Lower Gold Bar ST

Rating: 
One-way Distance: 1.3 miles
Difficulty: Strenuous
MTB Skill level:
Elevation: 4594 - 4966 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: Arth's Corner
Fee: none
Attractions: Aerobic singletrack

The Gold Bar Singletrack trail is located in the Gemini Bridges Trails Area near Moab, Utah. The trail is the 4th leg of the Magnificent 7 trails. The singletrack is a 1.3 mile mountain biking option to the longer 3.5 mile Gold Bar 4x4 Road. This leg of the Mag 7 trails is made up of the 1.3 miles of singletrack and the rest of the 4x4 road leading up to the rim overlooking the Moab Valley.

The trail begins at a junction with the Gold Bar 4x4 Road where the Little Canyon trail ends.

Yellow stripes of paint mark the mostly slickrock route.

From a large dome of slickrock you can see the road that leads out to the Gemini Bridges Road a short distance away.

Several moderate ledges come up as the trail continues up the sloping landscape.

The trail has an average grade of 7% for an all uphill climb with only a few level areas.

The scenery is a little different from other trails in the area but nonetheless pleasing.

Routes through and around boulders make a playground for the trail to course through.

There isn't much we can say about this spot other than 'good luck'.

Even with a couple of technical spots the slickrock beats the heck out of the 4x4 road.

The singletrack ends near an overlook of Bride Canyon. Another sign suggests turning around at this point.

We aren't sure whether the two spires in this picture are the bride and groom or not. We didn't see any other candidates.

Now it's time for one of those epic downhill runs that makes the uphill climb a faded memory.

Several signs mention heading out to the Gemini Bridge Road and taking it down to Highway 191 at this point. Doing so would require a shuttle ride so unless that was part of the plan it is probably best to return the way you came. From here we rode the 8 tenths of a mile back to the Great Escape trail junction and followed it back up to the Arth's Corner trailhead. Combining Arth's, Little Canyon, Gold Bar ST and the Great Escape trails was the perfect workout to end the week with. The additional 2.6 round trip miles that the Gold Bar ST adds was worth the effort in our opinion. If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is grab your bike or 'Take a hike'.