Smith Mesa Loop

Dogs Unknown

E-Bikes Allowed

Features Views

Most riders will take the hard climb up Mesa Road, providing a fun challenge with a reward of fast, gentle graded gravel across the top of the mesa with good dirt surface nearly the entire way, with a few sandier spots being the only sub-perfect riding. The entire gravel road has awesome views the whole way, showing off Zion National Park's rock formations, nearby mesas, mountains in the distance, and good ol' open desert. Smith Mesa Road ends at Kolob Terrace Road inside Zion National Park, and from here the ride is punctuated by a high speed road descent.

The most convenient parking spot will be outside of the Virgin BMX Track, and from here there is an access road turning left from the track and following to the West, skirting the North side of the town of Virgin and ending on the paved portion of Mesa Road. Here's the fun part: making the climb up to the rim of the mesa. It looks close yet far at the same time, but if you keep repeating "I think I can" you'll get the best of the grade as you gain elevation fast. Your relief will come as the road turns to dirt surface just past the branch to the old test site. If you need a break after the climb, there's plenty of juniper trees here to provide some shade. Continuing on, you'll run into one more steep hill with interesting geology around it, and everything past that point will be smaller, gentler hills. Also past here, the views open up in every direction and there's a few spots near the edge that can be camped at.

Further north along the road, open fields are present before trees reappear at the far end of the road, and the gravel road will start turning east and south towards where Smith Mesa meets the rest of the Kolob Plateau. You'll cross the boundary into Zion National Park a few short miles before you reach Kolob Terrace Road, where it's typically time to enjoy the high-speed road descent right back to the start, but if you have any legs left for climbing, you can take the road higher up into Zion before coming back down.

Smith Mesa is home to the Hurricane Mesa Test Facility, a former USAF rocket test track. The facility is still open as a privately operated test facility but remains a local landmark.