Bloomington Hill ("MegaZen" area)
(Mega Zen, Bloomington Hill, Bloomington Rim, Siler Bluff Loop)
This page describes the trails on the eastern side of Bloomington Hill
near St George. Many riders use these trails as a descending path
from the Zen Loop, but there are loop ride options
from the bottom of the hill as well. All except upper Mega Zen are
two-way and can be done as (tough) climbing trails. While short, these
trails require good skills and strength.
View west from the Siler Bluff loop. Photos and ride
review by Bruce on December 3, 2022.
The trails lie on a tilted layer of Shinarump conglomerate.
Bloomington Hill angles upward from northeast to southwest. These trails
lie on the northwest side of the cliffs. Below the cliffs is the valley
containing the Bearclaw Poppy area trails.
There are no "easy" rides here. All except the Siler Loop
should be considered expert. Intermediates who want to ride here should climb
the Powerline Road to Siler Bluff road and ride the Siler Loop. Then pick among various trails in the
downhill direction -- planning to make a few walk-overs as you go.
Looking over the edge of the cliffs at the Bearclaw
Poppy trailhead on the western edge of Bloomington.
In describing these trails, I will refer to the trail from
the Zen loop over to the Siler Bluff road as "Mega Zen." It will be divided into two segments: an upper
one-way high-expert DH section from Zen to the Powerline Road, and an
upper-intermediate section from Powerline to Siler Road.
The term
"Mega Zen" can also refer to the extended loop ride of Zen
that combines Mega Zen with some combination of the lower trails plus dirt roads that link back to
Zen. So the Bloomington Rim trail can also be considered part of Mega Zen.
Making the final drop from Mega Zen down to the Siler
Bluff Road (a left turn here connects to the Bloomington Rim trail for
further technical descending).
Getting to the trails
Bad weather / low-clearance sedan parking
On Tonaquint Drive between Dixie Drive and Bloomington Drive, turn west
on Curly Hollow Drive. Go past the school and continue to the end of the
pavement. Start the ride by pedaling up the dirt road. Follow the
directions below.
End of the pavement on Curly Hollow. Expect this area
to change as further subdivision development occurs.
Bloomington Hill Trust Land trailhead
At pavement's end on Curly Hollow Drive, the dirt road turns left. It
will pass a race staging area as it climbs a low hill. After cresting the
hill, keep straight as the Curly Hollow doubletrack forks to the right.
Descend past the fenced power station property and turn left. Drop into
the washbottom, then turn to the right and begin to go uphill on the main
dirt road. About 50 feet from
the bottom of the wash, fork right into a parking area. Begin the ride by
climbing the Powerline Road. Alternates: The Wash Trail is on the left 50
feet uphill from the parking entrance. After 100 yards on the Wash trail, the Bloomington Rim
trail will fork to the right uphill.
At the border of
the Trust Lands is this primitive trailhead. Low-clearance vehicles should
not drive here.
Via the Zen Trail
From the Green Valley competition area, start uphill on Zen riding
counterclockwise. At mile
2.9, as you ride east-southeast along the edge of the cliffs, the Zen trail
will curve to the left away from the edge. A less-obvious trail continues
straight here, dropping steeply down through a technical area. This is
upper Mega Zen, a high-expert (double-black) downhill-only trail that will
take you to the rest of the trail system. This trail has significant
exposure to cliffs and is extremely technical.
Bruce tackles the far wall of "the bathtub"
on Zen. Made it.
General area information
Bloomington Hill is formed from a tilted layer of Shinarump
conglomerate overlying the clays and sandstone layers of the Chinle
formation. The rock starts out level with the valley but tilts up so that
as the cliffs break away down toward the Bearclaw Poppy area, 300 feet of
elevation has been gained.
Looking down the escarpment from the shinarump
cliffs. The trails below are part of the Bearclaw system.
Compared to the layers underneath it, the Shinarump tends to
resist eroding away. As water attacks the surface, it breaks down into
slabs, nuggets, and domes. In crevices and soil between "bumps"
of rock, brittle sage, ephedra and cactus grow.
