Best Mountain Biking Within 100 Miles of Kanab

Kanab, Utah. I live there. I hike there. No biking. But these are our favorite bike trails regarding driving time and old age:

JEM loop, near Hurricane
Gooseberry loop (Practice, North Rim, Yellow, White), close to Hildale
Rim Trail, Page, Az.
Cottonwood, Prospector, Church Rocks loop, near Washington

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Etc., St. George, Utah

It's pretty definitive. There is no good mountain biking where I live in Kanab. Great hiking trails are everywhere here though. There is the "telephone pole" route north of Fredonia near the "Clam Shell", it's not too bad. There are a couple of hours worth of biking available there. We usually have to go to the Hurricane/St. George area for good biking.
The "Bear Claw Poppy" in Bloomington is fun but not worth the two hour drive for us. The 12 mile loop is half pavement also; that is a drawback for me. In all fairness there are many options yet available in the same area. We need to explore them before I condemn.
The Cottonwood/Prospector/Church Rocks Loop (10 mile ride) is borderline acceptable for the driving needed. It is nearer to us and by the Coral Canyon golf course. It's a pretty good track but too much freeway vista and bumpy slickrock. The Prospector & Cottonwood sections are out-and-back.
So for us, nothing beats the Gooseberry Mesa area yet. It's pretty definitive.
We like the J.E.M. east and above Hurricane also. However, the "loop" (about 13 miles) ride comes back on a gravel road. I'm never a fan of that. S/T all the way would have to be an out-and-back ride on the John.Ellen.Mike. We got roped into the 20+ mile loop ride once. It's too much for us 60-year-olds.

Little Creek Mesa

UtahMountainBiking.com, good job on this one. We did the West Mesa/Magic Carpet Ride 9.5 mile loop. First two miles were easy and last two were easy. In between challenging with the terrain and route finding. Gooseberry, if marked like this one, would be much more difficult. This trail features great views on the rim and great slickrock (with plenty of accessory gymnastics available). We did the 9.5 in three hours including a good look at some mesa top ruins. I'll not tell you where they are in case you are a marauder. Oh you're not if you are out here. OK, at about 8.7 mi. (when you hit the double track) go right instead of left. Some good stuff on your left in about 1/2 mile at the top. DO NOT DISTURB THESE RUINS! So about a 10 1/2 mile ride then. It was kind of cool cairn seeking and riding, but very difficult for the middle section of this ride. Overall, 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. The first turn off of the paved highway is 1/2 mile west of the Gooseberry turnoff, south instead of north. Gooseberry is still the quintessential.

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Addendum, Sep. 2, 2011
Went back to L. C. M. and rode Magic Carpet to North Point and back. It's marked "easiest" by utahmountainbiking.com. We didn't find it easier than the "easier" West Loop. Any way, that's not the point today. We met one of the trail builders (he and his bro' also did Gooseberry), Morgan. He showed us more old Indian stuff. It was neat stuff but I'm not telling. If you see "Trailbuilder" out here and he trusts you he may show you too. So it was like meeting the Pope without all of the gold. I'm trying to talk him into the "Grand Loop". 
Like it more coherent? Try "Epic Ride".
Oh yeah, one little beef with Utah Mountain Biking's description here: at mile 2.5 I'm sure that they mean "Fork L".

Gooseberry Mesa

Well now we are back in God's country, so there will be more than five exceptional trails. Can't help it. This one is near Hurricane, Ut. (make sure you locals pronounce it "cun"). Hung around Moab for many years and this SW quadrant of Utah is just as fantastic. www.utahmountainbiking.com does a very nice job in conjunction with the BLM's Gooseberry Mesa brochure, so there is no sense in me giving exacts.
Just a few things: Utah Mountain Biking is about .7 mi. short on the "Two miles later" for the "Getting there-South". It's about 2.7 mi. from the paved Highway 59 to the Gooseberry Mesa road. No biggie as of now-it's well marked until someone tears the sign down. Where they say "Now stay on the bigger road" it's the right-hand road immediately. The left road is just as big or bigger. This road I would recommend for 4WD. At any rate print out their stuff. They call some of the trails by different names than the BLM, but use them together. By the way, from the east on Highway 59 the road isn't marked. It's just past MM 8 to the right.
Us 60 year elders did (total 7 miles, 2 hours) Practice Loop, North Rim (and then we were pretty proud of ourselves, so) Yellow Trail and back on the two-track White Trail. The North Rim section is especially scenic and we saw some dinosaur tracks there. I was off of my bike (but not on my head) once in a while, but haven't ridden any slickrock in many moons. I've been stuck in "Agony" Oregon (make sure you pronounce Oregon "gun" as in I wanted to put one to my head) for some time. Almost crashed on the way back on the White Trail ball bearings due to overconfidence. Always pay attention on a mountain bicycle!
Great stuff and rivals anything in Moab or Fruita, Colorado. Awesome country! The well marked trails are wonderful, allowing a first-timer to participate. Novices and intermediate riders usually can take a moderate route around the markings, while experts should hug the white dots for thrills. This is a very unusual circumstance in planning and is a world-class set up.
I will be producing some hikes on this awesome mesa on my SW HIKES blog, as we don't do "extreme" biking. We will hike those and get back to you.
Inaccessible when wet!
Hope I can't get to Oregon from here.

