McCoy Flat Trails

You'll ride the Mild and Cookies trail as part of a loop in the McCoy Flats area. It's one of the easier trails and like the others it has an eerie wide-open-spaces feel. It is not rich in mountain biking features and is two-way.

One of the better trails the McCoy Flats with nice variety and enough technicality to keep you interested.

Vernal, hidden away in the north east corner of Utah, is no Moab but there are some reasonable trails around town, and the McCoy Flats network is popular with locals. No, they're not world class as the gushy trail description would have it but they're not bad. You'll definitely feel the magic of the rugged, arid, wide open setting. The trails are not technically rich but there are places that will grab your attention - usually rock-drops. You'll also find some good fast down-sloping curvy sections on most of the trails.

All the trails are two-way but there is usually a preferred direction - the map from Altitude Cycles will guide you. The trail head is in the middle of the network and has map boards, covered picnic tables (wow!) and a toilet. There are trails for all abilities but none are extreme.

My favorite trail was Firesale. Slippery When Wet would be my second choice.

I've just had another look at the photo gallery and notice that people tend to take photos on the more technical rocky sections - me included!! They actually make up only a small proportion of all the trails.

Great ride, nice steady climb and a great descent, a lot of loose rock,

Best trail for technical(fun) riding in McCoy flats.

A secret gem in Utah that could become a destination with some publicity. Trails are great with plenty for riders of all levels. The TH is nice with a posted map of the system. The town of Vernal was more substantial than I expected also. Enjoyable area with many recreation options.

After the climb up Jackalope you deserve a little fun, why not have it here?? This trail is QUICK with nice serpentine curves. It was clear of debris when we rode it on 6/9. Let the bike do the work and hang on!!!

Totally agree with another post I saw on this trail system - excellent riding without the frustrations of Fruita. Hats off to BLM for another impressive trail system that is fast, flowy and fun. Everything here can be ridden and the "advanced" sections are a fun addition to the blues and greens. Its also really nice to have the TH located in the center of the trails - makes it easy to stop/rest/refuel and get back out there. Watch out for little critters on the trails (lizards, snakes, bunnies) they're every where. Check out the Resides In Hotel in Vernal if you aren't looking to camp - they are well run and offer good prices.

Yes! Ride it! The climb up from Jackalope is a bit of a grunt, but not too bad (rode it from Cookies to Jack to Serp). The 'Dipity descent is ridiculously fast and fun. You drop in on these huge swooping turns that pop up on to two different hillsides, and they're steep enough and loose enough and off-camber enough to keep you a bit in check before it straightens out some and you just bomb the trail. Like, scary fast bomb it. The fun keeps coming too, it's a long downhill in your big gears with great flow. Definitely ride this trail when you're in the area, my favorite one in McCoy Flats.

Pretty fun trail, mostly fast. Good desert singletrack. Getting to it from Got Milk from the trailhead is the most fun part of the ride. Starts out with some fun/fast descending for a while, which was a blast. After that, it's a bunch of up and down. Very pedaly, cruising around, and nothing too technical for most of it. At the end there's some rocks you ride on and over which spice it up. We also rode into a massive soul-crushing headwind for half the ride, made it a bit painful. Overall, a fun loop when combined with a bunch of the other trails. Out of the gates is the most fun and fast section.

Rode this twice, kind of, while out there. First time started from our camp spot and rode it counterclockwise, basically starting from the intersection of Milk/Cookies on the paved road. This direction was fun, nice flow, pedaly desert trails, but nothing to write home about. 6 mile loop felt like it took about 30 min or so. The other day, rode Got Milk from the main trailhead to get out to
Retail, and that was absurdly fun. Right out of the gates you've got a bunch of perfectly set up drops and fast singletrack, basically barely a need to pedal and you scream out of there. Much more fun this way.

Rode Cookies back and forth between the camp site and trailhead a few times; fun, but nothing too special.

Climbed Jackalope from Cookies, mostly used it as a way to get up to Serpendipity. Solid climb, a bit loose the whole way up. Didn't ride down Jackalope so don't have much insight there. Serpendipity - yes! Definitely ride Jackalope up to get over to Serpendipity.

If you want fast and on the edge, this is it. When I rode this there was a lot of loose over hard, talking some decent sized chunks of rock. Admittedly, I puckered when the speed picked up, need to get this one again. But for those speed demos, oh yeah!

This is the biggest total climb out at McCoy, but as mentioned, it is a steady spin. Actually a very relaxing ride to just take it all in and scope the massive landscape. I did not get to the top, rather cut off to Serpendipity...hang on!

Fun, literally out of the gate! Get ready because the main (optional) drops and techy spots are 30 - 60 seconds from your car. I would rate this as an overall intermediate trail with one major advanced spot. But, something a novice rider would really enjoy.

If you just want a taste, there is a cut off that will quickly get you back to the main TH. After that, any novice rider will need to put in some miles to complete the loop.

I recommend to add this trail system (and the rest of the area) to your ride list. The BLM has done a great job making a nice TH area in the middle of the desert. The trails and the shop, Altitude, they speak for themselves!

There is something for everyone here. And, with the nice paviioin you can lap, take a break, sit in the shade, fuel back up and get back out. Or, if you have a group of varying levels, you can ride out together, find your thing, and meet back up easily.

Think 18 Road (Fruita) without the masses, jerks & dust.

Of the McCoy trails I enjoyed Slippery the most. The trail is more raw than the others (which I find appealing). There is a bit of everything, you will feel iso, huge views, and I like how it is its own loop that hooks right back into Retail. CCW ride.

Fast, flow-ey and full of fun sections. Not super technical, but has several offshoots, along side that have drops/technical spots. I like to ride it counter-clockwise.

Recently we upgraded the Trailhead to include a new bathroom, pavillion with picnic tables (yeah that's right shade in the desert :), bike cattle guards to keep the pesky bovines at bay, and Interpretive maps with trail ratings and descriptions. Call Jason West (BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner, (me)) for more informatoin @ 435-781-4501 or email [email protected]

This is one of two more techncial options off of the main Retail Sale route. Unlike Fire Sale, this one branches off Retail Sale as an intependent 5-mile addition. With a nice combo of flow punctuated with techy bits, this was my favorite in the McCoy Flats System.