Ribbon cutting at Goblin Valley State Park

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On June 9, Goblin Valley State Park officially opened their mountain bike trail system. Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox was on hand to help with the ribbon cutting. He said, “I love Goblin Valley. We come here once a year so the kids can climb on the hoodoos and play. It’s really a grand place out in the middle of nowhere.
“Our National Parks are really busy and we were at Arches the other day and couldn’t get in because they were so busy,” said Cox.
Cox said there are 40 state parks and they are less busy than the National Parks, but just as nice. They are close and accessible with much to offer the visitor. Cox encouraged everyone to come down to Goblin Valley to try out the new mountain bike trails and to stay and visit the hoodoos.
Park manager, Aaron Farmer welcomed the attendees at the ribbon cutting. Director Fred Hayes, Deputy Director Rasmussen and others from state parks were in attendance.
Farmer said the bike trails are a nice addition to Goblin Valley. Emery County commissioner Keith Brady and Green River Mayor Pat Brady welcomed the new addition to Goblin Valley.
Scott Escott was the designer of the trails. He thanked everyone at the Division of Natural Resources for being so great to work with on the new trail system. He thanked Tim Smith for having the vision to put a trail system at Goblin and to Aaron Farmer for the archaeological work and to all the volunteers who helped. “I think you will enjoy it, it’s a great trail,” said Escott.
Escott said he is the trails coordinator for Moab. He helped design the Dead Horse Point expansion project. Goosenecks is next where 20 miles of trails will be installed. He hopes to do more trails for Emery County.
He is working with the Green River trails committee on trails around Green River City.
Escott said, “You can’t believe the economic development impact these trails have and what has happened in areas that install trails. It’s created jobs which are paying better. My wife works in the cycling industry and it’s just staggering, the increase in business because of the trails. Every month it just gets better. Here at Goblin Valley there are eight miles of stacked loops.”
There are five loops in the whole system and it’s called the Wild Horse trail. Each separate loop has its own name. Farmer said, “There are various types of loops for all rider types. The trail’s been open about two months now and it’s been very busy. We hope to expand depending on the trail’s popularity. Come out and try it, it’s a good trail and it’s for novice to expert rider.”
The Dark side of the Moon loop is .92 miles. The Desertview loop is 1.65 miles, the Lizard foot is 1.27 miles, the Landslide is 1.27 miles and the Buffalo Head is 1.62 miles, the Henry Mountain overlook is .25 miles.
Smith is the regional manager for state parks. He said since the state parks have been operated as businesses, things have really taken off locally as well as statewide with new ways of getting visitors into the parks doing things that the visitors enjoy. The new mountain bike trail system at Goblin Valley is just one of several innovations at local parks. Local parks have added electricity to the campgrounds which make them more attractive to visitors. Green River State Park has just added Disc Golf at the Green River golf course. A slack line has been added at Huntington State Park as well as a water slide. Kids kayaks for rent and paddle board rentals have been very popular at both Millsite and Huntington state parks.
“The new things we are trying have proved to be very popular. People are excited with the disc golf at Green River. Play at the course is up 35-40 percent for a modest investment. It’s really helping business,” said Smith.
State parks in Emery County include: Goblin Valley, Green River State Park and golf course, Millsite State park and Huntington Lake State Park. The San Rafael Classic Triathlon will be held at Huntington Lake State Park on July 18.