While some areas have smooth rock, mounds and ledges are
common. This creates the riding challenges that expert riders want. But
it's a lot of work. Except for the Siler Loop, the trails here are
expert-level in the either direction, with a dash of extra challenge when
heading uphill.
Typical terrain. Bumps of sandstone separated by
crevices of dirt. This is the lower section of Bloomington Rim, heading
uphill.
With no trees to block the view, you'll be able to enjoy
open views in many directions. To the north are the Pine Valley Mountains.
Northwest are the red Navajo sandstone cliffs of Snow Canyon. You'll be
able to spot the mesas to the east past Bloomington.
Looking downhill on a smoother bit of sandstone.
That's the trailhead in the middle of the photo.
On the trails below Mega Zen, navigation and route-finding
can be tricky. There are no trail signs and no paint spots. Even on
weekends, it's unlikely that you'll find another biker to ask directions.
An occasional out-of-place rock may be the only marker of the trail. For a first-time
ride, it's significantly easier to find your way when riding
top-to-bottom. And if you have a specific route in mind, use a navigation
aid such as Trailforks.
Looking north toward the Pine Valley Mountains from
the Siler Loop.
Ride down lower Mega Zen and Bloomington Rim!
If the above video does not appear on your
browser/device, you can watch it on YouTube by clicking
here.
Mega Zen upper DH segment
Mega Zen (called "The Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance" after the book "Zen and The Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance" by the trailbuilders) is 1.5 miles in length, extending from the Zen
trail loop east to the Siler doubletrack near the Siler Loop. It includes
an upper one-way DH portion and an easier two-way segment. The upper half of Mega Zen is rated
"double-black." Only confident true experts should ride this
trail!
Narrow singletrack hugs a steep side-slope on upper Mega
Zen. Don't look to the right.
The upper section of Mega Zen is 0.8 miles long, with 300 feet
of
elevation loss. There's only a little bit of climbing, but it's sudden and
steep. This portion of Mega Zen is a highly technical and challenging trail with
exposure to steep side-slopes and cliffs.
Rolling over a ridgeline through nuggets of
sandstone.
Upper Mega Zen forks away from the counterclockwise Zen loop as
Zen turns away
from the cliffs to begin descending north. Compared to Zen, the Mega Zen
trail is relatively narrow and faint. So you'll need to be watching for
it.
The descent begins with steep
winding trail through the sandstone. You'll drop 100 vertical feet in
1/10th mile. The route will then level out, although the degree of
challenge remains high. Mega Zen has quite a few expert-level rock
challenges, with wooden ramps for some bigger rocks.
Ramp up.
After a half mile on top of the hill, the trail dips down
below the upper cliff line. Here Mega Zen runs along a steep side-slope in the Chinle
formation clay just below the Shinarump caprock and just above a second set of cliffs.
There will be some up-and-down and a bit of rock-dodging.
Cruising between two cliff-lines.
At the eastern end of upper Mega Zen, the trail will
drop steeply. Once again, you'll lose about 100 feet of elevation in
1/10th mile. And the drop-off is never far away.
The trail descends down ripple-stone slabs before
turning above the cliff. Between the "red stuff" and the
"gray stuff" at the top of the photo is 300 feet of air.
As you bounce over the last challenge, you'll see the power
poles ahead. Here we're looking back up at the final drop.
Near the end of upper Mega Zen. Before you reach the
power poles,
the singletrack
turns off to the left.
Just before the doubletrack turns at the power poles, the
singletrack cuts across to the left of the road. After joining the road
for a few feet at the bottom of the dip, it will climb through several
switchbacks to get up above the road again.
The trail now drops down and across the Powerline road. If
you're done, simply turn left and head downhill on the road. For (a lot)
more work, veer downhill across the road to enter the lower segment of Mega
Zen. This will take you to the Bloomington Rim trails for more tech
riding as you descend.
Crossing the Powerline Road.
Mega Zen lower section
The next section of Mega Zen is 0.7 miles. The trail now
becomes two-way. There will
be around 100 feet of climbing and 200 feet of descending as the trail
continues east. You're away from the cliffs and riding across the slope of the
hill.
