Trails
The Markagunt OHV System loop by loop: seven numbered routes, every spur, and how to read the markers
The Markagunt OHV System is the Forest Service's name for the designated ATV and side-by-side routes on the Markagunt Plateau, the high country of Dixie National Forest that Duck Creek Village sits on. It is organized as seven numbered routes, 1 through 7, each with its own set of spurs. Cross-country motorized travel is prohibited forest-wide; you ride the numbered routes, the spurs, and the open forest roads, and nothing else.
The numbering is the useful part. At every junction a fiberglass marker carries a number and a difficulty symbol. A one-digit number is a main route: 5 is the Strawberry Loop, 4 the Tommy Creek Loop. A two-digit number is a spur, and its tens digit tells you which loop it belongs to. Markers 51 to 59 all hang off Strawberry Loop 5; 41 to 49 belong to Tommy Creek Loop 4. If you are on 58 you are on Strawberry Point spur, and the way home is back to anything marked 5. The symbol beside the number is the map's difficulty rating: green circle for easy, blue square for intermediate, black diamond for expert.
Loops 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7 all touch the Duck Creek area, and Trail 5 starts a mile from the inn. Loops 2 and 3 are on the northern half of the plateau and are a long day's transfer, so we cover them for completeness rather than as rides from the village. Every loop below links to the Forest Service page it was transcribed from.
Every numbered route and marker below is drawn from the official 2019 Forest Service map, with the markers where the map places them. For the full-screen version with layers, a two-point planner and GPX downloads, use the map and downloads page.
One digit is a loop; two digits is a spur of that loop (52 branches off Loop 5).
Markagunt OHV System routes and numbered markers, traced from the 2019 Forest Service map. Carry the current MVUM; it is the legal document.
The village loop. It starts near Aspen Mirror Lake about a mile north of SR-14, heads south, crosses SR-14 near the east edge of Duck Lake, runs west past the Duck Creek Visitor Center and south past the Ice Cave, then follows pullouts with vistas over Deep Creek and Zion before turning east into Lars Fork and Strawberry Valley and back to SR-14. Its spurs reach Cascade Falls, Strawberry Point and both halves of Duck Creek Village.
| Marker | Spur | Length | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | Cascade Falls | 3 miles | To the Cascade Falls trailhead; the falls trail itself is hiking only. |
| 52 | Duck Creek Village | 5 miles | From SR-14 through the village subdivision to the main trail below Duck Lake. |
| 53 | Willis Creek | 6 miles | |
| 54 | Broad Hollow | 5 miles | |
| 55 | Lower Broad Hollow | 4 miles | |
| 56 | Lars Fork Loop | 4.5 miles | |
| 57 | Zion View Connector | 1 mile | Carries an expert (black diamond) marker on the official map. |
| 58 | Strawberry Point | 5 miles | Dead-ends at the point. |
| 59 | Color Country | under 3 miles | Ties the village spur to another part of the village. |
The loop north of the village with the most destinations on it: Mammoth Cave, Henrie Knoll, Mammoth Springs, Uinta Flat and the Strawberry Knolls. It starts at the Mammoth Creek Highway and heads east, and its ten spurs range from a one-mile connector to a ten-mile loop along Asay Creek.
Parts of Mammoth Cave close October to April for hibernating bats. Bring two lights and a jacket; it is about 8,050 feet and cold inside.
| Marker | Spur | Length | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | Reeds Valley | under 2 miles | OHV only, per the FS text. |
| 41 | Mammoth Spring | under 3 miles | |
| 42 | Henrie Knolls | just over 2 miles | Climbs the northernmost knoll. |
| 43 | Ponderosa Connector | under 1 mile | |
| 44 | Ponderosa Loop | about 5.5 miles | |
| 45 | Uinta Loop | 4 miles | |
| 46 | Mammoth Cave | 6 miles | Ends at the cave. |
| 47 | Asay Creek Loop | just under 10 miles | |
| 48 | Lower Mammoth Creek | 5.5 miles | Hatch to the Mammoth Highway. |
| 49 | Asay Knoll Loop | just under 6 miles |
Ride it from the inn
A remote, minimal-use loop southeast of the village with views of Zion and the Pink Cliffs. Its spurs drop into Road Canyon, Everett Hollow and Swains Creek, and the Lydia's Canyon Overlook spur ends at a Pink Cliffs lookout with Zion in the distance. Expect fewer other riders and fewer quick exits than on the Strawberry Loop.
