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Carne Asada
Carne Asada is a climbing-only trail in the JEM
riding area east of Hurricane. It replaces lower JEM
(which is now a one-way DH-only for the bottom mile) as a climbing route.
The trail is new in 2022, with some route-finding confusion at the top --
which I expect will get better soon.
Looking west down toward the Virgin River Gorge from
Carne Asada. Photos and review by Bruce
on November 11, 2022.
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| The Carne Asada trail begins along the Virgin River Gorge on
JEM, just west of the trailhead. It's either 1.6 miles long, or 2.5 miles
long, depending on what the "official" trail will be once
everything is built and signs are installed. For now, follow the ride
directions below to avoid dirt-road riding when connecting uphill.
Descending JEM along the Virgin River Gorge. The
drone is flying directly over the trail fork to Carne Asada from JEM. |
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Sheep Bridge Road Lower JEM trailhead In
La Verkin, turn east onto Highway 9 toward Zion National Park. Drive 4 miles uphill.
Just after you reach the first homes approaching Virgin, find the cindered
Sheep Bridge Road on your right. Descend toward the bridge across the Virgin
River and find a parking spot along the road. Start pedaling. Just past
the bridge, but before the cattle guard, there's a dirt
road to the right. This will take you to the bottom of JEM and Carne
Asada. (The parking directly at the bottom of JEM is reserved for the
nature conservancy.) Trail
fork from JEM to Carne Asada (one-way climbing route), just 100 feet from
the trailhead at the end of the doubletrack.
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Highway 9 Upper JEM trailhead
In Hurricane, turn south on US-59 (towards the Grand Canyon). Drive exactly 5
miles uphill. Turn left on cindered doubletrack right as you approach the base of Gooseberry
Mesa. Drive another 0.3 miles to the parking area. Cross the cattle guard
at the gate, then immediately turn right on singletrack. Descend JEM. Near
the bottom of JEM at mile 6.7, just before JEM hits the trailhead in the
Gorge, you can veer to the right to begin the climb back uphill on Carne
Asada.
Looking northeast in the upper JEM
Highway 59 trailhead.
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First, get onto the bottom of Carne Asada from JEM, just
west of the Gorge trailhead. See the instructions above. The trail will
wind around as it climbs up a low hill above the gorge.
A group of riders climb Carne Asada with Hurricane
Mesa (right), and the Pine Valley Mountains (left) in the background. |
| You'll do around 250 vertical feet of climbing overall, as
the trail undulates up and down a bit. There will be views across the
flats, plus occasional views down toward the gorge where you'll see the
JEM trail above the Virgin River.
Following the trail southbound, we see the Moenkopi
clay slopes of Gooseberry Mesa ahead.
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At mile 1.1 from JEM, there's a connector trail to the right
as you cross a shallow wash. This connector descends 0.2 miles alongside
the wash -- and in the washbottom -- to hit JEM as it also crosses the
wash.
For this first section of Carne Asada, the trail is well-signed and the
correct route is obvious.
Desending in the bottom of the wash on the Carne
Asada to JEM connector trail. |
| At mile 1.6, you'll have some options, and things get
confusing. Carne Asada hits another singletrack trail at a T intersection.
My suggestion is to go right and follow the singletrack down through the
camping area and up to the Hurricane Rim trail fork as shown on my map.
We've turned to the right at the T intersection and
are heading north toward Hurricane Mesa again.
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To the left, the trail dumps into a race staging area. Sheep
Bridge Road is 100 feet away to the left, where you'll find the entrance
to the Quarry trailhead and camping area. The doubletrack here descends to
JEM and the climbing trail (which may or may not be "Carne
Asada" at this point). So that's a second riding option. A third is
to take Sheep Bridge Road to the Sheep Bridge trailhead, where you can
pick up Dead Ringer to climb to the top of
JEM.
From Sheep Bridge Road just outside the race-staging
parking strip, this is the entry to the Quarry trailhead and the camping
zone. Both the climbing trail and the JEM trail are 1/10th mile down this
doubletrack. |
| Assuming you forked to the right on the singletrack before
the race staging/parking zone, the trail goes north a bit, then drops
downhill through the northern edge of the camping zone. You'll reach the
doubletrack at mile 2.1 from JEM. Look for the continuing singletrack
climbing the hill to the west.
Descending away from the race-day parking strip on
the bluff. We'll pass through the camping/trailhead zone ahead.
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If you're well-aquainted with JEM from past rides, you'll
probably spot the JEM trail ahead and to your right as you work your way
across the doubletrack and through the camping/trailhead zone. But follow
the main trail across the north-south wash -- without turning downhill in
the wash -- and you'll find yourself climbing singletrack again. You'll
climb on the left side of a shallow east-west wash. The JEM DH route is on
the northern side of this wash.
Once you find yourself on this rock ramp in the wash,
you're almost there. Keep going and the trail exits the slickrock to the
left. |
| If you succeeded in staying on-trail past the camping zone,
the singletrack will reach the JEM trail at mile 2.5. This trail junction
occurs at the spot where Hurricane Rim forks
away westbound. Keep straight to begin climbing the two-way section of JEM.
With the addition of new trails in the area, most riders now
incorporate Dead Ringer, Goosebumps
or Cryptobionic into
a ride on the JEM trail. See our area page for a
quick description and links to various trails.
Joining JEM for the two-way section.
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Bottom Line:
Carne Asada is not as fun as the old climb up JEM along the Virgin Gorge,
but it's easy to see why a separate climbing trail was necessary for
safety. Riding traffic has increased dramatically along the narrow path
hugging the edge of the cliffs.
For less-fit riders, a ride up Carne Asada and down lower JEM makes a
nice quick loop.
The lower part of JEM is very scenic. This is the way
back down to the bottom of Carne Asada. |
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Getting there: From I-15 north, take the La Verkin exit on
UT-17. From the south, take the Hurricane exit on US-9 and go through
Hurricane towards Zion National Park. At the junction of US-9 with UT-17,
turn east towards Zion. 4.8 miles after the turnoff, turn right (south) on
a gravel road signed "Sheep Bridge Rd." Descend
toward the bridge across the Virgin River and find a parking spot along
the road. Start pedaling. Just past the bridge, but before the cattle
guard, there's a dirt
road to the right. This will take you to the bottom of JEM and Carne
Asada. (The parking at the bottom of JEM is reserved for the
nature conservancy.) |
| Sheep Bridge Road trailhead:
Found half-way along gravel Sheep Bridge Road, which connects US-9 to
US-59. Drive toward
the upper JEM trailhead on Highway 59 as above. But at mile 3.3 (while
still on the flat area), turn left on gravel road. Option 1, roadside
parking off US-59: If you turned onto Sheep Bridge Road from Highway
59, immediately park on the
right, just inside the fence. Pedal 0.4 miles northeast to where the JEM
singletrack crosses. Option 2, formal trailhead: From US-59
drive the gravel road for 2 miles and turn right into a fenced parking
lot. Or, from US-9 drive 2.9 miles on Sheep Bridge road. Cryptobionic and
northern Dead Ringer can be found here.
Upper JEM trailhead: In Hurricane, turn south on US-59 (towards the Grand Canyon). Drive exactly 5
miles uphill. Turn left on cindered doubletrack right as you approach the base of Gooseberry
Mesa. Drive another 0.3 miles to the parking area. N 37 08.329' W 113 14.527'
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