Roxsand Gravel Bike Race

Gravel in the Back Country North of Town

Roxsand runs on the dirt roads around Gunlock Reservoir, out of Gunlock State Park about half an hour northwest of St. George. There are two distances — the 24.5-mile Duster and the 48-mile Buster — and the field sets off mid-morning.

Gunlock is the part of Washington County most visitors never reach. The road out passes through Santa Clara and Ivins and then keeps going, into ranch country and red rock with almost nothing on it. The reservoir sits in a narrow valley on the Santa Clara River, and the dirt roads that serve the area are what the race uses.

E-Bikes Are Allowed

This is worth flagging because it is genuinely unusual: the race is open to gravel bikes and e-bikes alike. Most events either ban e-bikes outright or bury them in a category nobody enters.

The practical effect is that a rider who could not otherwise hold 48 miles of dirt can enter the longer distance and finish it. If you have an e-gravel bike and have been assuming you are locked out of racing, this is the one to look at.

Choosing Your Distance

The Duster at 24.5 miles is a genuine introduction to gravel racing — long enough to require pacing and preparation, short enough that a fit rider without race experience can complete it. The Buster doubles it.

The surface is dirt road rather than singletrack, so this is not a technical event. What it asks for is sustained effort on loose surfaces, and the willingness to be a long way from anything for a couple of hours.

Early March, and What That Means

Early March here is the shoulder of the shoulder season. Days are warming but not yet hot, and the desert northwest of town gets its brief green period. It is also before the spring wind properly arrives, which matters more on a bike than on foot.

Dress for a morning that starts cold, not for the afternoon you will finish in.

Getting There

Gunlock State Park is on Gunlock Road, roughly thirty minutes from St. George through Santa Clara. The final approach is rural and there is very little in the way of services once you leave Ivins — arrive with everything you need, including water beyond what the race provides.

Who It Suits

Gravel riders wanting an early-season target, e-bike riders looking for a field that will actually have them, and anybody curious about the emptier northwest corner of the county. Mountain bikers with a heavier calendar have True Grit Epic later the same month, and the county's wider riding is covered in mountain biking St. George.