View north at Middle Mountain from the Trail Yeah! loop. Photos and ride description by Bruce on September 16, 2021.
Trail Yeah!
Loop at Powder MountainTrail Yeah! is a popular 3.2 mile loop off the Sunrise Trail at Powder Mountain. It's easier-intermediate
in technical requirement and -- considering that the elevation is 8600 feet -- not particularly
strenuous aerobically. Depending on the route you take to reach Trail Yeah!, the ride will
be at least 8.5 miles.
The expected riding season for this trail is mid to late-June through September. (Powder Mountain
trails will close when the resort prepares for the upcoming winter ski season.) Riders head
for this trail to enjoy twisting singletrack in the aspens on the southern half of the loop,
and open views on the northern half.
While most riders will arrive at Trail Yeah! from the
Brim
trailhead
, you can also reach the loop from western Powder Mountain
trailheads by getting to the eastern end of the
Paper
Airplane
trail.
About half of the ride will be in the shade of tall aspen and fir forest. Looking north on the western side of the Trail Yeah! loop.
From the Brim Trailhead via Baggage Claim - GBPB - western Doctor's
Dozen - Sunrise
Northbound from the Brim trailhead on Baggage Claim.
Most riders will reach this trail by starting from the
Brim
trailhead. There's a shorter eastern option -- with substantially less overall climbing --
that connects to
Doctor's
Dozen
east of the Brim trailhead (see below). This western option takes 4.9 miles just to arrive
at the trail. Most riders would then take the western limb to return as a clockwise loop ride.
This loop will be 10.9 miles with 1200 vertical feet of overall climbing.
From the Brim trailhead, there are two trails. The left option is the
Brim Loop
About 50 feet north (to the right) is Baggage Claim, signed as Baggage Claim / Brim Loop. Head
downhill on Baggage Claim. After 0.4 miles, keep right at the two connectors to the Brim-Baggage
link trail.
At mile 1.3, turn right onto the final stretch of the
Paper
Airplane
trail. Keep left to go under the road (as Paper Airplane
climbs to join the road). Climb on GBPB, go across a road, then keep left
twice at the double trail fork with
Doctor's
Dozen
.
Heading to the ridgeline on GBPB, where we'll cross the gravel road and drop to the Doctor's Dozen trail.
NOTE! Some Powder Mountain trail signs show the trail's destination, NOT the trail you're actually
riding on to get there. This is confusing when the destination is not a "thing" such as "Hidden
Lake Lodge" but another trail. Signs that make no distinction between "this way to X trail"
and "this way to stay on the Y trail" create lost riders. The GBPB fork with Doctor's Dozen
has this (as of 2021). So when you look at the trail fork sign saying "Sunrise," you need to
figure out that it's pointing the way to Sunrise. On the Doctor's Dozen trail. Not a problem
if your intention is to turn back west on Sunrise, but a potential problem if your planned
route is to continue east downhill on Doctor's Dozen. My suggestion is that the trail gods
buy little stickers that say "to" and paste them before the destination trail name, and always
include the actual trail name as the top entry on the carsonite post. So instead of just saying
"(arrow) Sunrise" it would say "Doctor's Dozen (arrow) to Sunrise." PLEASE.
We've joined Doctor's Dozen heading northwest. Soon we'll drop through some turns to the old Hidden Lake Lodge trail, where we'll find Sunrise.
Go westbound on Doctor's Dozen and descend to the old Hidden Lake Lodge trail. (The Hidden
Lake Lodge trail follows an old wide bench cut. It's still used occasionally by riders but
no longer appears on most trail maps. I've included it on my map below to avoid confusion when
you're looking at the trail fork.)
Make a hard right turn onto the old cat-track to change your direction
from west to east. Then in just 20 feet, drop to the left onto the
Sunrise
singletrack.
Continue east on Sunrise. At mile 0.6 from Doctor's Dozen, there's a trail fork. If you're
in a hurry (or want to avoid a bit of extra climbing), you can take Picnic, the right option.
It short-cuts through to rejoin Sunrise, exchanging 0.8 miles of Sunrise for a fairly flat
0.2 miles on Picnic.
0.4 miles from where Picnic and Sunrise rejoin, keep left at the trail fork. (The right fork
climbs 0.1 miles to join Doctor's Dozen.) Then after another 0.6 miles -- mile 4.9 from the
Brim trailhead -- fork left onto the Trail Yeah! loop.
Eastbound on Sunrise, the Picnic trail offers a shorter and easier option, cutting 0.6 miles and a bit over 150 vertical feet of climbing.
Heading back to the east on Sunrise, around 1/2 mile after exiting the Trail Yeah! loop.
Returning to the trailhead: For a clockwise
loop ride, keep left as you complete the Trail Yeah! loop. Follow Sunrise
as it makes a slow turn back to the west. As you arrive at a broad
carved-up ridgeline, Sunrise ends 0.9 miles from Trail Yeah! Find the
southbound Doctor's Dozen trail on your left.
Go exactly 1.0 mile south, then veer uphill to the right at an unsigned
trail fork. Keep right as the singletrack ends on a doubletrack. The
doubletrack will take you over a low rise and end on the doubletrack
return path from the Brim Loop. Fork right and in 100 yards, you'll see
the Brim trailhead to your left.
