ROUTE № 16
Home turf
Pavement
Photo slot · img/rides/monte-cristo.jpg
Monte Cristo — UT-39
The sleeper. Forty-five miles over a 9,000-foot summit, and it's basically ours.
The sleeper. Forty-five miles over a 9,000-foot summit, and it's basically ours.
Route line traced from OpenStreetMap — the real GPX drops when we ride it with the GoPro.
The warm-up: river canyon curves past campgrounds and fishing pullouts.
Long climbing sweepers through aspen — the section that makes you take the long way home forever.
9,000-foot dirt network right off the highway. Plate up, cross over.
Every route on this guide gets ridden and filmed by the shop. This one hasn't had its camera day yet — it's on the Saturday list, and the footage drops right here when it happens.
Video slot · swap this block when the monte-cristo footage lands
UT-39 east of Huntsville might be the best paved ride in northern Utah that nobody outside Ogden Valley talks about. It climbs through the South Fork canyon, swings up long aspen-lined ramps to the Monte Cristo summit at 9,008 feet, and pours down the other side into the sagebrush emptiness of Rich County. Traffic is minimal, the corners keep coming, and the OHV trail network at the summit means one machine with a plate can ride pavement up and dirt at the top — the whole Salto thesis, forty minutes from the shop. Closed over the top in winter, which only adds to the mystique.
Sport tourers for the road; plated dual sports get the road AND the summit trails. Guess which we recommend.
Huntsville or Woodruff (limited). Top off in the valley.
Gates, weather and closures change — check conditions before you ride. Ride your own ride.
The shop is the trailhead. Text us and we'll tell you when the next ride-out rolls — all machines, all paces, zero judgment about how long it's been.