Greater Zion's description of the new trail park at Desert Color reads more like a promise than a spec sheet: "Purple, yellow, cream, and rust-colored rock rushes by as you roll over gentle hills and chunky rock sections. A few steady climbs will get your heart rate up, but nothing that will make you curse the trail builders." That covers six miles of cross-country singletrack north of State Route 7 and west of River Road. In August it was still undeveloped land next to a poppy reserve, and it didn't have a name yet.
Now it's called Renegade Ridge Trail Park at Desert Color, and its first race on the calendar was the Utah High School Cycling League State Championship, set for Oct. 23–24. It was designed for competition. The competition it was designed for is youth racing, and that sets a limit on how hard the trail can get. That limit is the useful part for someone who lives fifteen minutes away and wants an easy loop on a Tuesday evening.
A Race Course With a Difficulty Ceiling
Most race venues get built to test the fastest riders in the field. Renegade Ridge was built to National Interscholastic Cycling Association race standards, and NICA racing means middle school and high school athletes. Greater Zion describes the Utah High School Cycling League State Championship as a race where "middle and high school athletes qualify through a season of regional races before competing for the title."
A course that has to work for a middle schooler on race day can't be built around features that only experts can clear. Greater Zion says so directly: "Built to National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) race standards, this course still rides easy for everyone. Most of the trail runs blue and green, fast and flowy, with a few sections built for riders ready to push harder, so first-timers and seasoned racers can share the same six miles." The county lists the overall rating as intermediate, and the August coverage in St. George News described the plan as beginner- and intermediate-level trails.
The park and the state race course carry different distances because they measure different things.
| Measure | Distance | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| Trail park | About 6 miles | The cross-country loop network listed by Greater Zion |
| State Championship course | 9.4 miles per lap, about 950 feet of climbing per lap | The race-day route, as posted in a team's race schedule |
The race loop stitches the park's trails into a longer lap. If you ride it on an ordinary day, you're on the same terrain without a number plate, and you can stop whenever you want.
Built With Visitor Money, Run as a Public Trail
The park's origin story is on the same Greater Zion page, which says the idea started with a goal "to bring youth mountain biking back to St. George and bring the NICA Utah State Championship with it." Desert Color brought a proposal to the Greater Zion Convention & Tourism Office to use land co-managed with the Utah Trust Lands Administration. Desert Color, Washington County and the Trust Lands Administration agreed to dedicate the land for trails, parking and staging. Washington County then designed and built the park, with Desert Color's support. The trail design firm listed on the project is Trailhaus Intelligent Trail Design.
The money came from visitors. St. George News reported that funding comes from tourism-related taxes, including the transient room tax charged on hotel rooms and similar lodging in Washington County. Greater Zion executive director Brittany McMichaels put it this way in a press release the outlet quoted: "This project is a great example of how visitor spending can create lasting benefits for the people who live here. Residents will enjoy access to a high-quality recreational resource that is made possible, in large part, by tourism dollars."
Greater Zion's own summary of the park's purpose names three groups: young riders who need a place to race, practice and build skills, and residents and visitors who want "a new place to bike, hike, or run." Runners and hikers are included, and the gentle grades suit them too.
Getting In, and What You'll Find at the Lot
You can reach the park two ways, and which one makes sense depends on where you start.
- From River Road. The public access is off River Road. The park sits west of River Road and north of State Route 7.
- From inside Desert Color. A sponsored St. George News feature says riders in the community can connect through the underpass just east of the roundabout at Lagoon Parkway and Desert Color Parkway.
- Trailhead coordinates. Greater Zion lists 37°00'54.3"N 113°34'24.8"W and has an Open in Maps link on its park page.
- Facilities. Dirt parking lot, vault toilet on site, no water.
- Motors. Motorcycles and electric motorcycles are prohibited, according to the sponsored feature, and on-site signage marks routes, skill levels and rules.
With no water at the lot, you'll need to bring everything you plan to drink, even on a cool November morning. For pedal-assist e-bikes, hours, or anything else the signs don't answer, Greater Zion asks questions about public access and parking to go to [email protected].
The county's park page still carries a "Now Building" banner. The Utah High School Cycling League posted on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, that "the State course is up and riding," and asked riders to be mindful of trail conditions ahead of race weekend.
The Two Weekends This Fall That Belong to Racers
The design goal of hosting youth racing drives the park's calendar for its first season, and that calendar is short. There are two events.
- Utah High School Cycling League State Championship, Oct. 23–24, 2026. The league's State Championships page listed those dates, and Greater Zion's fall events guide placed the race on the new Renegade Ridge course. Check the league page for any updates after race weekend.
- NICA Western Regionals, Nov. 14–15, 2026. Greater Zion calls it "the National Interscholastic Cycling Association's first-ever Western Regional Championship," with ten NICA leagues from across the western United States coming for a weekend of racing. NICA's event page invites spectators to "cheer on athletes as they compete in the biggest race event of the season" and links to the categories, course, schedule and staging details.
The park was planned with parking and staging areas sized for competition. Even so, plan on the November weekend being a race weekend, not a casual-ride weekend. If you're going to watch, check NICA's schedule and staging page before you leave. Dog owners should know the Utah League's general rule that no animals are allowed at its events, so leave the dog home on race days.
That leaves nearly every other weekend open for the regular six-mile loop.
Year-Round, on a St. George Calendar
St. George News reported that the park will be open year-round. The sponsored feature says the trails are rideable year-round. The race schedule happens to land in the stretch of fall and winter when riding in southern Utah is at its most comfortable. Once the regional teams leave after Nov. 15, the park goes back to its everyday use for the rest of the cool season, which is also when friends from up north tend to come visit and want a ride that won't wreck them.
ABC4 was still describing the park as a fall 2026 opening in late July. It went from undeveloped land in August photos to a course the league called "up and riding" by mid-October. Desert Color general manager Daniel Lemich told St. George News, "We believe this will be a wonderful community asset and we are honored to be part of this effort." Families with a young rider, adults coming back to mountain biking, and runners who want dirt without a big climb all have a new trailhead off River Road, with a dirt lot and a vault toilet.
Nikole Andersen knows southern Utah by what's close to the door, and new trailheads like Renegade Ridge are part of that. If you're considering a home within riding distance of River Road, or anywhere else around St. George, Nikole Andersen Real Estate can show you what's nearby. Contact Nikole for a complimentary market consultation.
