Ride difficulty: Easy, Beginner Friendly
If you're looking for a ride that's really different, this would be it. Sometimes if felt like you're on another planet. The Cricket Mountains are a small mountain range in west-central Utah, approximately 35 miles in length and about 6000-7000 in elevation. I was unable find out how they got their name, but we did find pockets of crickets, some of which would fly up and hit my face shield. They do show up in the video if you look close.
To get their from Delta, Utah head west on US 50/6 about 6 miles then turn south on State Route 257. Go south for approx. 16 miles. At mile marker 53 head west for approx. 9.7 miles to the Johnson Pass trail head. You will see a rail fence marking the parking lot.
You can go either south or west from here on trail #1 as it is a 60 mile loop. There are lots of side trails on the loop, some of which are well marked and some aren't. A lot of the west side of the trail system borders Sevier Lake, which is visible from the trail. It is quite an unusual lake (25 miles long and up to 7 miles wide, but very shallow, 3-4 ft. at it's deepest points).
You might want to consider riding here in the Spring or Fall as I imagine the summer will be very hot here. There are very few trees here, especially on the West side. There was a canyon on the East side with quite a few trees. When we stopped for lunch on the West side, we couldn't find any shade. We took this ride in early October and the temperature wasn't bad, but it was quite windy the day we were there.
Info Links:
www.blm.gov/visit/cricket-mountains-one-day-ride
www.utahatvtrails.info/central/westdesert/cricket.html
Music credit:
Easy Lemon by Kevin Mcleod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license
(creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: incompetech.com/music/royaly-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1200076
Artist: incompetech.com/