Looking forward to a tabletop jump on Mojo. Review by Bruce on June 25, 2021.
Looking forward to a tabletop jump on Mojo. Review by Bruce on June 25, 2021.
Blackridge Expert Trails
Mojo, Rawhide, Hardlick via Eric's and Mustang

The expert trails at Blackridge are reached via Eric's trail. The Mojo loop has engineered features such as tabletops and doubles, while Hardlick as a combination of tricky natural and man-made features. The usual riding season will be mid-May through October.

The trails start at around 6000 feet elevation. There is no shuttle option. To reach these trails, you must pedal to the top of Eric's trail, either from the north at Blackridge Pond or from the east at Juniper Crest. You'll climb 800 vertical feet over 4.5 miles from Blackridge; 1000 feet from Juniper Crest over 3.5 miles. Plan on around 11 miles round trip for the minimum ride.
Heading uphill on the Blackridge trail. Im almost to Erics trail, which continue...
Heading uphill on the Blackridge trail. I'm almost to Eric's trail, which continues uphill from Blackridge.
  Mojo Loop  with Mosey connector
The entry to Mojo, looking south.
The entry to Mojo, looking south.
The Mojo Loop drops off the top of Eric's Trail on the upper ridgeline at an elevation of 6100 feet. The trail winds southbound into a small valley on the southeast shoulder of South Mountain, then climbs back uphill to join lower Rawhide just uphill from Rawhide's origin on Eric's. (Note: I had some confusion about whether the climbing portion was Mojo or Mosey. Or whether the first bit of Rawhide is actually the western end of Mojo/Mosey. The signage wasn't adequate, so I've made some assumptions.)
Mojo is an intermediate-level trail with banked turns and engineered bumps for jumping. There's nothing scary here. If your skills got you to the top of Eric's trail, you can ride this.
Mojo is one-way! If you're at the bottom (via Mosey for example) you must go clockwise to get back uphill.
Looking down to another tabletop jump. There will be rollers, some gentle side-k...
Looking down to another tabletop jump. There will be rollers, some gentle side-kickers, and a few doubles.
At the top, there will be some nice views of the Wasatch Front.
At the top, there will be some nice views of the Wasatch Front.
The Mojo trail itself is only 0.9 miles long. Half of that is the descent of 0.4 miles and 150 vertical feet, and the other half is a gentle climb back uphill to Rawhide.
Mojo can be done repeatedly as a loop with a short descent to the bottom of Rawhide (1/10th mile) and a bit of climbing on Mustang (0.4 miles). Each lap around this loop will be 1.4 miles and 150 vertical feet of climbing. Half of the climbing will be on Mojo and half on Mustang.
Looking down past a couple of rollers (or a very long double) to a banked turn.
Looking down past a couple of rollers (or a very long double) to a banked turn.
The climb back uphill on Mojo is gentle and easy.
The climb back uphill on Mojo is gentle and easy.
When you're ready to tackle Rawhide and Hardlick, just turn to the left at the top of Mojo and begin climbing.
Mosey connector trail
There's a "back door" into the bottom of Mojo called Mosey. This trail connects the lowest point on Mojo to the east side of Eric's trail. It will be used mostly by locals who are accessing Mojo from the eastern side of Eric's trail. Mosey offers a climbing-free return to eastern Eric's after descending Mojo, or a quicker way uphill to Rawhide from the Juniper Crest trailhead.
A couple of riders on Mosey heading for the eastern side of Erics trail to ride ...
A couple of riders on Mosey heading for the eastern side of Eric's trail to ride back to town.
Mosey after it joins an old ATV trail.
Mosey after it joins an old ATV trail.
At my 2021 ride, Mosey was not marked. You'll need to follow the bike-tire tracks to navigate. It's 0.4 miles long, consisting of some singletrack in the bottom of a shallow valley plus some old abandoned ATV trail.
  Rawhide and Hardlick   loop ride
View up Rawhide from the bench at the top of Mojo. Were 1/10th mile up Rawhide f...
View up Rawhide from the bench at the top of Mojo. We're 1/10th mile up Rawhide from Mustang at this spot.
Rawhide
Rawhide and Hardlick, together with a portion of Eric's trail, form an expert-level loop that you can use to ride laps. Only strong and confident riders should hit this loop.
Rawhide is the expert-level climbing portion of the Rawhide-Hardlick loop. Unlike the other trails in the area, Rawhide isn't a machined trail. It's hand-built, which means it's narrow and full of the granite boulders that form South Mountain.
Here come the bumps. Theres often only one line through, as the trail is frequen...
Here come the bumps. There's often only one line through, as the trail is frequently narrow.