Some rock challenges early in the lower segment.
This portion of Mega Zen would rank upper-intermediate
overall, with a short bit of expert-level rock on each end. There are some long stretches of simple pedaling but also
periodic rock challenges that require good skills.
And a bit of smoother riding as we pedal through
"Brigham Tea" ephedra bushes.
The trail winds through brittle sage and ephedra. The long
non-technical stretch in the middle of this segment is a welcome respite.
Around 1/10th mile in, a sketchy trail comes from downhill
on your left. You may not see it. This trail heads out to the Powerline road. Keep right and
eastbound.
Descending a rock ramp down to the sage flat.
As the trail approaches the Siler Bluff dirt road at mile
1.5 from Zen, it will drop through some challenging rock. If you keep
turning to
the left after the initial drop, you'll find the top segment of the
Bloomington Rim trail on the left. (You'll turn a total of 180 degrees.) This is the way to go if you're
doing Mega Zen without the Siler Loop.
If you point the bike down the second set of steep rock ramps, you'll reach the
Siler Bluff road, where a right turn will take you to the Siler singletrack
loop. A left turn on Siler Road is the quick way downhill if you're going
to bail on further tech riding.
Approaching the end of the trail. The doubletrack of Siler
Bluff road can be seen along the cliffs ahead.
Top section, combined Bloomington Rim and Bloomington Hill trails
The Bloomington Rim trail is a series of trail segments that
descend 2.1 miles from the bottom of Mega Zen to the Wash trail at the
Bloomington Hill trailhead. These are two-way trails, but have significant
expert-level challenges and tough climbing whichever direction you go.
This is a short connector between lower Mega Zen and
upper Bloomington Rim. You don't need to drop all the way down to the road
unless you want to hit Siler Loop before continuing down.
For simplicity of navigation, I'll describe a continuous
route that keeps to the right at the trail forks from this point downhill.
That
seems to be where most riders are going.
While these are two-way trails, the layout and the "sight
clues" seem designed for a downhill ride. If you choose to climb them
on your first time here, expect to spend a bit of time looking for the
continuing trail, blowing past trail forks, and squinting at Trailforks on
your phone. By comparison I had only rare moments of "Dude Where's My
Trail?" during
the descent.
The trail curves around the hillside through outcrops
of sandstone.
The top segment is 0.3 miles long. Here the Bloomington Rim
and Bloomington Hill trails are combined. This section extends from the
bottom of Mega Zen to the first trail fork.
At this fork, a right turn takes you on a
meander referred to as Bloomington Rim South or Upper Bloomington Rim,
while left puts you on a shorter alternate descent via the Bloomington
Hill trail that will bypass the meander.
The band ahead is Siler Bluff road. We're heading
northeast.
Bloomington Hill alternate descender upper section
The upper Bloomington Hill alternate trail forks away from
Bloomington Rim at mile 0.3 from Mega Zen. It's a faster way down than the
upper meander of Bloomington Rim (see below). The trail fork occurs just
as the upper descending trail makes a curve downhill to the right, and
it's easily overlooked. If you see the Silar Road ahead, you went past the
trail fork.
There will be a faint trail on the left about half-way down this
section. This will take you out to the Powerline road. Keep right and
descend toward Siler Road.
The trail heads past a couple of large barrel cactus,
with the Pine Valley Mountains in the background.
This section of Bloomington Hill is 0.3 miles long,
as it will rejoin Bloomington Rim at the Siler Bluff doubletrack.
At the Siler DT, Bloomington Hill joins the
doubletrack northbound. At the same spot, the lower limb of upper
Bloomington Rim comes in on the opposite side of the road. Keep straight
onto the dirt road and find the continuing singletrack trail veering to
the right. The Bloomington Hill and and Bloomington Rim trails will now be
combined for 1/10th mile.
Crossing the Siler Bluff road to join Bloomington
Rim.
Bloomington Rim upper (south) meander
The upper meander of Bloomington Rim begins at a trail fork
0.3 miles downhill from the bottom of Mega Zen. Go to the right for 1/10th
mile and cross the Siler Bluff dirt road. You'll enter an area of rolling
nugget sandstone. Things get a bit bumpy here!
