I live in Southeast Idaho and me and some friends are Jonesin' to go for a ride in about February. Is Little Sahara open in the Winter? We like dune riding. If not, what about that desolate area on the way to Moab south of Price? Where do you guys go during the winter? I've heard Mesquite is nice, but it's quite a ways for us. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!
Hey UTAH Riders!
- Thread starter Mudboy
- Start date
Hey Mudboy....drop me a line at [email protected] if you want and I can give you some more ideas, but I'll try and summarize a few in this post.
I live in Utah (20 minutes north of Salt Lake) and for the past several years we have easily been able to ride year round. However, this year we are having a "real winter" (must be the Olympic Deity ensuring enough snow or something) and the common riding places most likely have snow. However, for what it is worth....here is quick summary of the best places to ride in the winter:
Jericho/Little Sahara Sand Dunes - a little more than two hours south of Salt Lake. You can usually ride year round here although it can and does snow there....just depends on the winter and what the weather forecast is like. I've ridden there every month of the year and had awesome weather, but I've also been caught in snow storms as late as April. 60,000 plus acres of sand dunes. I actually prefer the surrounding area rather than riding exclusively on the dunes. In the area to the north of the dunes there are great desert trails for miles. This is the site of two separate Hare n'Hound Nationals (one in April and the other in May).
Knolls - straight west of Salt Lake about an hour on i-80 towards Wendover Nevada. This is typical desert terrain with open salt flats, small sand dunes, rocky hill climbs, and a lot of open desert trails. This is one of my favorites and is a quick fix to those winter riding blues. The same thing applies here....I have ridden there year round with great weather, but it is not exempt from snow, rain, and other bad conditions in the winter.....it's all a matter of luck and timing.
Further South you have a lot of riding around Moab. You can go as far as Moab or a little north of there are some great riding areas such as the San Rafael Swell and Ten Mile Wash (rode there during Thanksgiving weekend and it was great). It is very feasible to ride these places year round but trust me...I've seen snow on more than one occasion there as well.
If you wanted to go as far south as St. George Utah there is some great terrain there also. Snow is very rare there and it would be your most assured area in the winter, but it is quite a distance (5 hours south of Salt Lake).
So....what does all of this mean...there are several awesome locations to ride in the winter but there is certainly a risk of bad weather occurring. It is very common to get a few weeks of unseasonably warm weather during one of the winter months (typically followed by a huge snow storm), but when those times occur, virtually any of those locations previously mentioned would be great riding.
Let me know if you want more information as I can easily give you more specific info on each.
Mike in Utah
I live in Utah (20 minutes north of Salt Lake) and for the past several years we have easily been able to ride year round. However, this year we are having a "real winter" (must be the Olympic Deity ensuring enough snow or something) and the common riding places most likely have snow. However, for what it is worth....here is quick summary of the best places to ride in the winter:
Jericho/Little Sahara Sand Dunes - a little more than two hours south of Salt Lake. You can usually ride year round here although it can and does snow there....just depends on the winter and what the weather forecast is like. I've ridden there every month of the year and had awesome weather, but I've also been caught in snow storms as late as April. 60,000 plus acres of sand dunes. I actually prefer the surrounding area rather than riding exclusively on the dunes. In the area to the north of the dunes there are great desert trails for miles. This is the site of two separate Hare n'Hound Nationals (one in April and the other in May).
Knolls - straight west of Salt Lake about an hour on i-80 towards Wendover Nevada. This is typical desert terrain with open salt flats, small sand dunes, rocky hill climbs, and a lot of open desert trails. This is one of my favorites and is a quick fix to those winter riding blues. The same thing applies here....I have ridden there year round with great weather, but it is not exempt from snow, rain, and other bad conditions in the winter.....it's all a matter of luck and timing.
Further South you have a lot of riding around Moab. You can go as far as Moab or a little north of there are some great riding areas such as the San Rafael Swell and Ten Mile Wash (rode there during Thanksgiving weekend and it was great). It is very feasible to ride these places year round but trust me...I've seen snow on more than one occasion there as well.
If you wanted to go as far south as St. George Utah there is some great terrain there also. Snow is very rare there and it would be your most assured area in the winter, but it is quite a distance (5 hours south of Salt Lake).
So....what does all of this mean...there are several awesome locations to ride in the winter but there is certainly a risk of bad weather occurring. It is very common to get a few weeks of unseasonably warm weather during one of the winter months (typically followed by a huge snow storm), but when those times occur, virtually any of those locations previously mentioned would be great riding.
Let me know if you want more information as I can easily give you more specific info on each.
Mike in Utah
motormichael
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- Sep 26, 2001
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I want to ride in Utah
I would appreciate anyone who can e-mail me with information about offroading in southern Utah. When to ride, Areas to ride, Legal stuff, Bike preperation, What to bring, Where to stay,Ect... I live in the mid-west and would be happy to return the favor to anyone wanting to ride in this area. My e-mail is [email protected] Thanks, Mike
I would appreciate anyone who can e-mail me with information about offroading in southern Utah. When to ride, Areas to ride, Legal stuff, Bike preperation, What to bring, Where to stay,Ect... I live in the mid-west and would be happy to return the favor to anyone wanting to ride in this area. My e-mail is [email protected] Thanks, Mike
