Little Purgatory Trail

10 Minutes up I-15 and just outside of the booming metropolis of Leeds Utah there is a newish trail system that I have never ridden. I am always up for exploring new trails especially when they are as close as this.

I found the trail head in the dark with little effort and waited for the sun to come up, I do enjoy the early morning solo rides, running on my own schedule when I don't know where I am going is so much easier and takes the pressure off.

The trail has seen very little traffic that I could tell, there was evidence of horses, hikers and maybe one other bike. Luckily you navigate the beginning of this trail thru a cut in the rock with 3-4 stream crossings so the Texas Wheelchairs (4-wheelers) won't be destroying anything.

Inside the cut you get to see some petroglyph wall art 

Up Close

Backside of the cut,  you can see the trail has seen very few visitors.

 If your headed out there I would recommend riding in a counter clockwise direction, if you ride clockwise you have to climb some steep switchbacks that could best be described as "a good hike ruined by the extra effort of pushing your bike uphill."
At the top of the switchbacks you are rewarded by this view of Pine Valley Mt. I love the snow capped tips above the red rocks. No photo can do this justice.

Part of the trail follows an old pioneer wagon trail, heaven knows why those people needed to get to the top but there is a lot of evidence of their effort along the way. Here they have built a retaining wall to hold the edge; I would bet it's 50' long and averages 4' high.

The totals were 6+ miles and about 1400 ft of climbing, not a bad morning ride with some great views that you can see no other way.  I would definitely ride it again and with some frequent bike traffic it could become a regular route.
Ring me up for a guided tour.