The Beaver Bench trail system lies at the mouth of Beaver Canyon, just
outside the edge of town. There's over seven miles of trail here,
completed in 2021 through early 2022. The expected riding season is
June through October. The trail system is suitable for beginning riders
both in technical requirement and fitness level.
Riding east on Sage Advice as storm clouds gather.
Original photos and trail review by Bruce on July
26, 2021. Updates October 2021 and August 15, 2022.
The key to this eight-trail system is a three-mile lariat loop called Sage
Advice. There are four one-way downhill flow trails and three additional
two-way trails that create several riding loops. A ride that hits everything
would be around 10 miles in length with 1000 vertical feet of climbing.
Looking down the Channel Surfing DH flow trail. Here we're in an old burn-scar where the dead trees have been
knocked down.
Trailhead
The Mammoth Crossing trailhead is on the Beaver Canyon
Road (Highway 153) and is reached by taking 200 North 3.3 miles east of
Beaver's Main Street. There's no water or bathroom at the trailhead, but there is a
bike repair station.
Bruce and bike at the trailhead. Looking north from
the canyon road.
Two-way trails
Sage Advice trail
Sage Advice is a lariat ride consisting of a 1.1-mile stem
that climbs the hill and a 2.3-mile loop around the edge of the bench. A ride around Sage Advice
and back down would be 4.5 miles with around 250 vertical feet of climbing.
The trails lie on the delta of a prehistoric river that flowed from the
Tushar Mountains into a large lake occupying the Beaver valley. The ride
starts at 6150 feet elevation with a high point of 6350 on top of the
bench.
Looking over cholla cactus at the Beaver valley.
The trail surface is brown dirt surrounded by river-rounded boulders. Much of the
ground is bare, with a sparse forest of juniper, cedar, and pinion pine.
The riding is easy. Turns are banked for smooth uphill climbing and fast downhill turns.
The Sage Advice trail winds through juniper and
pinion.
The Sage Advice trail starts on the west end of the
trailhead parking with a repair station and kiosk. It will quickly cross
the Harris Ditch irrigation canal, then begin winding back and forth
across the edge of the bench as it gains elevation. This lower part of the
trail is prone to flash flooding from summer storms, so don't be surprised
to encounter a washout or two.
At mile 1.1, keep left for a clockwise ride around the loop. The trail
on your right will be your return. All the other area trails are reached
via the Sage Advice loop.
Typical banked turn on Sage Advice. Smooth riding.
At this point, the trail contours the slope of the old river delta. It
stays just a bit downhill from the flat top of the bench. At mile 1.9 of a
clockwise ride, you'll cross a ridgeline where the Static Noise trail
joins from the left.
On the far side of the Sage Advice loop are two short
downhill flow trails with a return climbing trail. At mile 2.2 of a
clockwise ride, you'll pass the Terrain Robber return trail coming uphill on your left.
Then two DH trails start next to each other on the left just 1/10th mile further along
the trail.
Breaking out of the woods to climb up and over the
old river delta.
As you continue around the Sage Advice loop, it will climb
up to the top of the bench around mile 2.9 from the trailhead. This will
be 1/2 mile past the DH trails on the clockwise ride. Here there's a trail
fork. Go hard right to cross the old river delta and close the Sage Advice
Loop. Go left to drop down Rambler. Or keep straight to ride Boulder Ridge
east to Flow Hollow -- the newer eastern loop.
After crossing the top of the bench, Sage Advice descends
west to close the loop at mile 3.4. Here a hard left turn takes you back
to the trailhead.
Closing the loop. That's the return path on the left,
with a wide spot to swing the turn. Straight ahead is the path to another
trip around the loop!
Static Noise trail
The Static Noise trail links the far western end of the
Sage Advice loop to the bottom of the DH flow trails. The trail is 0.6
miles long with just under 100 feet of elevation change over its length.
It's a two-way trail, but most riders would use this as a climbing route from the bottom of the DH
trails.
You can tie together upper Static Noise, Terrain Robber,
and a bit of Sage Advice to form a small two-way loop. See the map.
Everything else at the bottom of Static Noise is one-way downhill, so
you'll have nowhere to go but straight back uphill.
Riding west as Static Noise gently climbs back to the
upper edge of the bench.
In the uphill direction, Static Noise starts at the bottom of Flow Hollow
and Sundance Skid. It heads west at a gentle rate of climb. At 0.1 miles,
the bottom of Channel Surfing joins from the left. At mile 0.3, Static Noise
continues straight while Terrain Robber turns hard to the left for a more
direct -- and slightly steeper -- climb back to the Sage Advice loop.
Like most of the trails here, Static Noise has pinion
and juniper forest plus burn-scar covered with grass and sage.
At mile 0.6, Static Noise reaches the westernmost end of
the Sage Advice loop on a ridgeline. The trail fork occurs where an ATV
track runs along the ridgeline. If you keep straight, you're headed
counterclockwise on the loop -- toward the trailhead. If you turn left on
the Sage Advice singletrack, you're headed to the DH flow trails and
Boulder Ridge.
Arriving at the western edge of the bench. The Sage
Advice trail crosses old ridgeline doubletrack at the spot where Static
Noise joins.
Terrain Robber trail
Terrain Robber runs between Static Noise and Sage Advice.
It offers a quick return to the top of the DH flow trails.
We're climbing up Static Noise. That's Terrain Robber
turning hard to the left.
Terrain Robber is 0.2 miles long
with a bit under 100 vertical feet of steady climbing. It will go
through a couple of climbing turns.
