Santa Clara River Reserve

The Santa Clara River reserve is made up of 6,500 acres of public lands, managed by Bureau of Land Management.The reserve protects recreational opportunities, open space, and archeaological and & natural resources. Many of the trails have evidence of Ancestral Puebloan & Southern Paiute cultures, scenic vistas, and views of lush riparian areas creating great contrast against the desert. Santa Clara River reserve has plenty of different mountain biking trails. Difficult levels for mountain biking range from easy intermediate to difficult. Allowing you to choose from an array of terrain and difficulty’s.

The riding on most of these trails is typical of the Shinarump mesa top rides, with ample slickrock slabs, shelves, rocks and boulders to overcome. The more intermediate trails will have longer stretches of coarse soil between the rocks, but it is rare to ride on plain soil for very long, which means that beginner riders will struggle on many of the trails due to the punctuated technicality required.

The system is a series of interconnected loop rides that ascend the tilted mesa tops, and then plunge down to the saddles between them.

Wet weather note:

The coarse nature of the soil that erodes out of the Shinarump layer drains well after a rainstorm, and thus it is often possible to ride when other trails would be damaged.

Trail Heads:

Cove Wash Trail head.
Most of the rides in the reserve will start and finish at the Cove wash trail head.  The parking area features a BLM sponsored pump and maintenance pad along with a good sign depicting the trail system. The trail head serves the popular Barrel rolls system, and offers access to the less frequented Rim rock trails on the other side of Cove Wash

Anasazi Trail head
This trail head accesses Temi’po’op trail which is a biking/hiking clay paved trail that swithbacks up to the top of the mesa and offers access to both the petroglyphs on the ridge as well as a trail system that connects to the Tukupetsi trail head down at the Santa Clara river. This trail head also has  bathroom facilities.

Tukupetsi Trail head
Located across from the Jacob Hamblin home just off of Old highway 91, this trail head offers access to both the mesa top rides, as well as a novice trail along the Santa Clara river,.. the Enepitsi trail

BLM Map of the Santa Clara River Reserve (PDF Download)

Santa Clara River Reserve Mountain biking Trails   

  • Tava’atsi– 0.5 mi.
  • Tempi’po’op– 1.2 mi.
  • Enepitsi– 1.5 mi.
  • Cholla– 1 mi.
  • Lower Graveyard– 1 mi.
  • Upper Graveyard– 0.4 mi.
  • Fishhook– 0,3 mi.
  • U’waiv– 0.2 mi.
  • Een’oog– 0.3 mi.
  • Black Bush– 3.4 mi.
  • Barrel Roll– 6 mi. 
  • Elusion– 0.16 mi.
  • Sidewinder 1.7 mi.
  • Precipice– 0.8 mi.
  • Suicidal Tendencies 10.6 mi.
  • Cove Wash West– 4 mi.
  • Rim rock– 3.1 mi.
  • Rim runner– 0.7 mi.
  • Rim Ramble– 0,8 mi.
  • Rim Reaper- 0.5 mi.