Biking with Kids on St. George's Urban Trails

St. George, Utah, has a wonderful urban trail system. We took our bikes on our last visit to take advantage of it. You can find a map of the trail system here, although I wanted a larger version and was able to get one (along with a lot of other great information) from the BLM office on Riverside Drive (follow the signs to recreation information).

I had previously ridden some of the trails with the kids, including along the Virgin River, and found the trails amazing. Here you are, in a fairly large city, but you can get away from it all so easily and be right next to nature!

Canada geese on top of a cliff next to the trail

For this trip, we decided that we would try out sections of trails we hadn't been on yet. To entice the kids, we linked up several playgrounds. After all, what kid can resist, "Do you want to go for a bike ride to a playground?"

We started at the Riverside trailhead and went upriver towards Slickrock Park. Due to a detour we had to do some of our own route finding, which included riding on some dirt right next to the Dinosaur Discovery Center, which we had enjoyed last year. It didn't take long to get to the unique park, which consists of two huge boulders.

 The boulders are about 12 feet tall and have some challenging routes up them (some I certainly couldn't do!). It was a fun change from a regular park. Then we headed on the bike trail (which included an unexpected portion down an alleyway) to 2540 East Park. This was a fun park, and the kids enjoyed the playground.

Next we rode a few blocks to go over to Centennial Park. It's so much fun to check out the different playgrounds, and the kids liked the different challenges. After playing a bit, we rode a few streets over to Middleton Wash trail, and got on at the beginning.

 The trail is fantastic, going through tunnels and over bridges next to a scenic creek. Since we don't have very good places to ride bikes where we live (except on the highway, which is certainly not ideal for kids), I am so grateful to have the opportunity to use these multi-use trails.

 Even better in Desert Boy's mind was that the whole trail was downhill.

 Once we got back along the Virgin River, the kids asked to stop and throw rocks. We said yes, after all it is often the simplest pleasures that give the greatest joys. Desert Boy thought he wanted to swim, but once his toes touched the water, he changed his mind. Maybe some other time.

So if you're heading to St. George, check out the urban trails. They have so many, and they are great for a walk, ride, or skate.

Sneaking in Some Biking

 We are at the point where we're wishing some of those storms in the rest of the country would come and dump on us--it's been a paltry winter! Nevertheless, we have to admit that the warm weather can be nice, and we've taken advantage of it to get Desert Girl some bike riding time. She's hesitant on her own, but with friends, she gets into it.

 She even did some stunt riding one day--going down the curb. That's big stuff for a little girl with training wheels!

 Some of the faces she pulls totally crack me up.

 I caught Ava with a funny face. Her helmet is awesome.

 It's great to be outside!

Here's the line up. Let's go riding!

Moab Trip Day 3 - Slickrock Biking, Dinosaur Bones, and Rock Hounding

 On our final day in Moab we got up early and left the hotel. We had things we wanted to do. First on our list was to do some mountain bike riding on slickrock. I really wanted Desert Boy to try that out, as he loves bike riding and is surprisingly good at it. I did some research on the Internet before our trip to find out where to go. Despite the abundance of slickrock in the area, it turns out there's not much that's open to bikes and is relatively flat and close to a parking area. As Desert Boy's bike is rather basic (no gears, no hand brakes), we needed something that wasn't technical. Fortunately on one forum I found some advice to go to the cutoff of the Bar M trail and take it over towards the Circle O trail. We found the huge parking area (with just one other vehicle in it), and took off on the cutoff road.

 The cutoff road had some hills that really frustrated Desert Boy, and he was not happy walking his bike up them. But he loved the downhills. Before long we had met up with the Circle O trail and were riding on real slickrock!

 The views were awesome.

 The trail was marked with a brown line, and we were challenged to stay on it in order to protect the pockets of cryptobiotic soil (soil with microorganisms holding it together).

 The slickrock was a little difficult in places for Desert Boy, but it was relatively flat. Off in the distance we could see Arches National Park. We'll have to return again to go visit--we decided to skip it this time instead of doing a quick drive by. On our next trip it will probably be a main focus.