Rolling and bouncing through the sandstone. Yes,
that's the trail straight ahead.
At the eastern end of the meander, there's a stretch of fairly
easy singletrack trail. But it's short. Enjoy it while you can.
A bit of smooth cruising. Not every inch is techy.
The route will turn back to westbound and begin dropping
into a rocky wash. There's some very technical rock here. You may need to
take a scouting look, then back up and make your run.
Looking back at a couple of rock drops as the lower
meander heads down into the wash.
The trail actually descends along the steep slope at upper left.
Impossible to do it slow.
Once you're in the washbottom, the trail continues west on a
gentle climb. When you reach the Siler Bluff dirt road at mile 0.9 from
the top, veer to the right onto the road, then right again on the continuing
singletrack trail. (If
you notice a trail joining on the left side of the road, that's the
Bloomington Hill trail. The two trails now join for the next 1/10th mile.)
Heading gently uphill toward the Siler Bluff road and
the junction with the Bloomington Hill trail.
Middle Segment, Combined Bloomington Rim and Bloomington Hill
The Bloomington Hill and Rim trails are joined for 1/10th
mile during a climb from Siler Bluff Road to the top of a low hill. Then the Rim trail will fork to the right, while the Bloomington Hill
trail goes left. If you turn left downhill on Bloomington Hill (bypassing
the 0.7 miles of Bloomington Rim's lower meander), it will be
0.3 miles to rejoin the Rim trail.
After the lower meander of Bloomington Rim forks
away, the Bloomington Hill trail is fairly faint, as most riders are
choosing to ride the Bloomington Rim route.
Bloomington Rim lower (north) meander
After 1/10th mile on the combined Bloomington
Rim/Bloomington Hill trail (mile 1.0 from the bottom of Mega Zen via
Bloomington Rim), keep to
the right at a trail fork. The fainter trail to the left is the
Bloomington Hill trail. (If you decide to go left, you'll rejoin the Rim
trail after 0.3 miles.)
A bit of dirt gives a respite from bouncing around.
This section of Bloomington Rim is 0.7 miles long. It will
curve out to the east twice before returning to join the Bloomington Hill
trail on the eastern side of a shallow wash. Look for cairns above the
wash to mark the cross-over spot. At the shallow wash, you're at mile 1.7
of the descent on Bloomington Rim.
It's likely you won't even see the Bloomington Hill trail coming in to
join Bloomington Rim. The junction is about 30 feet east of the wash. This
piece of the Hill trail can be hard to find even when you know exactly
where it is. You could, for example, turn left and use Bloomington Hill as
an uphill route to do a second lap of the lower Bloomington Rim meander.
The trail goes just right of center in this photo.
If
you're climbing uphill from the bottom segment and want to ride
Bloomington Hill instead of the lower Bloomington Rim meander, pedal until you can see a couple of cairns marking
the wash crossing. On the east side of the wash, just past the marker
rocks, work your way to the right and find a path along
the eastern side of the wash going uphill. It will be 0.3 miles to where
Bloomington Hill and Bloomington Rim rejoin. (Note that when climbing,
Bloomington Rim turns to the left and gently downhill after crossing the
wash, while Bloomington Hill turns right uphill.)
Rolling through domes of sandstone as we head north.
Bottom segment, combined Bloomington Rim and Bloomington Hill trails
Back to the descending route. We're now at mile 1.7 from the
bottom of Mega Zen.
After crossing the little wash, veer right and downhill on a
long rock ramp. You're now on the final section of the descent. Navigation
should be easier now. When in doubt, aim the bike downhill.
Wash crossing, heading north. The faint Bloomington
Hill trail has just joined on our left.
This bottom segment is 0.4 miles long, and will include the
short connection up the Bloomington wash to the trailhead.
As you approach the wash, the rock challenges will get steeper. (I
found some sections of this trail to be non-rideable in the uphill
direction.) Again, there's a spot where you may have to look around a bit
to find the continuing trail. The navigation problems will get better as
more people ride the trail.
