Burr Trail loop

[stubble!]

Hi, just poring over my paper maps and getting excited for next weekend. Wanted to ask about the Burr Trail - looks like one could reasonably do a Saturday loop from Torrey > Burr Trail > 95 > 24 back to Torrey with enough time to smell the roses. I know Burr Trail is partially unpaved so I'd add some time to Google's estimate. Perhaps with an early start it'd be possible to extend it to hit Goblin Valley in the afternoon. Any feedback? Too ambitious?

 

[mnTwin]

Stubble!, What are you riding?

 

The unpaved portions may have sandy washes. I've ridden it on my 650GS, but wouldn't ride it on my RT. (I have seen pickups and minivans out there though.)

 

Also, after Boulder, there aren't any services for quite a ways--so I'd top off there.

 

Brian

[stubble!]

I'll be on a Super Tenere with anakee adventure tires. I do hate mud and super deep sand with this thing.

[mnTwin]

Should be no problem with that bike depending on conditions.

 

Check this link for descriptions of the roads. (They do recommend checking with the ranger station about conditions.)

 

https://www.nps.gov/care/planyourvisit/roads.htm

 

That is a lot of miles. But you can cut it short. After the Burr switchbacks, Notom road North goes back to UT-24. Or, you can just skip Goblin Valley at the end. So there are options.

 

Temps along that route can be quite varied. Cold on the passes between Torrey and Boulder, and HOT when you get into the desert.

[longjohn]

24 minutes ago, stubble! said:

I'll be on a Super Tenere with anakee adventure tires. I do hate mud and super deep sand with this thing.

I did that. Loop less goblin on my RT with another member who. was 2up.  It was an all day affair.  We actually started heading north on notamm, after the switchbacks but it was toooo wash bboardyy, so we headed south.  It was slow going. At one point we stopped for a breather after about 1..5 hrs, and we hadn’t seen any other. Signs of. Life in a long time. He was actually getting concerned.  I figured if we just kept heading downhill we’d be fine and we were. There was some deep sand that had us doing a tank slapper. Oy. What a pucker moment.   I’ve felt guilty about putting my RT thru that long dirt road ever since, but it didn’t sustain any damage.  We didn’t have gps,   just a map that kept indicating we’d be hitting pavement soon. 
 

I think you’ll be fine on your st. You’ll be 2up?  Ymmv on what the road conditions are    You have wider handlebars than the RT right?  

[szurszewski]

I’d love to do this. We did the paved portion of Burr last year and then view down the hill was fantastic. 
 

I picked up a 1200gsa early this year, but my “off pavement” experience is limited to forest service/logging road type stuff. If you’re looking for company, and we can actually make it to Torrey (looking good - fingers crossed) I’d be game

to try that loop. 

[stubble!]

Thanks mntwin and john for sharing your knowledge. I won't be 2up so more latitude in that regard. Sounds like it's doable if the conditions aren't bad. Goblin valley might be too much, especially depending on the rose sniffing. Notom Road is a good tip also.

 

szurszewski sounds good - we can reconnoiter friday and see what others are up to also.

[Stir]

Larry and I discussed doing this last Spring.  I want to do this.  I think Larry is up for it if he brings his GS.

Anyway, In.

[longjohn]

@LBump has a gs?

[szurszewski]

I’m sure it’s rideable on a Duc. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? Broken frame? 

[Stir]

Identify yourself at cabin 9.  So far, me and a guy named Josh is going with you.

[stubble!]

Ok stir- if anyone else wants to join we’re going to rally around 8 or a little after at the CW. 

[LBump]

On 9/17/2020 at 11:44 AM, longjohn said:

@LBump has a gs?

 

Not at this point but I'm leaning that way... it's more versatile. 

 

John...

Larry is Whip.  And yes, he has a great GS.

[szurszewski]

Burr Trail update from Fall 2020:

 

@stubble! decided it was too risky and elaborately faked a tire failure to get out of the ride. 

 

@Stir , @longjohn , @szurszewski (aka "some guy named Josh"), and some guy named Neil (sorry Neil - I don't know who you are!) decided they were man enough to follow through. 