 Eventually the trail started descending faster, and we decided that would be a good turn-around point. It was such a nice ride, and my husband and I decided we need to figure out a way to go on a half day ride (sans kids).

With the bike ride over, we loaded up and headed to another nearby attraction: dinosaur bones!

 We took a slightly dubious road to Mill Canyon in the van, hoping we wouldn't get stuck in the deep sand. Fortunately we made it to the trailhead and started on the marked trail.

 A quick stop for a family photo! Everyone is starting to get the idea that if they smile the first time, I won't torture them with extra photos, and we can get it done right away.

 This trail was different than others I've been on--it showed distinct dinosaur bones in situ, but no big replicas anywhere. It made it feel like we were scientists making these big discoveries.

 Of course the signs helped quite a bit!

 The trail was gradual and good for our kids. We weren't totally alone--a family that had been at the race the day before was also there, and the kids had fun running along the trail together.

 I really liked the views.

 More dinosaur bones. Seeing them in the rock gave me a greater appreciation of how hard it could be to excavate them. It also gave me a much better idea of how to look for fossils. I probably wouldn't have known I was looking at dinosaur fossils without some guidance.

 Across the draw were some remnants of an old mining operation.

 Then we drove around the corner to half-way house, a rest stop for early travelers to and from Moab. While the kids dug in the sand, I went for a short bike ride to check out another area.

 It had nice slickrock, but also a lot of deep sand and steeper ascents, so I was really glad we had chosen the other spot for Desert Boy's first slickrock experience. Apparently Dead Horse State Park also has some good bike trails for kids. We'll have to try them out on another trip.

 Then it was time to get in the van and drive for hours. But I couldn't help myself and found directions in a book to a rock hounding place right off the interstate. In fact, the directions were to go half-mile past a sign and then go through the gate. That's right, just go through the gate on the side of the Interstate. No on/off ramp, just slow down, pull over, and get off. The directions were good, we found the gate.

We drove near the bluff and started looking for jasper, in particular for jasper geodes with calcite and celestite crystals.

 We weren't exactly sure what we were looking for, to tell you the truth, so we just picked up any rocks that caught our eye. We will take them to some geologist friends and find out what we got!

 It didn't matter too much what we were finding, because we were having a good time and the scenery was fabulous.

 The terrain was fun and slightly challenging, but not overwhelming.

 We could see the Interstate nearby, and the San Rafael Swell extended in both directions. We saw quite a few roads and decided we would have to go back and do some more exploring in this area.

 Then it was time to get back on the Interstate--go through the gate, check for traffic, and merge!

 We had another stop when my husband found a cattle exclosure. He loves to check them out and see the differences between grazed and ungrazed land.

 Desert Girl was a little cheeky.

 Can you see her attitude? Oh my, she gives us so many laughs!

She loves to explore and learn.

The rest of the trip was mostly driving, although the kids enjoyed half an hour at the playground while I went grocery shopping. They ran the whole time. 

We had an awesome three days. Now we're back to our regular routine, but just looking at these photos brings back good memories.

A New Bike Rider

 Desert Girl recently showed that she could pedal her bike. I had adjusted the training wheels so that she could spin freely, and once that was easy, I lowered them. We decided it was time to head to the post office, which has a paved parking lot on a slight downhill, making it an excellent training venue. Unfortunately, within two minutes, she turned her handlebars too sharply and crashed. This wasn't what she had bargained for. But Desert Girl is tough, and after I promised her a bandaid, she got back on her bike and was ready for more.

 She has a determined gleam in her eye.

 She can pedal two or three times and then she forgets to keep pedaling.

 Fortunately the twine on the front of the bike makes it easy to give her a little tug and help her get started again.

 She's good for about ten minutes of bike riding and then that's enough. But she asks us every day if she can do more bike riding. I think she will be building up her biking muscles soon.

Britton was ready to help her immediately when we she rode the other night. She loves her bug helmet. I think the only other thing we need to add is a little horn--she pretends she's honking it and makes her own noise!