Multi-colored Green Canyon: The Fall Edition

At the trailhead

I had some time this last weekend to do a quick ride up Green Canyon, which was green, yellow, brown, red, and orange this time of year.  The picture above is from the trailhead - I didn't notice until after the fact that the first tenth or quarter of mile is not supposed to be biked!  I have no clue why they banned it, but there is just a short dirt road section to where you can start biking, and you can drive right to it.

Toward the trail beginning

They've added some new singletrack so you can pretty much avoid ever having to ride the dirt road for more than twenty yards after that very first section.  They've also took one singletrack section after the first road crossing and made it less steep by making switchbacks out of it, and have built up banks on the trail sides so you can go even faster downhill.  There were also several bridges on the trail that I've never seen before, although with there being no water right now you can just ride through the banks.

Just past a few of the campsites

The trail was an absolute blast!  The uphill is really nice - nothing too brutal, but a good steady climb, but coming back down it is incredible!  I made it about 4.9 miles up before I ran out of time and had to turn back down - I believe you can't go much further than that before you hit the wilderness area boundary and cannot continue biking.  Especially this time of the year it is gorgeous up there.

Love the fall colors!

There are a lot of banked sides that I don't remember from before that allow for fast downhills.

At about mile 3.5

Go over the bridge, or take the fun dip in and out of the bank

This is past mile 4 up on the more narrow, less traveled part

Green Canyon - The February Edition

This was one of the best winter rides I think I had on the year. The weather was perfect - wasn't too cold, and the snow was hard packed, which made for easy riding. It was my wake-up call though that I need to get into better shape as I didn't make it very far and was still huffing and puffing a bit.

Even in the winter, and perhaps especially in the winter, it was absolutely gorgeous up here. Being hard packed climbing was fairly easy, and I made decent timing without ever spinning out on the snow or sliding into a soft spot. The way down was even funner, and I just flew down, and never had to worry about sticking to a narrow packed down portion because the whole trail was so well packed. I actually had seen a runner at the turn around point for me going down, told myself I would go a little further up, take some pictures, then turn around and still beat her for my goal. Turns out I even had my bike loaded before I seen her hit the parking lot!

Green Canyon - Snow Biking 101

When I went into the bike shop to ask about good winter trails I was shot an incredulous look and told that winter riding doesn't exist in Logan - there is way too much snow! Eager to disprove the assessment I set out in the morning on the end of snow filled first week of December up Green Canyon. At the conclusion of this journey I was able to take home several lessons of my own.

First, riding in the winter in Logan is not impossible. You may not be able to make it quite as far, and it may take a lot more time, and it requires a lot more clean-up, but it is definitely doable (at least this early in the winter).

Second, riding in the winter in Logan is very difficult. The steeper uphills often require a hike a bike, you spin out often, it is difficult to stay on your bike, you have to pedal harder and faster to go slower than you do in the summer.

Third, the trail must be packed down a little. The only rideable areas were where the trail was packed down, and the farther up the trail I got, the less packed the trail became, which meant that I wasn't able to ride as far as normal.

Fourth, if I can't ride up it, I can't ride down it either. I figured that downhill would be a lot easier, but if I wasn't able to get traction and go up it, my bike would struggle to get any momentum or movement going down as well.

Fifth, related to the others, is if you don't stay on the packed trail you will probably do an endo. Going down I had several endos because I didn't stay on the narrow packed trail as well as I should have, which resulted in my bike doing a flip because the front tire sunk deep into the snow!

Green Canyon

The ride I probably did most frequently this last year was Green Canyon. The trail is located in North Logan, only about a five or ten minute drive from our place, and provides a quick, convenient, and fun ride.

I would probably rate the trail as an easy to intermediate for technical, and a lower intermediate for aerobic workout. Its a very popular trail and I don't think I've ridden it in any time of the year without passing several people (it is also an ideal camping site where my wife and I have had some fun overnighters). The trail is mostly singletrack, with a dirt road going about three miles up alongside it, although for one brief section there is no singletrack and you ride the dirt road for a short stint.

The pictures from this trail are taken from two rides, only one week apart. You can see on the first the beautiful fall colors, and then on the second snow all around and a more winter feel to it. Needless to say, I came home quite muddy, as did my bike. I also didn't make it very far up the trail the second time due to the mud, as well as it getting dark sooner.