Chapter Ride - Gooseberry Mesa
Sat, Nov 11
|Apple Valley
Gooseberry Mesa Trail is a National Recreation Trail near Apple Valley, Utah of SR 59. At 5,200 this trail offers breathtaking panoramic views of Zion National Park and water carved canyon a below.
Time & Location
Nov 11, 2023, 10:00 AM
Apple Valley, Apple Valley, UT 84737, USA
Guests
About the event
Ride begins at 10:00 a.m. The 2.8 miles of dirt road to our parking area is VERY washboard currently and will take extra time to travel, please plan an extra 30 minutes for travel time. Temps are expected to be around 60 degrees. Trail is 11 miles and will take approximately 3.5 hrs plus a lunch break. Please pack a lunch.
Gooseberry Mesa Trail is a National Recreation Trail near Apple Valley, Utah of SR 59. At 5,200 this trail offers breathtaking panoramic views of Zion National Park and water carved canyon a below.
Directions from I-15, take exit 16 to Hurricane City, then turn right onto Main Street and the next immediate left onto SR 59. Travel approximately 14 miles, and after passing the gas station in Apple Valley you will make a sharp turn left onto Main Street (also called the Smithsonian Butte National Backcountry Byway). This is a dirt road that is very washboard in sections but you will only be on this road for approximately 2.8 miles. Turn left at the sign towards Goosberry Mesa Trailhead. We will park our trailers here and ride the horses 3 miles down the dirt road to the Gooseberry Mesa Trailhead. The Gooseberry Mesa Trailhead has a single vault toilet.
From the Gooseberry Mesa Trailhead we will continue on the road another .5 mile and then turn right to connect to the Gander Trail. Expect vehicles on the road but once on the rim trail we shouldn't see many other users, but some mountain bikers also use this trail.
The rim trail section was just under 6 miles on a winding dirt trail occasionally crossing over sandstone and through juniper and pinion trees, sage, yucca, prickly pear and other varieties of flowering cactus.