Bearclaw Poppy Bike Riding Trail (Green Valley Trail)

Bearclaw Poppy Trail(Green Valley Trail) - A Must-Ride Classic! Singletrack winds around the mesa from Green Valley to Bloomington. Famous Three Fingers of Death, acid drops with Clavicle Hill, and Roller Coaster. Easier technical with some short "walkable" sections of advanced technical. Light climb. Season year-round.

The Bearclaw Poppy Trail lies southwest of St. George. It joins Green Valley to the west side of Bloomington, curving scenically around Bloomington Hill. You can ride it from either end as an out-and-back (11 miles round trip), or grab a few city streets to make a 11.5-mile loop. You can also use this trail as a piece of a much larger ride including Stucki Springs (around 20 miles), or throw in the one-way westbound Bloomington Microloop for variety on an out-and-back.

This trail is a blast to ride. Highlights include a not-too-tough aerobic one-mile hill climb, a run down a desert wash, a series of short "scary but not too hairy" drop-offs, and a roller coaster hard-pack BMX course. And you can ride it year-round -- at an elevation of 2700 feet down near the Arizona border, this trail never sees snow. We'd rate the trail moderate aerobic and intermediate technical. If you don't stop to play, it's very quick ride -- one you can easily hammer in the morning before work or golf.

Getting there, Green Valley: Take the Bluff Street I-15 exit in St. George and turn west. Immediately turn south (left) at the first light. Go over the hill and at the T intersection at the bottom of the hill turn right. Head northwest about two miles on Dixie Drive. Turn left at Canyon View Road, heading uphill toward the Green Valley Spa. (If you reach a "Green Valley Market" with gas pumps, you just passed it. Turn around and backtrack to the second road on your right.) Drive past the spa onto dirt at the end of the road. Turn right at the top of the mesa, then immediately left to drive down into the deep valley. You can park here and ride to the road that climbs the RIGHT side of the little sandstone canyon. Or, you can stay in your car and turn right on dirt, then drop left down into the valley 100 yards later. Follow the improved gravel road up to the parking area about 3/4 mile later. Trailhead N 37° 05.509' W 113° 37.689'

Bloomington: I recommend that youngsters go to the Bloomington end of the trail! Go to the west end of Navajo Drive in Bloomington. Go across the cattle guard. See the low rail on the fence 100 feet to your right? That's the trailhead. Bloomington N 37° 03.116' W 113° 37.362'