 |
Iron Springs Flow Trails
The Iron Springs DH trails include three downhill flow trails. These
include sYdwindErS (the capitol letters spell YES), which is an easier route
for early-intermediates, and the intermediate-level YES
Please (which splits to start YES Sir about 1/3 of the way downhill). There's
a singletrack climbing trail called jeYESup's, as well as a climbing
doubletrack.
Riding the YES, Please downhill flow trail, looking
south. Photos and trail review by Bruce
on August 1, 2021.
|
| The trails start at 5800 feet elevation and descend to 5400.
The top of the trails can be reached from above via the Three
Peaks Loop trail (for example by climbing up the Iron
Springs trail to Petrified Whales and then
to the loop) and from below by climbing doubletrack. The expected riding
season would be April through November.
Looking downhill on the newer eastern option of YES
Please, which I'm calling YES More until I learn the real name.
|
|
 |
From the Iron Springs resort, the trails are reached by
starting uphill on the Iron Springs trail. In the large gravel parking lot on the north side of the Iron
Springs Road, the access trail starts right next to the road on the far east side
of the parking area. It descends through a culvert under the railroad,
spends about 100 yards in a wash-bottom, then climbs out. You can then
choose to climb Iron Springs, or go directly to jeYESup's climb to get to
the top of the DH trails.
During a heavy summer rainstorm, the wash and culvert may not be safe to ride.
There's a dirt road that offers a higher dryer passage over the railroad
tracks. (The route is shown on my map below and also discussed on the Iron
Springs page.)
Take this trail to the big culvert under the
railroad tracks ahead. |
Climbing Route - jeYESup's trail |
 |
After crossing under the railroad tracks, navigating a bit
of wash-bottom, then climbing out, take the ATV trail that splits to the
left from the singletrack Iron Springs
trail. Pedal 150 yards. (Pass the singletrack connector to Iron Springs on
your right.) Veer left as the ATV track joins a larger dirt road. Another
150 yards later, turn right uphill on the broad dirt road. Pass the
downhill end of YES Sir on your right, then 50 feet later, turn to the
right on narrow singletrack.
Entry to the trail from the doubletrack. |
| jeYESup's trail is 1.5 miles long and climbs 400 vertical
feet. It tends to follow the general course of the doubletrack climb (see
below) until the final push to the top.
For the first 1.2 miles, jeYESup's trail is a two-way trail. Once it
crosses the doubletrack just downhill from the Three Peaks loop, though,
it becomes one-way uphill-only. At this spot, the trail also becomes much
more technical, requiring intermediate skills for the final 0.3 miles of
climbing.
The lower mile of the trail is dirt ribbon.
|
|
 |
jeYESup's trail isn't really an "easy way up."
Climbing the doubletrack (see below) all the way to Three Peaks then
dropping down to the DH trails seems like less work, even though the
doubletrack route has more vertical.
The trail winds back and forth through sage and juniper. The surface
tends to be a bit soft, but it will firm up with time and riders. The
route was well-marked with frequent signs.
Heading north uphill through sage and juniper, with
the spires of granite in the distance. |
 |
|
A couple of challenges on the final push
to the top:
A narrow ramp along a granite cliff, and |
A turn on a granite rock ramp. Not particularly
tough to ride. |
| When jeYESup's trail crosses doubletrack for the final time
at mile 1.2, it becomes a much harder ride. There are some rock outcrops
and tight climbing turns. The pitch increases but is still fairly easy.
After another 0.3 miles, you'll arrive at a ridgeline. To the right is
sYdwindErS, and to the left Yes Please.
Approaching the ridge where we'll find the DH trails.
|
|
Climbing Route - Doubletrack |
 |
Get to the doubletrack northbound as described above. After 0.5 miles on the main northbound dirt road, turn left onto a smaller dirt road. It will
become loose and granny-gear steep. Follow this road 0.4 miles. As you
reach a ridge, on your
right are three paths that turn 90 degrees off this road. Take the third
one, along the north side of a slot mine. (The mine will be to your
right.) At the top, turn left and descend 100 feet to the DH trails, on
your left. You'll climb 400 vertical feet.