Beginning the final section.
As the trail drops into the wash, veer left uphill and pedal
to the Powerline Road.
To connect to the bottom of Zen for the "Mega Zen" ride,
pedal north out of the wash on the dirt road. Keep left at the road fork
(instead of retracing the drive in). There will be two connectors
to lower Zen, both on the left. One comes at mile 0.4 and connects to Zen
above the sharp drop into the final wash. The second is at mile 0.6 at the
fence. Pedal up into the wash and watch for the trail to your right.
Dropping steeply down into a shallow ravine.
Siler doubletrack and Siler Loop
The Siler singletrack loop lies on Siler Bluff overlooking
northwest Bloomington. The loop is an easier-intermediate singletrack.
It's the easiest trail on the hill but overall, the ride isn't really
suitable for true beginners, as the dirt-road climb to the loop is tough.
And there's one section of technical rock to get past, right at the loop
fork.
Climbing up Siler Bluff Road.
The loop itself is 1.1 miles of singletrack. It can be
reached either via singletrack (lower Mega Zen in the downhill direction or the top segment of
Bloomington Rim going uphill) or by a dirt-and-rock jeep road.
The Siler Bluff road forks to the left from the Powerline Road at mile
0.6 uphill from the Bloomington Hill trailhead. (The climb, in my opinion,
is too steep for most beginners.) The Siler Bluff Road then extends 0.7 miles south from the Powerline Road to the loop.
Starting the singletrack on a clockwise ride.
When arriving via Mega Zen or Bloomington Rim, fork to the
right downhill on the dirt road. Pedal 0.2 miles. As the road makes a hard
right turn to climb steeply to a viewpoint, keep straight and find the
singletrack fork.
On a smooth spot, looking toward Snow Canyon.
There's one short expert-level section, right at the start
of the loop. Less-skilled riders should simply hike their bike up this
section, then start the loop in the counterclockwise direction.
Take your time and enjoy the views. There about 150 feet of climbing as
you go around the loop.
This is the first thing you'll see if you go counterclockwise. Not
exactly a "green" trail.
Two sides of Siler Bluff have views over Bloomington.
The third has views over the eastern Bearclaw Poppy area below you.
Wash Trail to Bloomington
Just uphill and across the road from the trailhead entrance,
a doubletrack trail heads east toward Bloomington. If you stay on the
right side of the wash (or in the washbottom), it will take you to
Tonaquint Drive in just over one mile.
View east down the wash. The Bloomington Rim trail
will fork uphill to the right.
Getting there:
On Tonaquint Drive between Dixie Drive and Bloomington Drive, turn west
on Curly Hollow Drive. Go past the school and continue to the end of the
pavement. At pavement's end on Curly Hollow Drive, the dirt road turns left. It
will pass a race staging area as it climbs a low hill. After cresting the
hill, keep straight as the Curly Hollow doubletrack forks to the right.
Descend past the fenced power station property and turn left. Drop into
the washbottom, then veer to the right as you climb. About 50 feet from
the bottom of the wash, fork right into a parking area. Begin the ride by
climbing the Powerline Road. Alternates: The Wash Trail is on the left 50
feet uphill from the parking entrance. In 100 yards, the Bloomington Rim
trail will fork to the right uphill.
Via Zen: Take the Bluff Street I-15 exit
in St. George and turn west. Immediately turn south (left) at the first
light. Go over the hill and at the T intersection at the bottom of the
hill turn right. Head northwest about two miles on Dixie Drive. Turn left at
Canyon View Road, heading uphill toward the Green Valley Spa. (If you reach
a "Green Valley Market" with gas pumps, you just passed it. Turn
around and backtrack to the second road on your right.) Drive past the spa
onto dirt at the end of the road. Turn right at the top of the mesa, then
immediately left to drive down into the deep valley. Head for the big road
that goes up the bluff, on the right side of The Gap -- the sandstone
canyon. But just before that road starts to climb, mosey to the left and
park where you can start riding up the doubletrack on the LEFT (south)
side of the sandstone canyon. At mile 2.9 of Zen, veer right as the trail
turns left.