| Marker | Spur | Length | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61 | Strawberry Ridge | just under 7 miles | Back to SR-14. |
| 62 | Upper Road Canyon Loop | under 3.5 miles | |
| 63 | Lower Road Canyon Loop | over 2.5 miles | |
| 64 | Everett Hollow | over 5 miles | |
| 65 | Swains Creek | 8 miles | From SR-14 along Swains Creek. |
| 66 | Billingsley Creek | 2.5 miles | |
| 67 | Swains-Rim Connector | 2 miles | |
| 68 | Lydia's Canyon Overlook | 2.5 miles | Pink Cliffs lookout with Zion views. |
Ride it from the inn
Not a loop but a long ridge run. It leaves SR-14 near the eastern edge of the ranger district, heads south and dead-ends on the Virgin River Rim atop the Pink Cliffs about a mile from US-89. From the end you look down on the US-89 corridor and into Stout, Dairy, Mile and Shingle Mill canyons.
| Marker | Spur | Length | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | Stout Canyon Collector | 2 miles | |
| 72 | Upper School Wash Loop | 4 miles | |
| 73 | Lower School Wash Loop | 2.5 miles |
Ride it from the inn
The backbone of the whole system: a north-south route running from Highway 20 in the north to the forest boundary near US-89 north of Orderville. Along the way it passes Bear Valley, Horse Valley, the shores of Panguitch Lake, Clear Creek, Sidney Valley (with a Great Basin vista), the Red Desert, Tommy Creek, Tippets Valley, Dry Valley, the lava field, Duck Creek Village and Stout Canyon. About 2 miles of it is OHV-only with a 62-inch width requirement; the rest is shared forest road.
Panguitch Lake is reachable on Trail 1, but the last 1.7 miles into the lake resorts are on SR-143, which makes it a street-legal-only ride. Non-street-legal machines stop at the forest boundary.
| Marker | Spur | Length | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Cottonwood | just under 6 miles | |
| 12 | Little Creek | under 2.5 miles | |
| 13 | Red Creek | 4 miles | |
| 14 | Second Left Hand | about 5.5 miles | |
| 15 | Red Desert | 4 miles | |
| 16 | Sage Valley | 11 miles | Connects to SR-14 near Long Valley Creek and loops toward Cedar Breaks. |
| 17 | Turkey Track Loop | 10 miles | Strawberry Creek and Swains Creek country. |
| 18 | Ike's Valley Overlook | just over 2.5 miles | Ends on a point overlooking Swains Creek. |
A lower, drier loop through ponderosa pine, juniper and sagebrush country on the northern half of the plateau. It has the longest spur list after the Tommy Creek Loop, with two side loops (Little Coal Pit and Cooper) and a climb onto Haycock Mountain.
| Marker | Spur | Length | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Haycock Mountain | over 8 miles | |
| 32 | Lower Haycock | 3 miles | |
| 33 | Sheep Hollow | 1.5 miles | |
| 34 | Little Coal Pit Loop | 8 miles | |
| 35 | Cooper Loop | under 4 miles | |
| 36 | Rock Canyon | 4 miles | |
| 37 | Birch Spring Knoll | under 5 miles | |
| 38 | Black Rock | 3 miles |
The quietest loop in the system, in the Forest Service's words one that "sees few visitors." It threads Three Mile Creek and Sandy Creek and passes the historic Bear Valley Guard Station. The route is thin in spots, so expect a narrower, less-travelled track than the loops closer to Duck Creek.
| Marker | Spur | Length | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Spur 21 | not published | The FS lists spurs 21 through 25 without names or mileages. |
| 22 | Spur 22 | not published | |
| 23 | Spur 23 | not published | |
| 24 | Spur 24 | not published | |
| 25 | Spur 25 | not published |
The official map rates every marker with one of three symbols. They describe the surface and grade of the route, not its length, so a green-circle spur can still be a long day.
Forest Order 0407-22-15 limits MVUM-designated OHV trails to machines 72 inches wide and 2,500 pounds or less, in force through 2027. Some trails are posted at 50 inches. The "62 inch" figure that circulates online has no Forest Service basis except about 2 miles of OHV-only trail on Trail 1. Open forest roads (gray on the map) have no width limit, and that is what most of the loops are. The Cedar City Ranger District Motor Vehicle Use Map is the legal document; the printed trail map is the planning aid.