Turning left onto the smaller road at mile 0.5 of the
climb from the base of the DH trails -- 0.8 from parking. The path will go up onto the ridge at far right. |
|
A second option that's slightly less steep is to climb the big road to mile 0.7, then veer left on a
smaller track. After 0.2 miles, look for singletrack (the jeYESup's trail
climb, uphill only) on your left and take it 0.3 miles uphill.
A third option is to follow the smaller dirt road another 0.3 miles up to the Three Peaks main loop and turn left.
The turnoff to the connector trail to the DH routes (see below) is just 150 yards west
of the doubletrack on Three Peaks.
Fourth option: 0.1 miles before
reaching Three Peaks, there's an ATV path that climbs up directly to the
connector trail, but it's a steep and loose climb.
On top of the mine (there's a cliff into the pit to
my right here). I'll now veer left downhill to the DH trails.
|
|
Climbing Route - Big Loop via Iron Springs trail |
 |
You should use this climbing route at least once while
you're doing the DH trails. Longer, but worth it!
Start out from the trailhead, but instead of turning onto
the doubletrack stay on the singletrack Iron
Springs trail. Climb 2.6 miles up Iron Springs to where it ends on the
Petrified Whales trail. Turn left.
Rolling up the granite on Iron Springs. |
| Pedal north on Petrified Whales for 0.3 miles. When you
reach the Three Peaks Loop, keep straight
onto the loop. (R goes northbound on the loop, L is the expert-level Four
Loco trail. You might want to take a few seconds to be certain you're on
the correct trail!)
A narrow elevated boardwalk on Petrified Whales.
|
|
 |
Pedal for 0.7 miles on Three Peaks. You'll pass the return
from Four Loco (unmarked at the time of my ride) and cross two
doubletracks. (The smaller dirt road is one of the direct climbing
routes.)
View south at an iron mine from the Three Peaks Loop. |
| Shortly after crossing the smaller ATV path, the Three Peaks
trail will make a gentle turn to the right. On the day of my ride, there
was a cairn on the left and a metal sign in the juniper on the right. This
is the access trail to the flow trails. Turn
right. (During my ride after recent heavy rains, the trail was littered
with rock and almost impossible to see.)
Here's the turnoff to descend to the DH trails.
|
|
 |
When riding the Three Peaks loop counter-clockwise, the
connector can be reached via "Rock of Death" which is a short
optional route to the right when heading southbound.
The Rock of Death option, marked by this sign, is
straight ahead. The Three Peaks loop is uphill on the left. |
| The rock isn't horrible, it simply has a substantial
side-slope. After crossing the rock and dropping to the dirt trail, keep
right as the trail from uphill joins.
Doesn't look too deadly, but it's going to hurt you
if you don't ride it right.
|
|
 |
Now pedal over a low hill and drop 0.3 miles on the ATV track. Pass an ATV track on
the left (keep straight). When you're looking at a big bald hill -- and the
ATV path appears to go to the right of it -- keep straight and begin to
climb the upslope of the saddle in front of the knoll of mine tailings. There you'll spot
the two DH trails on your right, about 50 feet apart.
Keep straight at this sign, which points downhill to
an ATV route (you can climb this ATV track as an alternate uphill but
don't go down it now). |
Downhill Flow - sYdwindErS trail |
 |
The trail on the north (first trail if you descended to the
trail from Three Peaks, second trail if you pedaled up the dirt road past
the mine and went over
the knoll) is sYdwindErS. (Seems like a lot of work on
the name "sidewinders" just so the capitol letters can spell "YES" but
OK. If you build the trail, you get to name it -- and spell it however you
want -- and everybody else can just shut up.)
Entry into the sYdwindErS trail. Looking west. |
| sYdwindErS is an easy downhill flow trail. It's machine-cut,
with banked turns and rollers. It's 1.5 miles long with 400 vertical feet
of elevation change. (The last 0.1 mile runs along the downhill side of a
doubletrack, and is often skipped by riders who are planning to head back
uphill. See the map.)