Riding over a granite outcrop heading north.
Riding over a granite outcrop heading north.
When climbing Eric's from Blackridge, you'll pass the bottom of Hardlick on your right. From there, it's 0.3 miles to the fork with Mustang. (Keep to the right here.) Rawhide forks away from Eric's trail after 0.5 miles of further climbing.
At the trail fork on Rawhide 0.1 miles uphill from Mustang, keep right. The left fork is the (not labeled as of June 2021) return from the Mojo DH.
View to the east from Rawhide. Were looking into Utah County and thats Lone Peak...
View to the east from Rawhide. We're looking into Utah County and that's Lone Peak on the left and Timpanogos to right of center.
Last bit of climbing. The entry to Hardlick is just to the right of this photo.
Last bit of climbing. The entry to Hardlick is just to the right of this photo.
Rawhide is 0.6 miles long. It climbs 250 vertical feet. At its highest point, the trail continues as Hardlick. (There's a chute where riders have been hiking their bikes uphill another 50 feet to get a head start on the Hardlick segment. Not sure if that's a Strava thing, or if there's some other reason.)
Hardlick
Hardlick is a downhill-only trail, and it's a true expert-level ride. There are both natural and engineered stunts. Many spots are steep, bumpy, and covered in slippery dust.
Rawhide turns into Hardlick.
Rawhide turns into Hardlick.
View northeast downhill at the Salt Lake Valley.
View northeast downhill at the Salt Lake Valley.
First, take a minute at the top to enjoy the views of the Wasatch Front to the east.
Hardlick descends 450 vertical feet from the top of Rawhide down to Eric's trail just below the Mustang Loop trail fork. It's 0.9 miles long, creating an average downslope of 10%.
Dropping off a rock and descending sharply to a quick banked turn.
Dropping off a rock and descending sharply to a quick banked turn.
A rock rollover that you can also use to launch. Note the prominent ride-around....
A rock rollover that you can also use to launch. Note the prominent ride-around.
Most of the stunts have ride-arounds. Many of these are unnecessary, probably created by first-timers who didn't know what was coming up on the other side of that rock.
Turns generally have high banks. But many of these turns are very tight and come at the bottom of a piece of steep slippery bumpy.
Coming into an S-turn thats steeper and slipperier than it looks. Meantime, othe...
Coming into an S-turn that's steeper and slipperier than it looks. Meantime, other S-turns are so steep that there was no way I could stop to snap a photo.
A posed photo at the top of a rock drop. Now back up to get a run at it.
A posed photo at the top of a rock drop. Now back up to get a run at it.
A nice ride option from Blackridge is to climb Eric's to the top, then drop off onto Mojo. After connecting to Rawhide, go uphill and then down Hardlick. Now turn right and climb 0.3 on Eric's, 0.5 on Mustang and drop into Mojo again for another loop.
Close-up view of the trails. Note that you can form loops on the upper mountain of varying length. From the bottom of Hardlick:
Eric's to Rawhide - Hardlick: 2.3 miles
Eric's to Mojo - Rawhide - Hardlick: 3.4 miles
Eric's and Mustang to Mojo - Rawhide - Hardlick: 4.4 miles
map
Zoomed map view
map
Area map of Blackridge
Blackridge trailhead:  From the Bangerter Highway, turn west onto 13400 South and drive 2/3 mile. Turn left (south) at the Mountain View Corridor and drive about a mile. At the traffic light, turn right onto Rosecrest Road. After 1/2 mile, turn left onto Juniper Crest. (Watch out! From Rosecrest, the street signs to your right give the northbound continuation of Juniper Crest another name!) As you see that you're leaving the dense homes and are approaching a bridge across a ravine, turn right onto Ambermont Drive. (Again, caution. The continuation of Ambermont east of Juniper Crest has a different name.) Over the next half-mile, Ambermont goes southwest, then west, then turns to northwest. Now fork left on Aurora Vista. Quickly turn right onto Esher Street, then left at Ashland Ridge and enter the parking area for Blackridge Pond. (If you reach a "do-not-enter" exit from Blackridge Pond on the right and a "bozos-stay-out" sign for a private neighborhood straight ahead, you went too far on Aurora Vista. Turn around and go back to Esher Street.) The trail starts at the far end of the parking strip.
Fees: Beginning in 2024, there is a $15 fee to park at Blackridge Reservoir on weekends and holidays from May until mid-September!
Riding resources for this trail:
GPS track files (right-click and "Save as..."):
      Herriman area multi-trail file
New window for map for printing:
      View wide-area map
      View zoomed map
Lodging, camping, shops:    Links to southern SLC resources