 

The weather was great, the traffic was light, and only a small portion (10-15 miles?) was unpaved. Other than some light washboarding and a few of the switchbacks that had deep washboards, it was smooth sailing (all the washes appear to have concrete now, and none - at least today - had much if any sand). The ferry wasn't running from Bullfrog, but they had gas and pizza.

 

After lunch at Lake Powell lodge, we headed back to Torrey via Hanksville - good roads, good views and very very little traffic. 

 

 

 

 

 

For anyone finding this later and looking for info, it's about 72 miles from the junction of UT12 and Burr Trail to Bullfrog on the shore of Lake Powell; there is gas at either end, and no services of any kind in between. From Bullfrog to Hanksville is about 60 miles. I think I saw one gas station between them, and it was pretty close to Bullfrog (so if you're doing the loop and need gas, you don't need to go down to Bullfrog - you can turn left from Burr Trail toward Hanksville). 

 

 

[Stir]

Josh, thanks for the post.  It was a fun, fun ride.  The company was great.  Special thanks to Neil to showing me the way.

M

[Stir]

On 9/25/2020 at 8:08 PM, LBump said:

 

Not at this point but I'm leaning that way... it's more versatile. 

 

John...

Larry is Whip.  And yes, he has a great GS.

Yes, and despite this, he didn't go.  He said he didn't want to help people right their bikes.  Not a single get off on this trip.  Everyone there was qualified to do the ride.

[stubble!]

 Looks like a great ride. I'm sorry I missed it. My plug held till I got home and surely would have been fine for the ride, nice clean hole - but without another tire in 150 miles and having to work Tuesday I took the conservative route. With an extra day to mosey home I saw a few new-to-me parks along the way, so it wasn't a total loss.

 

Oh and to defend my honor, I was looking at pics and you can see the nail in this one from Friday - LOL!

 

[LBump]

Is Long John riding a GS??

Good to read you made the complete loop.

[szurszewski]

3 hours ago, LBump said:

Is Long John riding a GS??

Good to read you made the complete loop.

Mostly he seems to stand near it muttering things like, “GoPro start time lapse...” but, yes, he does appear to be riding a GS.
 

[longjohn]

I should amend my post from 16sep::  it would appear now that 6yrs ago I headed straight at the last ( NOW well marked ) intersection, which took me onto blm 13000 instead turning right which we did to keep us on burr trail (blm 12000).  I clearly do not remember the awesome overlook from which we (josh, stir, and Neil and I ) looked down upon burr creek.  As Josh said above only about 10-15mi wasn’t paved. 

[longjohn]

On 9/26/2020 at 8:27 PM, szurszewski said:

Burr Trail update from Fall 2020:

 

@stubble! decided it was too risky and elaborately faked a tire failure to get out of the ride. 

 

@Stir , @longjohn , @szurszewski (aka "some guy named Josh"), and some guy named Neil (sorry Neil - I don't know who you are!) decided they were man enough to follow through. 

 

The weather was great, the traffic was light, and only a small portion (10-15 miles?) was unpaved. Other than some light washboarding and a few of the switchbacks that had deep washboards, it was smooth sailing (all the washes appear to have concrete now, and none - at least today - had much if any sand). The ferry wasn't running from Bullfrog, but they had gas and pizza.

 

After lunch at Lake Powell lodge, we headed back to Torrey via Hanksville - good roads, good views and very very little traffic. 

 

 

 

 

 

For anyone finding this later and looking for info, it's about 72 miles from the junction of UT12 and Burr Trail to Bullfrog on the shore of Lake Powell; there is gas at either end, and no services of any kind in between. From Bullfrog to Hanksville is about 60 miles. I think I saw one gas station between them, and it was pretty close to Bullfrog (so if you're doing the loop and need gas, you don't need to go down to Bullfrog - you can turn left from Burr Trail toward Hanksville). 

 

 

Thanks for stopping on the Burr Trail Switchbacks to take that third pic. I think that’s me headed down. 
 

And the last pano was looking down onto Burr Creek. You can see that tiny bit of the creek here:

 

 

[szurszewski]

11 hours ago, stubble! said:

Oh and to defend my honor, I was looking at pics and you can see the nail in this one from Friday - LOL!

Are you sure that’s the one you fixed?