Section with very low rollers, heading south.
|
|
 |
A few of the rollers are sharp enough to throw a beginning
rider's back end up in the air. So I'm going to classify this trail as an
easier-intermediate, not as beginner-level in skill requirement.
Banked turn. |
| At the bottom, sYdwindErS crosses the east-west
doubletrack then turns to the east and runs parallel to it for 0.1 miles more. To reach the
direct climbing routes, either bail when the trail crosses the doubletrack
at the bottom, or turn 180 degrees and come back 100 yards to the climbing
road. (By the time you ride, it's likely that riders will blazed an "option"
through to the bottom of YES Please and the climbing road.)
Almost to the bottom.
|
|
Downhill Flow - YES Please trail |
 |
The YES Please trail is 1.1 miles long, descending 400
vertical feet. It ends right at the bottom of the direct-climbing road.
Entry to YES Please. Looking west. |
| YES Please is intermediate in tech requirement. Compared to sYdwindErS,
it has more
rock exposure, bigger dirt humps and tighter turns. It descends the same
400 vertical feet.
Heading into some rollers.
|
|
 |
The YES Please trail splits
into two trails for the lower 2/3 of the run. The eastern (left) option is
still being worked on a bit and has no trail markers. To hit this newer
east option, you'll need to keep left at two trail forks.
The big rock is a fun natural wall ride, but you
probably won't see it your first trip down. Looks like most riders just
roll the corner under the rock. |
| At mile 0.4, YES Please has an expert option on
the right, which will rejoin a bit lower down. But within the distance
that's bypassed by the optional line, the eastern route forks away from YES
Please. You wouldn't see it if you took the expert line.
The expert option is only 100 yards long. Within that distance is a second
split of around 20 feet with the more gnarly rock-drop being on the right.
A bit below the wall ride is the trail fork for the
tech option. The main trail runs left under my handlebar.
|
|
 |
After the tech option rejoins, the trail meanders downhill
through the junipers, with occasional flirting with rock outcrops.
Rolling through rocks. |
| At mile 0.4 of YES Please, and less than 100 feet past the
split with the optional tech line (see above), YES Please splits into two
trails for the remainder of the descent. The trail on the left is Yes Sir.
Approaching two small engineered ledge drops in the trail as we
head southeast toward the main climbing road.
|
|
 |
This route is a bit longer, at a total of 1.2 miles. It will also
require a short stretch of climbing. This eastern route will drop to the valley floor,
cross the climbing road, then go into the rocks on the opposite side of
the small valley.
We've crossed the road and are now in an area of
narrower hand-built trail. This area is slightly uphill. |
| There's one "you're kidding me" drop down a loose
slope with embedded rock that ranks expert in skill requirement. Maybe
they're working on an alternate line to this. Granted, I rode after a
nasty gully-washer rainstorm, but I found the drop down the chute to be
ugly and spooky.
Looking back at a slippery steep chute.
|
|
 |
At the bottom, the trail returns to machine-cut ribbon, with
banked turns and a few jumps. It dumps onto the climbing road a few feet
above the bottom of YES Please.
That's a table jump on the opposite side of the
little wash. |
 |
Getting there:
At the Cedar City 200 North Exit from I-15, go westbound on Highway 56.
After 4.4 miles, just as the road is turning from straight west to
southwest, turn right onto the Iron Springs Road (1740). Drive another 4.4
miles. As you see the big Iron Springs sign and flags on your left, look
for a big gravel parking lot 200 yards ahead on your right. Turn into the
parking lot and turn right to park along the eastern side. The outgoing
trail starts on a broad dirt path alongside the paved Iron Springs Road.
As soon as you pedal up onto this dirt path, immediately turn 90 degrees
left onto singletrack. Descend into the wash and go through the tunnel
under the railroad tracks. Follow the signs as the ATV path and bike trail
split. (You can take the ATV path to the left to reach the DH trail
system, or wait until Iron Springs crosses a dirt road and turn left
there. To climb Iron Springs, just follow the signs.)
Water at trailhead. No public bathroom (resort, campground, and
restaurant facilities are for customers). |
|