As Terrain Robber joins Sage Advice eastbound, just keep straight
and in 0.1 mile you'll be back at the top of Channel Surfing and Sundance
Skid for another
descent.
Climbing up and around a turn on the way up.
Boulder Ridge
Boulder Ridge is a traversing trail that begins at the far
east corner of the Sage Advice loop. It's 1.0 miles long.
Boulder Ridge starts at a four-way intersection includes the top of the
Rambler DH flow trail. When riding clockwise on Sage Advice, just keep
straight. If you're riding counter-clockwise on Sage Advice, turn right
for Boulder Ridge.
A fun rock roll-over at a split
juniper as we rode east on Boulder Ridge.
Boulder Ridge has a bit of gentle up-and-down riding, but
very little overall elevation change as it heads east from Sage Advice.
The trail is easy both technically and
aerobically.
At the eastern end of Boulder Ridge, the trail takes a 180 degree left
turn downhill and becomes the Flow Hollow one-way downhill trail.
Heading east on an easy cruise toward the Tushar
Mountains.
DH Flow Trails
There are four one-way downhill flow trails in the Beaver
Bench system. All are fairly easy to ride, ranging from beginner to
early-intermediate in skill requirement. The elevation change is around
120 vertical feet for each. From west to east, they are:
- Channel Surfing, 0.25 miles.
- Sundance Skid, 0.3 miles.
- Rambler, 0.5 miles.
- Flow Hollow 1.2 miles.
Looking down Rambler as the trail approaches the
bottom of the canyon.
Channel Surfing and Sundance Skid share a common beginning
on the Sage Advice loop at mile
2.3 of a clockwise ride, or mile 2.2 of a counterclockwise trip. Both of these downhill routes end on the
return trail Static Noise, but the
Sundance Skid trail will have a slightly longer return. Rambler begins on
the western end of Boulder Ridge while Flow Hollow is on Boulder Ridge's
eastern end. These trails also descend to Static Noise.
Turns are highly banked for speed. There are rollers and
occasional table jumps between turns. Overall, these are intermediate-level descents.
First turn on the right-most DH trail, Sundance Skid.
Channel Surfing
The Channel Surfing DH flow trail forks downhill from Sage Advance
The
Sundance Skid trail starts alongside it to the left. The Channel Surfing trail (to the left as you face downhill) is just under 0.3
miles in length. It descends 110 vertical feet. It will have a 0.3 mile
return climb back to Sage Advice via Static Noise and Terrain Robber.
Highly banked but quick turns are typical here.
Looking down the left-most DH flow trail, Channel Surfing.
Sundance Skid
The second DH trail (on the right as you face dowhill) is called Sundance
Skid. It's
0.3 miles long with 120 feet of descent. At the bottom of Sundance Skid, the Flow Hollow
trail comes in from the right side. Veer left for the uphill return trail Static
Noise. If you turn onto Terrain Robber after 0.2 miles, it will be a total
of 0.4 miles back to Sage Advice.
We're out of the woods and into the burn scar. Lots
of bumps and a few tables here on Sundance Skid.
Rambler
Rambler is a one-way DH flow trail that begins at the
eastern corner of the Sage Advice loop. The trail intersection is also the
western end of the Boulder Ridge two-way trail. At the four-way
intersection, Rambler is the one that goes downhill.
Looking
east from the four-way intersection of Sage Advice, Boulder Ridge, and
Rambler. That's Rambler straight ahead, while Boulder Ridge is the trail
above it near the top of the bench.
Rambler is 0.5 miles long. It angles downhill and west at first, passing
through a pinion and juniper forest. There are some rocks strategically
placed for jumping.
Once Rambler reaches the burn scar, it begins to wind back and forth
across the slope, similar to the other DH trails.
There's an initial wiggling gradual descent along the
side of the bench.
Rambler ends on the Flow Hollow trail, about 400 feet from
where Flow Hollow ends and the Static Noise climbing trail begins. Just
keep straight as you join Flow Hollow, then veer to the right as Sundance
Skid and Flow Hollow end on Static Noise.
Passing through the juniper and pinion forest on
Rambler.
Flow Hollow
Flow Hollow begins as the continuation of the Boulder
Ridge two-way trail. Boulder Ridge turns hard to the left downhill, and at
that spot becomes the one-way Flow Hollow trail.
At this turn, Boulder Ridge becomes the one-way
downhill Flow Hollow.
Flow Hollow is 1.2 miles in length, dropping 100 vertical feet in elevation.
It will be joined from the left by the Rambler DH flow trail near the
bottom. At Flow Hollow's lowest point, the Sundance Skid trail also joins
from the left and Flow Hollow turns into the Static Noise two-way trail.
Flow Hollow has a very gradual rate of elevation loss,
so you'll occasionally find yourself pedaling a bit.
A full loop of Boulder Ridge, Flow Hollow plus Static Noise and Terrain Robber
-- with a piece of Sage Advice to where
Boulder Ridge
starts -- is 3.2 miles.
Breaking out of forest onto the burn scar as Flow
Hollow becomes Static Noise.
A Quick Ride on Beaver Bench!
If the above video does not appear on your
browser/device, you can watch it on YouTube by clicking
here.
Bottom Line:
Very nice trail system. Easy to ride; modest views. Not a lot of miles, so I wouldn't call it a "destination" trail system at this
time. But it makes a quick and very satisfying sneaker ride as you're
heading past on the freeway. Or if you hit town and find that the weather
won't let you ride at Eagle Point.
Getting there:
Exit I-15 to Beaver's Main Street. Drive to 200 North and turn east
(toward the mountains). At 3.3 miles after leaving Main Street, you'll see
the log fence of the trailhead on your left.
