Bison Escape Trail

Bison Escape is a technical mountain-bike trail in the Applecross Trail System, a network of purpose-built singletrack that opened in 2021 on private land just outside Zion's east entrance, near Zion Mountain Ranch and Clear Creek Ranch. It isn't a hiking trail despite the overlap with the park's name index — this is a black-diamond, cross-country route built for riders, not walkers.

What to expect

• Rocky, exposed tread with skinny sections and a couple of optional drops and rolls — riders describe it as the slowest, most technical line in the system.
• Connects to Bison Chute and the flowier Lunar Ride trail, so it's usually ridden as part of a longer loop rather than on its own.
• Trailhead sits on North Fork Road, about a mile outside the park's eastern boundary off Highway 9.

The Applecross network was built through a partnership between Zion Cycles, the Zion Forever Project, and Greater Zion tourism officials to give mountain bikers an option beyond the park's very limited in-park biking. If you came looking for a foot trail by this name, this isn't it — it's strictly a two-wheel route.