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Monthly Archives: December 2014

5 Miles of Hell – San Rafael Swell

I’ve seen videos and blog posts about this trail for many years, apparently this is one of the most difficult dirt bike trails in the US, it was made for trials bikes and isn’t really 5 miles, it’s more like 8-9 miles of hell in a 20 mile loop. It’s been on my bucket list and it was a lot of fun to check it off. Now we need to go back and do it backwards or out and back if we’re really feeling it. We hadn’t really planned on riding this trail during the trip, but we spent the first day riding out of Woodside, the second day riding south of Green River and Brandon mentioned trying this for the third day, so we did it kind of last minute.

We camped in the sprinter and woke up to a really cold morning. I don’t think either of us realized how much elevation gain there is between Green River and up in the Swell where 5MoH is located. There was a little snow on the ground at the trailhead, but the trail conditions were good and the weather started cloudy, but ended up being a beautiful day.

Some of the reviews online are pretty entertaining:

“There’s really 7 miles of Hell (gnarly, gonzo, sick, and abusive technical riding on very rough rock), 2 miles of Purgatory (advanced-tech singletrack), and 11 miles of Limbo (doubletrack with tire sinking soft surface and some rough rock). This trail is extreme, trials-level technical. Don’t ride Hell unless you’re good at tech riding. “

“We both ran out of water using 3 liter camelbaks + two water bottles. If you are going to attempt this trail, be sure to be adequately rested and bring snacks and food that will give you energy (not a 24pk of mtn dew and doritos).” –https://motoutah.com/component/content/article/60-utah-trails-by-region/southern-utah/84-san-rafael-swellfive-miles-of-hell

“Five Miles of Hell by far this is the toughest dirt bike trail you’ll come across in Utah. “5 Miles” is a lie. It’s more like 8. The entire loop runs some where around 20. … Imagine every challenging obstacle you have ever ridden your dirt bike on or over. Put those obstacles back to back, over and over for about 8 miles and call it “5 Miles of Hell”. ” –http://www.dirtbikeutah.net/five-miles-of-hell.html

Crew: Brandon and me.

5moh map

5moh elevation

5moh stats

IMG 2441

Click here to download the long (9 minute) version of the helmet cam footage, or you can watch the shorter version on Vimeo (click on the vimeo logo to go to the website and watch in HD).

 

Posted by on December 16, 2014 in Trails

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