Description

The McCoy Flats Trail System located outside of Vernal, Utah is the most expansive trail network in the region.

With over 35 miles of interconnected singletrack, you can create routes of varying lengths and technical difficulties.

The terrain in this region is classic desert badlands, filled with flat-top mesas, soaring ridgelines, and lowlands in between.

There isn’t any tree cover to speak of in the area, so expect to ride in direct sunlight the entire time.

During the spring, the hillsides are covered in green grasses and flowers, but in mid-summer, the earth will be scorched dry. Consequently, the best time of year to ride here is during either the spring or the fall.

With the McCoy Flats trailhead located at 5,300 feet above sea level, the area is a bit too high for reliable winter riding.

However, when you hit the temperature window just right, the weather is absolutely perfect! When you’re ready to step up from the Beginner Loop, Got Milk? and Retail Sale are the next logical choices.

These singletrack trails provide the same swoop and flow as And Cookies and Combo, but with a bit more climbing, a bit faster descending, and some rocks interspersing the flowy singletrack.

All of the rocks are quite easy to walk, navigate around, or otherwise avoid if you are uninterested in riding rock gardens.

However, they do provide a great means of honing and improving your skills gradually and consistently, helping you to work up to the even more difficult trails in the network. Overall, Got Milk? and Retail Sale provide one of the best bang-for-your-buck rides in the McCoy Flats network.

If you are an intermediate rider and only have time for one ride in the area, this loop is a worthy candidate.

It’s easy to tell that most other riders think so, too, because these trails are the most worn out of any in the network.

That’s not a negative fact, however, as the more difficult trails appear in need of additional trail traffic to keep them open! Leave the crowds in Fruita behind and find your flow at McCoy Flats!