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The Pictorial Essay on Utah Mountain Bike Trails

Pictured (top to bottom): 1. LONG'S CANYON TRAIL, Moab, Utah
2. VELVET RIDGE TRAIL, Torrey, Utah
3. Dinosaur print on KLONDIKE BLUFFS TRAIL, Moab, Utah
4. PRITCHETT CANYON TRAIL, Moab, Utah
5. The Famed SLICKROCK TRAIL, Moab, Utah
6. "Washerwoman Arch" on the WHITE RIM TRAIL, Canyonlands Nat. Pk., Moab, Utah
7. Petroglyphs in 9 MILE CANYON, Wellington, Utah
8. "Behind the Rocks" area and La Sal Mts. at the start of PRITCHETT CANYON TRAIL, Moab, Utah
9. HIDDEN CANYON TRAIL, Moab, Utah

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"Nine Mile Canyon" Overview

Nine Mile Canyon, Wellington, Utah: 1)Difficulty and mileage; The ride is easy, but starting from Hwy. 6/191 it's 50 miles each way. 2) Best web sites; www.byways.com-click on the state of Utah on the U.S.A. map-near the bottom of the next page click on "Nine Mile Canyon Backway"-next page has lots of good stuff on the left side bar. There is a small map. www.climb-utah.com has good mile by mile descriptives at http://climb-utah.com/Misc/ninemile.html. 3) Maps; There is a nice point-to-point map at "A Self Guided Tour Map of Nine Mile Canyon". Next click the link for www.utahoutdoors.com/nine-mile-canyon/self-guided-tour.html. 4) Jurisdiction; BLM

No it's not a nine mile canyon. That would be the name only. From near Wellington (on the main highway) you can go about 50 miles down the canyon road before hitting private property. This petroglyph heaven is most often described as an auto tour. That's bleep bleep. It's a great bike ride, maybe a nice 2 dayer. If you like Indian rock-art, don't miss it. I might recommend shuttling bicycles to Minnie Maude Creek, which is 21 miles from Route 6/191. Then you will be into the petroglyphs in about 3 1/2 miles. Also, the ride is then shortened to about 30 miles each way. That's still too much for one day (for me) , especially with all of the sights to see.
I haven't been there lately, but I hear there's a lot of drilling rigs.
This baby goes all the way to the Green River, a beauty in itself, but you can't get there without owners' permission.


HONORABLE MENTION BIKE TRAILS IN UTAH:
Velvet Ridge, Torrey
Long Canyon, Moab

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"White Rim" Overview

White Rim Trail, Moab, Utah: 1) Difficulty and mileage; This is not particularly technical, but it's 100 miles. Don't just bring your lunch. 2) Best web site; Same info as "Klondike Bluffs". 3) Maps; When you get to the White Rim description, there is a link: "for a condensed information sheet on this trail, click here." Do it. NPS of course provides additional maps at Canyonlands National Park visitor center. Trails Illustrated blah blah (see "Klondike Bluffs" blog). 4) Jurisdiction; National Park Service.

Where do I start? Well, it's a multi-day trip obviously. If you like "Canyon Country" your eyes will never get over this trail. You may encounter vehicle traffic as it's a popular 4X4 and backcountry camping area. Not a problem in my opinion. When we camped at "Candlestick" we saw an awesome lightning show. Hope you will get that lucky. Be sure to RESERVE CAMPING SITES with the National Park Service! I like to come up the Potash Trail and through Shafer Canyon to access this trail. Canyonlands National Park is too much eye candy. This whole beautiful scene was under water at one time, and the wind and water erosion forces have carved it up into what is here now. The rock is "soft" , is why, but it won't seem soft if you fall off of the bike. If you have the energy, Upheaval Canyon/Dome is a good hike near the end of your ride (if you started at the Shafer Trail or northeast end).

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