ATVUtah Forum - Winter Riding in Utah's West Desert

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Winter Riding in Utah's West Desert (Read 5228 times)

dcclark23

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Nephi, UT
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Winter Riding in Utah's West Desert
02/04/07 at 10:04:19

I just couldn't take it any more! �Being stuck inside and reading about riding on this forum was driving me insane! �So, I pulled the ATV's out of storage, bundled up my boys, and headed to the west desert the last two Saturdays. �We have had a blast exploring areas that are completely new to us and riding in the snow. �It has been great to feel the wind (albeit a freezing wind) in our faces again - good, cheap therapy and a great deal of fun! �Two weeks ago we rode out by Vernon Reservoir and Cherry Creek Reservoir - starting at a place called Lofgreen just northwest of Eureka. �Yesterday, we ventured further out into the west desert and rode the Cricket Mountains ATV trails southwest of Delta. �Both days we rode for a few hours then found a firepit, made a campfire and roasted hot links. �It's not the same as the high country, but the desert has a beauty all its own - especially when covered in snow. �We had a great time and it has helped quench my addiction. �Now I can make it through another week stuck in an office.

A couple of tips if you decide to ride on snow covered trails. �Make sure you have plenty of gas - it's amazing how much more you use spinning your wheels in the snow. � Grin

�And make sure you have some good tread on your tires. �Here are a few pictures of our west desert rides.

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or Multimedia file viewing and clickable links are available for registered members only!! You need to

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There's always time for one more ride!!!

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dcclark23 Junior Member Offline I love ATVs! Posts: 40 Nephi, UT Gender:	Re: Winter Riding in Utah's West Desert Reply #1 - 02/04/07 at 10:05:27 Another one.
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dcclark23 Junior Member Offline I love ATVs! Posts: 40 Nephi, UT Gender:	Re: Winter Riding in Utah's West Desert Reply #2 - 02/04/07 at 10:05:54 One more.
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KaTz

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Re: Winter Riding in Utah's West Desert
Reply #3 - 02/04/07 at 13:39:34

� �dcclark23 � � SWEET ,,,,,Glad you took the Plunge to go out and Ride

� �It's that Freezing wind that keep's us from heading out ,

� We keep hoping Delta will become a bit warmer before we head out yet seeing you out there will spark some hope soon ....

� you ride for a bit � go take in hot drink , �ride again �more hot drink �, �
Thank's for the pictures look's like fun ... � � KaT ..

Hummm, Lookie there some SpOrT's QuAd's playin in the snow ....makes me happy
yes yuppie .... Smiley

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dcclark23 Junior Member Offline I love ATVs! Posts: 40 Nephi, UT Gender:	Re: Winter Riding in Utah's West Desert Reply #4 - 02/04/07 at 16:16:47 Yup, we decided a cold ride was better than no ride at all! A couple of toe warmers in the boots, hand warmers in the down mittens, and a ski mask under the helmet and your good to go. The last 2 Saturdays have been beautiful out in the desert. Nothin like a large dose of sunshine to cure the winter blahs.
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KaTz

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Re: Winter Riding in Utah's West Desert
Reply #5 - 02/04/07 at 16:31:49

As I have been sittin here the Smiley

is shinning ever so bright right now , It has melted most of the final left over snow that was just down,

I've been doing stuff in my Garage with a propane heater and it usually takes 30 minutes to just take the chill off yet today we are at 40 degrees so that is so nice .....weather can start to change now I'm ReAdY now ..... Cool

Those winter BlAhS are sure tough to get of yet a sweet ride away from home is all it takes .... Glad you had a BlAsT ...

kaT

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lang

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Re: Winter Riding in Utah's West Desert
Reply #6 - 02/13/07 at 09:42:23

Hey DC, I've wondered about the Cricket Mountain OHV Trails. My wife is from Delta, and when we drive up there from Cedar, I pass 3 signs for the Trails on the way. It must be a relatively large trail system because the signs are span 20 miles or so of the hwy.

I want to take the ATV and explore this trail, but any information you can give as to where you went and what you liked would be helpful.