| Line on the map | Route class | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Orange | Forest Service 4x4 OHV route | Unimproved 4x4 route open to OHVs and high-clearance vehicles. Rougher than a graded road. |
| Yellow | OHV route, 72 inches or less | Designated trail limited to machines 72 inches wide or narrower (Forest Order 0407-22-15). Most side-by-sides fit; check your spec sheet. |
| Dashed yellow | OHV only | Trail closed to full-size vehicles, for example the 2-mile 62-inch section of Trail 1 and spur 40 Reeds Valley. |
| Gray | Open road | Graded forest road shared with trucks, trailers and campers. Watch for dust and oncoming traffic. |
| Solid line | Highway or paved road | SR-14, SR-143 and US-89. Non-street-legal OHVs may only cross at a right angle; street-legal OHVs may ride them. |
The riding season is set by snow and mud more than by dates, but two things are fixed: seasonal roads on the MVUM are open May 1 to November 30, and every spring the Forest Service posts a mud order on the Duck Creek trails until they dry. The records below were last checked September 2026. Before you ride, look at the Dixie National Forest alerts page and our road conditions page.
| When | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| May 1 to Nov 30 | MVUM seasonal roads open. Outside that window the seasonal routes are closed to motor vehicles even when dry. | Cedar City Ranger District MVUM |
| Mar 26 to Jun 1, 2026 | Spring mud order 0407-26-03: Sage Valley Road (FR 30051) and Duck Creek OHV Trails 1 and 5 between the Visitor Center and Uinta Flat Road posted closed when wet. | Forest Order 0407-26-03 (rescinded Jun 1) |
| Jul 13 to 23, 2026 | Mid-season trail repair closure on the Duck Creek OHV trails. | Forest Order 0407-26-11 |
| Jun 4 to Aug 31, 2026 | Fire restrictions: Stage 1 from Jun 4, Stage 2 from Jun 26, back to Stage 1 Jul 27, rescinded Aug 31. Spark arrestors are required every day regardless. | Dixie National Forest alerts |
| July to September | Monsoon storms build in the early afternoon. Be off the rims and out of the meadows by lunch on a building-cloud day. | Seasonal pattern, not an order |
| Oct to Apr | Portions of Mammoth Cave (spur 46) closed for hibernating bats. | Dixie National Forest |
Last checked September 2026. Duck Creek Campground is open late May to late September; the Duck Creek Visitor Center is open 10 to 3 daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day, 435-682-2432. In winter the same country becomes the Cedar Mountain Snowmobile Complex.
Ask four sources how much riding there is at Duck Creek and you get four answers. The seven loop lengths above sum to a little under 180 miles; the spurs roughly double that. We publish "more than 300 miles of designated routes; the Forest Service's own tally is 408" and leave the rest attributed.
Our own ride mileages on the featured rides were traced from the 2019 Forest Service map with network routing, not ridden with a GPS, so treat them as planning figures and carry the current MVUM.
What riders ask about the Markagunt loops before they arrive.
The Markagunt OHV System has more than 300 miles of designated routes; the Forest Service's own count is 408 miles. The seven numbered loops add up to a little under 180 miles on their own, and the 51 spurs make up the rest. Everything is inside Dixie National Forest, and Duck Creek Village sits directly on Trail 5 and Trail 1.
Trail 5, the Strawberry Loop, starts near Aspen Mirror Lake about a mile north of SR-14. From Duck Creek Village Inn you ride spur 52 (Duck Creek Village) or spur 59 (Color Country) through the village streets to the trailhead, so there is no trailering. The loop is 12.5 miles by the Forest Service figure and about 22.8 miles as a full ride from the inn including the village approach.
Each fiberglass marker carries a trail number and a difficulty symbol. A single digit (1 to 7) is one of the seven main loops. A two-digit number is a spur, and its tens digit tells you which loop it belongs to: 51 to 59 hang off Strawberry Loop 5, 41 to 49 off Tommy Creek Loop 4, and so on. A green circle means easy, a blue square intermediate, a black diamond expert.
Forest Order 0407-22-15 sets a 72-inch, 2,500-pound limit on the MVUM-designated OHV trails through 2027, and some trails are limited to 50 inches. The 62-inch figure you may have read applies only to about 2 miles of OHV-only trail on Trail 1. Open forest roads have no width limit. Check the current Motor Vehicle Use Map for the trail you plan to ride.
Seasonal roads on the Cedar City Ranger District MVUM open May 1 and close November 30. In practice the high loops are snowbound into late May, muddy for a few weeks after, and best from mid-June through October. Spring mud orders and mid-season repair closures are posted on the Dixie National Forest alerts page; in 2026 those ran March 26 to June 1 and July 13 to 23.
Reviewed September 2026
Loop lengths, spur names and mileages are transcribed from the Forest Service's seven loop pages and kept in their wording. Width rules come from Forest Order 0407-22-15, closures from dated Dixie National Forest orders, and difficulty from the symbols on the 2019 official map. Where sources disagree we say so and name them.
Duck Creek Village Inn has plenty of parking for trucks and trailers, four rental shops on Movie Ranch Road, and the Strawberry Loop trailhead a mile up the road. Book a room or cabin and ride out from the lot.
