Hurricane Rim Loop

Catch the amazing vistas of Southwest Utah

Trail Description

The Hurricane Rim Loop Trail is a beautiful tour through the cliffs and trails above Hurricane Utah. It takes you right along the Hurricane rim looking down on the Hurricane Valley and Virgin River Gorge. The route can vary based on your time and endurance to allow you to add to or subtract distance. But no routes are bad choices, just new adventures and beauty around every corner. This trail can also be run as an out and back from the same trailhead along the Virgin River Gorge.

It is always advised to have plenty of water, electrolytes, and energy food/gels while trail-running. These trails are no exception. Especially during the summer months, extra water is a must. Because of the extreme heat that can occur we recommend this trail primarily in the Spring and Fall months.

Following the route linked below we started from the main trailhead and headed south across the highway following the road behind the block H on the Hurricane Hill. This road offers many great views of the Hurricane Valley. The trail follows the main dirt road for about 2.5 miles with the most significant vertical gain of the loop before heading out on single track toward Goulds Wash and Mollies Nipple. The switch to single track is posted of the southwest side of the road, but be vigilant it can be easy to miss. This part of the trail hugs the rim of the Goulds Wash, weaving in and out with shallow arms of the gorge for about another 3 miles, then the trail heads east towards Gooseberry Mesa.

The trail in this area is criss crossed by multiple dirt roads before eventually merging with a road heading east. You will want to keep your route finding skills sharpened as the road intersects with another close to an old corral. If you continue heading east just to the south of the corral the trail should pick up again at about the southeast corner of the old structure. The trail continues a gradual climb as it meanders through the vermillion cliffs that make up the gorgeous Gooseberry area. At approximately 8.6 miles in you will come to the highest point of your trek, and cross Utah Highway 59.

Continuing across the highway down a dirt road you will quickly come to the Jem Trailhead. Since this trailhead has easy vehicle access we recommend it as a good place to put a water/food drop. At this point you can choose a couple different options, both the Jem Trail and Dead Ringer branch off from this location. They converge a couple miles down the trail so either one will do the job. On our route we choose Dead Ringer which takes off to the west. Shortly after starting down this branch in the trail we decided to take in the More Cowbell trail which provides a nice smooth 2.5ish mile loop just to spice things up a bit. After completing More Cowbell we started down the main decent of Dead Ringer which has a great rapid decent along the face of the mesa. Once the trail finishes its primary decent it begins undulating over the valley floor.

Heading over the plateau after merging from Dead Ringer to Jem Trail you will find the next several miles primarily a downhill trek. As you cross the plateau there are several different trails that can shorten your trip time. The first of these is ChinaTown Wash Trail which cuts about 4-5 miles off our route, the second is the Virgin Dam Trailhead road which cuts about 1-2 miles off of our route. Following the route below you are taken by the best views of the Virgin River Gorge in my humble opinion, which are at approx. mile 18 of the route. After that point the trail turns back west and heads along the rim of the Virgin River Gorge.

The trek along the rim is about another 6 miles rolling up, down and in and out of the side canyons on the rim. Offering spectacular views of the canyon below and then popping over a ridge for another great view of the mountains around this beautiful area.

Then at about 23 miles, coming over the last ridge you will see your vehicle in the parking area as you wind down the ridge and make your final decent. Now it’s time to go get some refreshment down in Hurricane after your successful running of the Hurricane Rim Loop.