The Bunker Creek mountain bike trail received a two mile extension after spending the summer under construction by the U.S. Forest Service, the IIC, and volunteer efforts.
The trail is blue-rated, which is suited for beginner to intermediate riders. It runs through a burned area of aspen, spruce, and fir forest along Bunker Creek in the Dixie National Forest.
Upon beginning, the trail immediately forks left and right before meeting back together in 3 miles. It then runs concurrently with an access road before reaching the Deer Creek Rd junction (FR #276).
The extension is down Deer Creek Rd on the left, 2,053 ft after crossing the recently re-built Bunker Creek bridge. It allows riders to bypass a long uphill section of access road.
Building the trail involved using a clinometer, a handheld device which calculates the grade of the hill and determines the acceptable grade of the trail in relation.
The trail corridor is then cut from the hillside and sloped slightly downhill to assist sustainable water runoff.
Dave Hall, a senior outdoor recreation major and YCC crew leader, put his chainsaw certification to use to remove hazard and obstacle trees and stumps from where the trail was to be built.
Hall’s YCC crew worked about a mile of the trail, using hand tools to finish a machine cut section and rerouted an entire section by hand.
Sam Shakespeare, a junior at Cedar High and a YCC crew member, is a mountain bike enthusiast that was excited to contribute to a project he would directly benefit from.
“The best riders are often the best trail builders,” Shakespeare said. “This trail was made by my hands. I created these jumps that gave me huge air, those berms I just smashed, the smooth rollers that I was pumping over. I knew the trail like I had been riding it for years, and it had only opened just recently.”
The quickest way to the trailhead is via State Road 143 from Parowan which makes a left turn 4.5 miles past Brian Head Resort. Make another left onto Forest Road #048 and the trailhead is 4.5 miles north.
Story by Reyce Knutson
outdoors@suunews.net
Photos by: Jake Colling and Dave Hall