From the Brim Trailhead via eastern Doctor's Dozen and eastern Sunrise
Heading through an aspen grove on Doctor's Dozen.
This route can be an out-and-back of 8.7 miles or the outgoing limb of the 10.9-mile loop ride
(with 1200 vertical) above when done counter-clockwise. From the Brim trailhead to the Trail
Yeah! loop is 2.7 miles.
From the Brim Trailhead, go southeast on the dirt road. When you see a
smaller dirt road on the left, turn left and descend. After 0.1 miles the
little road turns to the right. Spot the singletrack on the left and
follow it down to join the
Doctor's
Dozen
trail northbound.
After 1.0 miles, Doctor's Dozen crosses a torn-up area of lift-road construction. Look to your
right and spot singletrack curving around the hill in low scrub. This is Sunrise. (Doctor's
Dozen will head into the trees on the left side of a dirt road.)
Riding northeast on Sunrise after leaving Doctor's Dozen.
Cruising the Sunrise trail.
The Sunrise trail will gradually change from eastbound to westbound. After 0.9 miles on Sunrise,
2.7 miles from the Brim trailhead, fork right downhill on the Trail Yeah! loop.
Looking west on Sunrise at the trail fork for Trial Yeah! on the right.
The 3.2-mile Trail Yeah! loop is long and thin, extending north from the Sunrise trail. The
loop has a single attachment to Sunrise, then splits about 50 feet later into eastern and western
sides of the loop. It can be done either direction. There will be 400 vertical feet of climbing
as you return from the loop, whichever direction you choose.
I rode the loop clockwise by keeping left at the initial trail fork. On the day of my ride,
there seemed to be equal numbers of riders going each direction.
There's an initial descent from 8600 feet elevation down to around 8250. There are multiple
flowing turns as the trail winds through the aspen and fir forest.
Swooping around a gently banked turn in the shade of aspen and fir.
A rock rollover on the western side of the loop.
The trail is easy to ride. The only technical stuff -- a log-pile rollover and a rock rollover
-- was put there on purpose and would be OK for an inexperienced rider.
The initial descent takes place in under a mile (in either direction). As you emerge from forest,
there's some fairly flat pedaling northbound on the western slope of a smooth saddle. If you're
going clockwise, it's a gentle climb. Counterclockwise, it's flat to a bit downhill. (The two
limbs are separated by less than 500 feet on the saddle.)
Looking north on the western side of the loop (clockwise ride) as we cross the open area on the saddle. There will be a bit of climbing as we near the end of the loop (at the left edge of the picture).
Path to the viewpoint, looking west.
The endpoint is a viewpoint just off-trail. Clockwise, it will be on your left at mile 1.8.
Stash your bike and walk 50 feet for the view. (It's possible to bang over to the rocks to
the top but it's kinda nasty and other riders will often be walking here.)
Immediately after the viewpoint spur, the trail turns right uphill for the southbound return
limb of the loop.
When going counterclockwise, the viewpoint comes at mile 1.4, at the bottom of a downhill 180
degree turn. It will be on your right. The viewpoint is harder to spot from this direction,
and you might blow past it.
Looking northwest.
Southbound on the eastern (upper) side of the loop.
After the viewpoint, traverse along the slope of the saddle. As you hit the aspen forest, the
trail will begin to climb.
Just like on the way down, the climb back up will go through multiple climbing turns. The pitch
and the curve radius should be no problem for an intermediate or even a strong beginner.
A series of hits in fir forest on the eastern side.
Approaching a dirt ramp over a log pile. Not hard.
As you arrive at the loop fork, keep straight. Then after a few feet, turn onto the Sunrise
trail. Pick your direction depending on your planned return path.
Map of the Powder Mountain XC trails
Getting there:
From I-15, take Exit 347 to
Ogden Canyon. Drive 7 miles up Highway 39 and turn left across the Pine View dam
onto Highway 158. Four miles later as you pass the gas station in Eden, keep straight at the stop sign.
Drive steep uphill 7 more miles to Powder Mountain. Pass the lower lifts
on your left as you follow a turn to the right in the road.
Brim Trailhead: Now take the next road on
your right, Powder Ridge Road. (If you reach the main parking lot on the
ridgeline, you missed the turn.) Drive 1.2 miles uphill on Powder Ridge
Road. Keep straight and level as a road forks away to the right and
another forks left uphill to Hidden Lake Lodge parking. Follow the road
for one mile as
it traverses a wide canyon and ends at the Brim Trailhead.
Lower lodge parking: After the road turns right, keep
straight past Powder Ridge Road and the road will end at the main lodge
parking. Brittain's Ribbon is to the left and behind the lodge.
Woody's World parking: After the road turns right, take the next
road to your right, Powder Ridge Road. Immediately find a parking spot on
the left, then pedal uphill to find Woody's on the right side of the road.
Hidden Lake Lodge parking: After the road turns as above, turn
right and drive 1.2 miles uphill on Powder Ridge Road. Fork left uphill to
Hidden Lake Lodge parking. Brittain's Ribbon is to the northwest near the
top of the ski lift; the Hidden Lake Lodge cat-track is on the north side
of parking.
