True Grit Epic
Thursday, March 18, 2027 – March 20, 2027 · All day
Santa Clara, Utah
The Season Opener Nobody Eases Into
True Grit Epic runs out of Santa Clara over three days in March, offering gravel, mountain bike and stage-race formats across the desert west and south of St. George. It has a reputation as one of the most difficult races in Utah, and it earns it early in the calendar, when most riders are still coming off a winter.
That timing is the whole identity of the event. It is an early-season race in a place that has a season when nowhere else does, which is why it draws a field from well beyond the state. Riders arrive undertrained by definition, because there was nowhere to train.
What the Course Is Actually Like
Mostly rugged singletrack, with road climbs linking sections and stretches that are genuinely technical rather than merely rough. The mountain bike course has a feature riders know as the Water Fall; the gravel course has one called the Rollers of Doom. Names like that are usually a warning rather than a joke.
The terrain here is slickrock, ledge and loose desert surface rather than the packed forest singletrack much of the country trains on. Riders who are strong but unfamiliar with rock tend to find the technical sections cost them more than the climbing does.
Riding Through Protected Country
The course crosses ground that is protected for good reason, and the routing reflects it.
This is not incidental. It is the reason the course is routed the way it is and why riding off the marked line is treated seriously. The bear-claw poppy grows in a handful of places in the world and this is one of them; the tortoise is federally protected. Stay on the trail, at the race and outside it.
Where It Is Based
Basing in Santa Clara rather than in the middle of St. George puts riders closer to the trail network the course uses, and makes the pre-dawn start considerably less painful.
Accommodation is easier than for a Zion-corridor event but March is a busy month across the county, with several races and the start of the spring visitor season overlapping. Book earlier than you think you need to.
Who It Suits
Experienced mountain bikers wanting a hard early target, gravel riders who want the same, and anyone who has been curious about what southern Utah riding is actually like under pressure. It is not a first race. For that, the Roxsand Gravel Bike Race earlier in March is far more forgiving, and mountain biking St. George covers where to ride when there is no number on your bars.
Frequently asked questions
How hard is it?
It is regarded as one of the hardest mountain bike races in Utah, and its March date compounds that — riders arrive early in the season, often undertrained, because there was nowhere to train through winter. It is not a first race.
What formats are offered?
Three: a mountain bike race, a gravel race, and a multi-day stage format. Pick by discipline rather than by how much time you want to spend riding.
What kind of bike and skills does it need?
A capable mountain bike and genuine confidence descending rock. Fitness alone will not carry you here — handling ability is the limiting factor for most visiting riders, and the gravel event is a separate proposition on a different machine.
Why does the course avoid certain ground?
Because it runs through habitat for the bear-claw poppy and the desert tortoise, and across cryptobiotic soil — a living crust that takes decades to form and seconds to break. The poppy grows in only a handful of places on earth and the tortoise is federally protected, so staying on the marked line is a condition of the race being possible at all.
Where should I stay?
Santa Clara or western St. George puts you nearest the start and makes a pre-dawn alarm survivable. Book early: March is one of the busiest months on the county's calendar.
When should I book accommodation?
Earlier than feels necessary. March is one of the county's busiest months — several races overlap with the start of the spring visitor season — so rooms across St. George and Santa Clara tighten well before race weekend.