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IWRBR Full Member Offline I Would Rather Be Riding Posts: 69 North Logan, Utah	Re: Winter Riding in Utah's West Desert Reply #7 - 02/13/07 at 13:23:13 lang wrote: Quote: ... I've wondered about the Cricket Mountain OHV Trails. State Parks & Recreation has a "One-Day Ride" map for the Cricket Mountains. Download from: Multimedia file viewing and clickable links are available for registered members only!! You need to or !!
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dcclark23

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Nephi, UT
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Re: Winter Riding in Utah's West Desert
Reply #8 - 02/13/07 at 15:02:24

lang,

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and we decided to check it out. We trailered to the Johnson Pass Trailhead and rode most of the system counter-clockwise. Our favorite parts were probably trails 2 and 6 because they had the most vegetation and deepest snow (enough for a challenge but not too much to get hopelessly stuck). We enjoyed some rock climbing right about where trail 1 meets trail 11 on its' north end (west side of the system) and we found a fire ring and roasted hot links right about where trail 3 turns east. We found it to be a great escape for a winter ride. I'm not sure how fun it would be without the snow but I know that there are those who really enjoy the desert and would love it anytime. We had to cut our ride a little short because we burned way more gas than expected spinning our tires in the snow. We found the trails to be pretty well marked except trail 11 was near impossible to follow because the snow was basically untouched as the trail wound its way through the sagebrush and all of the jackrabbits were way too distracting. Grin

There's always time for one more ride!!!

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Dick C

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The 9th State of the Union

Re: Winter Riding in Utah's West Desert
Reply #9 - 02/13/07 at 15:36:57

IWRBR wrote on 02/13/07 at 13:23:13:

lang wrote: Quote:

... I've wondered about the Cricket Mountain OHV Trails.

State Parks & Recreation has a "One-Day Ride" map for the Cricket Mountains. Download from:

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I went to their Map page and see that they don't have some of their other One-Day ride maps listed there. I happen to have a copy of each of these below but thought they'd be downloadable like the Cricket Mountain one is. They are in the same format as the Cricket one. The first two have been out since 2005 but the Forshea map was new last year.

Haycock Mountain/Black Rock - In the Hatch Area

Little Valleys Cottonwood Canyon - Out of Panguitch

Forshea/Table Mountain - Out of Antimony- This covers the Rocky Ford, Paiute 01, 73, 61 & 72 trails

'07 & '10 Outlander 650XT's

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ATVUtah

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Re: Winter Riding in Utah's West Desert
Reply #10 - 02/13/07 at 16:29:55

Here are the electronic versions of Cricket Mountains Day Ride Map.

National Geographic Topo:
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Garmin Mapsource
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GPS Map Exchange
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Have fun, ride safe, keepem wheels down, and see you at the Jamborees,
The ATVUtah.com Forums Team.
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ATVUtah

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Re: Winter Riding in Utah's West Desert
Reply #11 - 02/13/07 at 17:49:45

A little to the North and West of Cricket Mountain are the Amasa Trails
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Here are the electronic versions of Amasa Trails Day Ride Map.

National Geographic Topo:
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Garmin Mapsource
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GPS Map Exchange
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Magellan MapSend
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(right click and select save target as)

Have fun, ride safe, keepem wheels down, and see you at the Jamborees,
The ATVUtah.com Forums Team.
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lang Senior Member Offline So many trails, so little time. Posts: 145 Cedar City, UT Gender:	Re: Winter Riding in Utah's West Desert Reply #12 - 02/14/07 at 13:12:23 Thanks for the great info. Both Cricket Mtn and Amasa are now on my to-do list. FA, do the trail colors on your NG Topo files indicate level of difficulty or is it just to seperate the diferrent trails? Thanks again!
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ATVUtah

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Re: Winter Riding in Utah's West Desert
Reply #13 - 02/15/07 at 13:14:24

lang wrote on 02/14/07 at 13:12:23:

Thanks for the great info. Both Cricket Mtn and Amasa are now on my to-do list.

FA, do the trail colors on your NG Topo files indicate level of difficulty or is it just to separate the different trails?

Thanks again!

The colors I use are just to distinguish the various trails from each other. Too many trails have varying difficulty levels along their course for me to define each section. Also it seems difficulty ratings are perception sort of thing. What I consider difficult on one trail others might think as easy, while on yet another trail our opinions will be the opposite.

Case in point are the Barney Lake and Rocky Ford Trails. If you read the opinions expressed here about them you will see them b0th range from easy to the trail from Hell depending on who comments

Me I prefer to rate them all as just plain FUN Wink

then point out the nasty spots along them if any.

Have fun, ride safe, keepem wheels down, and see you at the Jamborees,
The ATVUtah.com Forums Team.
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