[wyrm]

Hey all, I have a very important question to ask about trail in the Utah Valley area or the SLC area that would be good to ride. I am the MtBike class TA at UVSC and need trails that would be good for riding that are long and sustained. We are looking at this for our final ride which we want to be a short epic. The length should be in reference of time, not so much as in distance.

The teacher and I wanted to do Payson Canyon area but the conditions don't look too promising. I'm wondering if conditions in other places would be better. I think that we can drive an hour or two(2 pushing it tho) out of our way to get to some great trails. The trails I'm thinking of are the trails around the SLC bench area. There is a trail that drops in above the capital that starts around the U, I'd like more info on that one.

Any other suggestions like Ogden, AF, Santaquin, Price would be very helpful. Thanks

 

[qtip]

There is a trail that drops in above the capital that starts around the U, I'd like more info on that one.

That would be the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, starts at Hogle Zoo. You can take it to City Creek and then up and over into Bountiful. Check out utahmountainbiking.com for details on distance, directions, etc.

What level bikers are you riding with?

 

[wyrm]

I'm biking with beginner to intermediate riders. There are a couple of XC and DH racers but they are really patient and helpful so they if there is a trail that will accomodate for them that would be good too.

Tell me more about the Bonneville Shore line that you spoke of. Thanks

 

[soboko]

I'm biking with beginner to intermediate riders. There are a couple of XC and DH racers but they are really patient and helpful so they if there is a trail that will accomodate for them that would be good too.

Tell me more about the Bonneville Shore line that you spoke of. Thanks

I'd recommend this, too. Depends how much time you have, but with beginning riders, I'd say about 2-3 hours to ride from the zoo to City Creek Canyon. One thing, it is pretty crowded right now since it's one of the only options not under snow right now.

The I Street dirt jumps are right off it so that's a good place for the advanced riders to play if they have to wait. The Bobsled trail also forks off it, so one advanced option might be to take BST -> Upper Bobsled -> 18th Ave -> I Street dirt jumps -> BST into City Creek Canyon, while the beginning riders stick to the BST proper.

There is about 1/4-1/2 mile of climbing right at the beginning, then mostly flat to moderate riding until you get into Dry Creek, then about 2 miles of uphill in the canyon, then flat to downhill pretty much the rest of the way, with a couple of short 1/4 mile climbs thrown in. The descent into City Creek Canyon is lots of fun.

Map and description at http://utahmountainbiking.com/trails/bonshor1.htm

 

[soboko]

One thing I just noticed that the map doesn't show...

You can either do the full bobsled all the way down to Chandler Drive or just the upper part. The bobsled trail drops off of the BST and goes for about a mile until you hit a fire road. Continuing straight takes you to the lower bobsled (complete with abandoned cars you can ride over) but then you've got a tedious climb to get back to the BST. Instead, you go right on the fire road, that takes you to 18th Ave/Northland Dr. Stay on 18th Ave until you get to the Mormon Church at about 650 E. There's a little dead-end street immediately east of that that takes you back to the I Street jumps and the BST.

I don't recommend the bobsled for beginners, but if your advanced riders haven't hit it before, they'll have a blast.