The Adventure Cycling Association Utah Cliffs Loop Bicycle Route is a loop rather than a point-to-point route. Southwestern Utah is known by many as Color Country. Riders will discover how apt this nickname is as they encounter the rich hues of the red rock cliffs and pedal through the cool greens of the sub-alpine forests that the route visits. The route is a total of 288 miles (464 km).
Cliffs are an inescapable part of the view on the Utah Cliffs Loop. Riders will catch their
first glimpse of the Hurricane Cliffs in the distance as the route heads northward out of St.
George on a bike path winding through Snow Canyon State Park. This beautiful park
encompasses white and red sandstone cliffs with an overlay of black lava rock. As the
route continues in a clockwise direction, the Hurricane Cliffs loom to the east until just
outside of Cedar City, where riders begin to climb up and over them. Later, as the route
descends through the timber at the beginning of North Fork Road, there is a great view of
the Pink Cliffs to the east.
Riders must use caution as the route approaches Zion National Park on Zion-Mt. Carmel
Highway. Traffic will increase and the White Cliffs will tower over the road on the left. Just
south of Zion National Park, riders might consider a side trip to the nearby ghost town of
Grafton, a filming site for the 1969 blockbuster, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Next up: Smithsonian Butte and Gooseberry Mesa, which lead into the Vermillion Cliffs
that begin here and flirt with the Utah-Arizona border to the south. The approach to
Hurricane runs along the edge of the Hurricane Cliffs on a rough four-wheel-drive road.
Riders then enjoy a slightly downhill ride most of the way back to St. George.
Due to the high elevations of this route, riders must be prepared to deal with extreme
temperature differences between morning and mid-day and night. Also, the summer
months can bring frequent afternoon thunderstorms. F all weather is ever-changing and it
is not uncommon to have snow flurries at 10,000' (3000 meters) elevation as early as late
August. However, these conditions typically pass within hours at that time of year. Wind
can occasionally be a problem as weather fronts enter the state. In the summer and fall,
most storms come from the south and southwest, and can kick up incredible amounts of
dust.
Road surfaces on the Utah Cliffs Route are approximately fifty percent dirt and gravel
roads and fifty percent paved roads.
