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Bar M Sidewinder
Bar M Sidewinder is a short singletrack in the Brand
Trails riding area north of Moab. It isn't a "ride" all by
itself. Most riders will use it as a dirt alternative to the paved Old
191 bike path when traveling up or down-canyon. It's intermediate in
technical difficulty.
View south form the upper trailhead
off Old 191. Trail review by Bruce on
April 11, 2013.
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| Because there's already a Sidewinder
Trail in St.George, our web site will always add a qualifier to the
name of this trail. If you see "Sidewinder" all by itself, I'm
talking about the OTHER trail -- NOT this trail, the Bar M Sidewinder.
Upper trail segment, near the junction
with Rusty Spur. Deep red dirt singletrack, looking south.
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Bar M Sidewinder is 1.5 miles long. There's 300 feet of
elevation change. At the top, it starts on Old 191
just downhill from the lower trailhead of Rusty
Spur. As it descends, it makes multiple connections. First it connects to the east
(downhill) side of Rusty Spur. It
sends two connectors eastbound over to Old 191, then joins Old 191 midway
between the bottom ends of Deadman's Ridge and Killer
B.
There are a few spots of open rock.
Most of the trail is dirt. Across the highway, the Chinle formation rises
up to Wingate sandstone cliffs. Just this side of the highway, Moenkopi
mudstone protrudes along the fault line. |
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| The trail opened in April 2013. (At the time of this
writing, the trail surface is still loose. Early-intermediates may have
issues with bike control on some of the steeper loose sections. Give it a
couple of months, and a few rainstorms, to pack down.)
Looking east across the gorge. The
Deadman's Ridge trail joins the paved path right where the brown lower
ridge meets the white stone.
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The trail can be done in either direction. There's one
relatively stiff climb either way. Most riders will drop onto this trail
as they return from riding in the Brand Trails.
Stronger bikers can use this route uphill when returning to the Bar
M from Killer B or Deadman's
Ridge rides.
An S-turn on the ridgeline above the
gorge. Heading south downhill. |
| The trail follows the Moab fault down the steepest section of
the canyon, lying midway between Highway 191 and the paved Old 191 bike path.
Half-way down, a deep cliff-lined wash separates you from Old 191. There
are some cliff and side-slope exposures that make this route inappropriate
for beginners.
We're just west of the fault line,
riding on Moenkopi clay.
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The bottom third is up-and-down riding in tilted rock
layers. In this spot the Moenkopi formation (the chocolate rock on the skirts west of the highway in the lower canyon) meet much younger rocks that have been
dropped downward by the Moab Fault.
Looking back uphill. The trail
descends R to L just above the row of rocks and just below the Moenkopi
cliff. |
| Connections from trails downhill!
When exiting Deadman's Ridge onto
Old 191, there's a trail connector entry on the west side of Old 191 0.2
miles uphill and 0.4 miles downhill. (The bottom of the trail is 0.7 miles
downhill from Deadman's Ridge.)
We've crossed the fault line, and are
100 million years younger in geologic time. We're going to climb up some
Navajo sandstone.
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To catch this trail from Killer B
(to go back uphill), turn right and ride uphill on Old 191 for 0.6 miles.
Turn left into the singletrack at the sign. At the first two trail forks,
keep left. The trails to the right connect back to Old 191. At the third
fork, veer right to stay on Bar M Sidewinder, or veer left then right to
take Rusty Spur back to Old 191. At this
point, you can go past the kiosk to connect to the rest of the Brand
Trail system.
A steep (and loose) descent on narrow
tread. |
Connections from uphill!
To go directly from the Bar M parking to Bar M Sidewinder, hop on
Old 191 and ride 1.2 miles
south of the kiosk where the paved trail ducks under the highway (and
where the gravel road turns to the lower parking area). Pass two
connectors to Rusty
Spur on the right, then find the Sidewinder Bar M trail on your right.
It's 1.4 miles
from the new parking lot.
Nearing the end of the trail, looking
south. We'll join Old 191 about mid-photo.
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To connect via EZ, veer right at mile 1.5
(where EZ turns L uphill to become "Lazy"). Take Bar M past the kiosk of Bar M's southern corner, then
onto Old 191. Ride 800 feet south of Bar M kiosk to Sidewinder Bar M.
(Pass two trailheads for Rusty
Spur on the way.)
Or, take the first right turn after the kiosk onto the south (second)
trailhead of Rusty
Spur and ride 0.2 miles to the connector. Fork left onto the
connecting trail and keep straight as you reach Sidewinder Bar M.
Heading uphill on Old 191. |
To connect from Moab!
Heading north on Old 191, ride 4.9
miles from Highway 128 and turn left onto the singletrack. There will be a
second connector at mile 5.2, and a third at mile 5.8. |
Riding notes, top to bottom:
0.0 Right off Old 191 on Bar M Sidewinder
N38 38.313 W109 39.297
0.1 Keep straight (R = to Rusty Spur)
N38 38.227 W109 39.253
0.2 Keep right (L = to Old 191)
N38 38.099 W109 39.092
0.5 S turn above gorge
1.1 Keep right (L = to Old 191)
N38 37.723 W109 38.884
1.4 Join Old 191
N38 37.531 W109 38.713 |
Riding notes, bottom to top:
0.0 L off Old 191 onto ST
N38 37.531 W109 38.713
0.3 Fork L (R to Old 191)
N38 37.723 W109 38.884
1.2 Keep L (R = to Old 191)
N38 38.099 W109 39.092
1.3 Keep R (L = to Rusty Spur)
N38 38.227 W109 39.253
1.4 L uphill on Old 191
N38 38.313 W109 39.297 |
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Getting there: From the north, exit I-70 at
Crescent Junction and drive south on US-191 for 22 miles. From Moab, drive
7 miles north from the Colorado River on 191. When you see the Gemini
Bridges parking area, look for a gravel road on the opposite side (east,
away from the cliffs). Turn onto the gravel road and immediately go right.
Drive past the first parking lot. (This is restaurant parking or fee
parking GPS N 38° 39.38' W 109° 40.66'.) As you approach the fence and
kiosk at the paved trail, turn left and drive 1/4 mile to the gravel
parking lot in the bottom of the valley N38 39.107 W109 40.110. To find
the trailhead, see the directions above. |
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