Lately our trails have been getting quite a bit of publicity, which has been focused mainly on the mesas. This is a brief history of the JEM trail specifically and the Hurricane/Virgin area more broadly.
In the early 90s, when mountain biking was still young, there were few riders and even fewer trails on the East side of Washington County. The riding was mainly fire roads, though there were a few renegades who were dreaming and building trails on Gooseberry, Dalton Wash (where Guacamole currently is), Rockville Bench, and on the land that ultimately became the site of the JEM. It seemed crazy at the time to be building trails; crazier now that it was thought they would never gain much traction. JEM is a combination of initials of the original designer and a couple of the people who were convinced to work hard building it. Though only three initials were used, there were quite a few participants. It was originally designed and built as a downhill singletrack with a climb up fire roads for access. It was planned that eventually more singletrack would be built for the climb, making a complete singletrack loop. The climb part was not completed, but a bit of it was built by one of the renegade trail dreamers, and it is still in use today. There are still many who dream of completion of the uphill singletrack, perhaps someday those dreams will come to fruition. Toward the end of the 90s, the trail was finally adopted as a legally sanctioned trail. At that time, parts of it were moved, rebuilt, and rehabbed for various reasons. So many people have contributed to this trail over the years, making it one of the best cross-country trails in the county.
In more modern history, due to collaborative efforts of DMBTA, BLM, local bike shops, and numerous volunteers, JEM has become the ‘anchor’ for an extensive trail system that includes Hurricane Rim, Goulds, Gould Rim, Cryptobionic, Dead Ringer, Goosebumps, and More Cowbell. The system is now referred to as the Hurricane Cliffs recreation system.
