Mansard is the in-town Kanab mountain bike trail. The trailhead sits at the north end of Kanab's Main Street, and the trail climbs through a dirt corridor onto a sandstone bench at the base of the mansard-shaped cliff face that gives the trail its name. Four miles of singletrack with a few sandstone slab sections deliver the closest thing Kane County has to a network ride.
A small network in a small town
Kanab's mountain bike infrastructure is modest by 435 standards. There is no Hurricane-style network of stacked loops, no Cedar-style multi-trailhead system. What there is, Mansard largely is — a single trail with a few connectors that locals have built over the years and visitors discover after the major Kanab attractions (Best Friends, the Sand Caves, Western Legends) are checked off the list. Willow Canyon Outdoor on Center Street is the closest thing to a local trail authority, with current condition reports and rental bikes for visitors arriving without one.
The cliff face the trail is named for
The mansard-style cliff that gives the trail its name is a section of red sandstone with a stepped profile — the same angled face that French mansard roofs imitate, hence the name. The trail's upper section runs along the base of this cliff, with shaded rest stops at midday when the rock face throws shadow over the trail. Visitors regularly stop for photos from this section, framed against the cliff above.
When to ride it
Mansard is a winter and shoulder-season trail. The Kanab desert summer makes the exposed lower sections rideable only in early morning or late evening, and dawn rides in October through March are the local prime time. The trail is also rideable after light rain — the dirt holds well, the slickrock benches drain quickly — which is unusual for the 435 desert trails.
Where Mansard sits in the 435
Kanab is the eastern reach of the 435 area code, and Mansard is the trail that makes it a biking town rather than a Best-Friends-and-permits town. Visitors stacking a Kanab trip with rides at Hurricane or Cedar City often spend a half-day on Mansard before driving back west. Riders coming through on a Coral Pink Sand Dunes or Wave-permit trip use it as a stretch-the-legs ride between the long drives.