Snow Canyon State Park Bike Ride

There was a brief mention of the bike ride earlier; here are more details:

Just outside of St George is Snow Canyon State Park, which has sandstone formations and lava. There is a 22 mile loop from downtown St George, mostly on bike paths.

http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/snowloop.htm

We loaded Bleriot into the car and drove to the bike shop in St George, where Fitz rented a mountain bike. We pedaled up Main, left through a traffic circle, then out on Diagnonal to intersect Bluff (and pick up the bike path), then to the Snow Canyon Parkway. We followed the bike path that paralleled the parkway. Fortunately, not much traffic going in and out of the side streets and driveways; later in the day it could be a little more interesting. Then a right turn into the park.

Eventually we found the entry booth, where the cheerful attendant took our $3.00 park entry fee (total), gave us a map, pointed out all the places that had water (while still early, it was getting HOT), and told us to enjoy the ride.





We followed the trail, stopping at one point to get more water, and stopping at other points to take pictures. Eventually the trail stopped, and we took more pictures by an interesting sandstone outcropping, then headed up Galoot Hill. No traffic at all. We climbed for about a mile, then came to the other park entrance on Hwy 18.

Interesting pebbles in the sandstone here:

The bike path reappeared along Hwy 18, mostly downhill to St. George. Parts of it by the Ledges interchange construction had gone to gravel and dirt. Past that were several very steep (I've heard 20%) downgrades. Fitz had fun with those.

And then we were back in St. George, navigating our way back to the bike store. We checked out their merchandise - mostly MTB and downhill stuff, plus a large selection of thornproof tubes and tires. It was a great ride, but I'd recommend doing it early in the day.