest) or Bristlecone Loop Trail (appears to be the shortest).

Or, you can set your bike back on the road and cruise downhill for 18 miles. The High Plains Drifter, for sure. What a downhill ride! Brakes? What brakes? I did have to slow down when I turned off on the trail at Inspiration Point. All those curves to negotiate and kids to avoid. Still made it to Ruby’s Inn a half hour before the others.

Then it was out of the park and onto a bike trail that ran along Route 12 but did venture into the woods along the way to Red Canyon where we met up with The Spouses, our excellent SAG crew.

Bikes loaded, we were off to Zion National Park, where bicycling is not allowed in the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel that leads to the main part of the park. Until 2026, larger vehicles – RVs, trailers, etc. – can pay a $15 charge and go through the tunnel during hours when rangers are there to orchestrate alternating one-way traffic. After 2026, larger vehicles will have to find another way into the park. The National Park Service posted this on May 30, 2024:

“Beginning in mid-2026, the park plans to reroute vehicles that exceed 11’4” tall, 7’10” wide, 35’9” long, or 50,000 pounds to routes other than the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway (the road across Zion National Park). Vehicles that exceed these specifications can use existing alternate routes surrounding the park.”

Maybe that will make room for bicycles.

Bikes are loaded on the trucks, and we are waiting our turn for the one-way traffic through the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel

On with the Utah bike ride: Day 3

Day 3, Boulder, Utah, to a wide spot in the road: We faced two of the three Hs in the H-E-double LL of bike touring: Hills and head winds. Fortunately, Heat left us pretty much alone. We made 48.7 miles of the planned 66 miles.

We started with a climb up to the Hogsback, a great downhill ride with drop offs on both sides of the road, curves and lots of speed if you chose it, which I did. Another sonic boom, I’m sure.

The drop off on these shoulders is hundreds of feet

Onward to the town of Escalante, Utah, for a Gatorade and potato chip break. Anne warned us that the long downhill we had just experienced would be met with the eventual long uphill. But she forgot to mention the head winds.

More uphill

Three of us have electric-assisted bikes, and the miles they can cover on one charge is more dependent on elevation than mileage. They fell short today. My bike was down to one red bar, which doesn’t translate into anything until it starts blinking. Then it’s time to hurry to the end. My sister’s new bike said she had five miles before she was on her own, falling well short of the planned 66 miles and Tropic, Utah, and the pizza joint there, which turned out to be closed. Some wise person pulled over to a wide spot in the road and declared today’s ride over. We called in the SAG trucks, who carried us to Bryce Canyon National Park. Hooray for The Spouses!

Bryce Canyon hoodoos