Vernal Utah
If ain't been you should. Where it at? Well NE Utah, about 6 hr drive from Front Range. Whats it? Well some self-proclaimed "World Champion" (see Altitude Bikes - a real Bike shop in drilling wonderland but put World Champion on your sign? please) built a bunch of trails in the drillin-est area of the country but he did it proper. So, much love World Champ. The biking is good.
Vernal got no spiritual vortexes or T-shirt shops (well...check out I Love Drilling shop). Its also Utah beer stupid. Don't go for the town ambiance or tourist slap on the back, just buy ice, keep your eyes low & move on to camp.

Dinosaur National Park is 20miles away & may be worth a visit but don't expect Jurassic Park. Thusly this area has greatest concentration of Dinosaur sculptures made by 5yos? anywhere - a Diplodocus with eyelashes...really? - only exceeded by white dually pickups (see Halliburton).

Best part though is that the mtn bike riding is roughly characterized as 4-5 distinct geological areas which makes it unique beyond Fruita or maybe even Moab. Its not crowded & you can pee anywhere.

1. McCoy Flats is arguably Fruita Book Cliffs 19 Rd light. Its the most well known & popular area. We saw 4 mtn bikers. Its a wide open desert areas with mesas, sage & washes to keep terrain interesting. Its an intriguing bit of twisty tight singletrack wending up & down various mesa with names like More Hoes, More Pimps, Milk & Cookies, etc. A few years ago tongue in cheek was a bit more evident with Vegas hooker cards tucked into the bushes & dolls arranged in compromising positions however in the last 3 years those have disappeared. Suspect BLM acknowledgment has made trail humor PG. Lame.

No matter. Tight, twisty lines seek out the challenging & beg for a high spin. This is single speed country.
Blast out from the lot in 6" wide of trail & head towards the mesas. Most steep mesa climbs are rewarded with a scenic (but a bit dull) tour around the circumference of each. Note some bike art though along the way. A few loops warrant some technical skill but overall everything is rideable & rippin good. Recommend for all skills & vintages.

BLM has installed a proper trailhead with shitters & formal signage has replaced Troy's informal signage. So rejoice or lament BLM sanitizing but McCoy warrants 1-2 days of discovery.

2. Red Fleet area

North of Vernal is the Red Fleet State park, dont camp there you pussy, but push on just past into dispersed area & camp with the cows. Take next paved right after the state park entrance. Drive up about 1mi & look for Jazz TH on the left & camp away, or explore beyond down the rd for more options. Don't expect facilities though now there is a Dinosaur Trax TH with a proper shitter installed recently down the road about 2mi from hwy. Recommend the Womens stall.

If you got a 3mi hike in you in the rain, check out the dino tracks at the Res, pretty cool, but not required viewing. See signs.

Otherwise there is some red-earth singletrack in the area reminiscent of some areas in Moab with some steep, good views & ripping narrow track, see J Boy. Cross the road & hit some grey soil cow pasture with some equally narrow but well laid out lines. Cows can fuck up the butter but depending on herding patterns it can be groovy. This is also mostly open to all skills & fitness but narrow trails have their own challenges, keep singletrack fucking single, douche.

Camping is great, no fucking people but there is a Phosphate mine (Simplot? suspect its actually a govt installation, btw wtf is phospate used for? & do we need round the clock mining?) a few miles away that has some unexpected explosions, rock crushing noises & some light pollution. (its not that bad considering the kickass views). We've camped there 2x & recommend it, though further exploration in the diverse geological areas around Venral might reveal other great spots.

There is a moderately trials trail just across the road with some pucker gaps & rickety bridges. Enjoy knuckle dragger. We ripped some of it with a proper dose of whiskey but the rest requires larger sets of cajones compadre.
You can ride everything here in a day.

3. Springfield (aka Race track / corkscrew)

Arguably the fave spot for us after 2x visits. Its ~15 miles NW from Vernal but some sublime low grade climb up, turn, & rip down tight twisty, off-camber, pump-track descent. There are two loops in the area with similar but different characteristics. Both are a steady climb up to a slow slope followed but equally long no-brake descent to the low.We were rewarded with the biggest smiles of the weekend to date. Some sported wood.

Methinks this is the area of growth for trail building.
Ride it all in 2-3 hrs.

4. Red Mountain

Touted as 6" travel area by a bike shop, but every travel could be at home here with 2 sets of proper balls installed. I ran it on a hard tail. Regardless best enjoyed as a shuttle
The first set of balls is required to master the hike-a-bike up to the ridge peak, maybe an hour. Like grab dirt with your bike on back for stability steep.

Next set of balls is required to get down the gnarly jeep road that's a relentless slab of fuckyou all the way down. There are two routes from the top, go left & end up one canyon over but you're rewarded with a huge slab of slickrock at the end but a more complicated shuttle.

Go Right for a longer descent & end up on same side you hiked up. Both about the same technical pucker. Recommend the latter for max wood. See your doctor for an erection lasting longer than 3 hours.
We combined Springfield & one Shuttle run here for a genuine high-five day.

Ride this in 2-3hrs. Shuttle 2x left, then right for extra credit.

5. Dry Creek area, aka Flume trail
We sallied forth into this area with little 411 about snow,  mud, spring accessibility, etc but were rewarded with soft soil, pines & high mtn trail.

Yet another eco-system to explore, high mountain Utah. This starts in the ~6k' ends in the ~8k' in a wooded alpine valley following the Dry Creek wash. Theres a well maintained trail running along the creek without a gradual  elevation 1500' of up until later when you reach National Forest & the up/down climbs begin. The end goal is a rocky trail loop at end of canyon near a historical Flume structure built unsuccessfully in the 1890s to help redirect The Dry Creek water flow into Ashely Creek to aid in irrigation. Mormon engineers. Its a ripping descent back down with some breath taking views along the way.

3hrs ride time roughly. 20miles.

IN CONCLUSION
You are dumb if aint ride dat.
Carve out 3-4 days to get a taste of everything. Its a great fucking new sporty alternative to Moab or Fruita and nearly as close but now with new, improved & indifferent fracking homeslice.

love sean