What: a 205 mile self-supported grassroots bikepacking event.
When: Grand Depart 7AM Sep 5, 2020
Where: western trailhead for the Virgin River Rim trail near Deer Haven campground, Dixie NF. This is east of Cedar City off of Hwy 14.
More info:
(2020 signup forthcoming)
The Bristlecone 200 is 205 miles of spectacular variation in the mountains, high plateaus, canyons and hoodoos of southern Utah. It originated in 2011 as a combination of the best of the Dixie 311, a more rugged and challenging adventure and the Dixie Lite, an intro to bikepacking.
Fast forward to 2017: the Brian Head fire raged through much of the area, wiping out key sections making a loop impractical. Trail work in 2018 made possible a revised route that I think is even more compelling than the original. It features new trails, added trails, and a taste of the Sevier Plateau. In a final twist, the route is now oriented clockwise.
2019 Route info
Updates to 2020 route TBD. Hwy 14 pavement gets a reroute for safety reasons.
or from ridewithgps.com.
Water beta
Approximate course mile, location, potable and on course unless otherwise noted. Campground water access normally ends labor day weekend.
0 Deer Haven CG
9, 20, 196 (yes 3 passes!) Te-ah CG
39 Castle creek (filter)
50 Bunker creek (filter)
54 Panguitch lake
69 Panguitch creek (filter)
80 Panguitch (major resupply)
99 Hancock/Casto intersection (filter, may be dry but I doubt it)
108.5 Red Canyon CG (roughly .3 miles off route via paved bike path)
125 Hillsdale canyon (filter, image: )
?? Somewhere between Hillsdale and Proctor there is a nice spring...but I don't have a waypoint for it. It's piped and on the trail, can't miss it.
131 Proctor canyon (filter, may be dry)
148 Bottom of Pole canyon, you'll see a spring. I'd filter it.
154 Sevier river (filter but I'd avoid it, lots of irrigation/ranching upstream and normally high sediment)
160 Long Valley Junction - gas station with a lot of food and drink choice
174?? Possibly Swains creek. It's off-route, needs filtered, I have not been there in years.
196 Back to Te-Ah. Long Valley to Te-Ah is what I'd consider the longest section between water, 5+ hours.
Rules
The rules are simple. By lining up you agree to honor your fellow bikepacker by following them. This is your honor code. I will not mediate rules issues as I implicitly trust all who line up. Ask for clarification on FB or bikepacking.net if they are not clear.
- Complete the entire route under your own human power.
- No pre-arranged support with one exception: teams of any number of riders are allowed. The rules apply to the team as a unit; the finishing time of the team is that of the last member to finish. Team riders may share items but otherwise no cached or pre-arranged support is allowed.
- It is the responsibility of the rider to determine whether or not he/she has finished within the rules.
- GPX file submission or Trackleaders tracking is required to claim a course record.