Mytoge Mountain and Fish Lake Shoreline trail
Fish Lake is a natural lake in the high plateau of central Utah. Elevation at the lake is 8700 feet. This lake is famous for large trout. But it's also the site of the Mytoge Mountain bike trail. In the picture at right, that's Mytoge in the background.
Fish Lake from the north shore, taken from the Shoreline Trail. (Bruce Argyle, A...
Fish Lake from the north shore, taken from the Shoreline Trail. (Bruce Argyle, August 27, 1998)
At left, Mike Engberson runs the shoreline trail on the way to the mountain.
At left, Mike Engberson runs the shoreline trail on the way to the mountain.
Along the north shore of the lake, there's an easy well-groomed trail that hugs the shoreline. This is perfect for the kiddies. Strong intermediate riders will use this trail to complete a 26-mile loop: west on the shoreline trail, around the west side of the lake, south to the top of Mytoge Mountain, east across the upper plateau, down some technical stuff to the east end of the lake, then back to the shoreline trail.
The Mytoge Mountain trail rises up volcanic rock through quaking aspens and pines. Most of the trail is OK for a strong intermediate rider, with short areas of advanced technical. Long stretches of easy trail (for example, 10 miles along the north shore) allow reasonably seasoned riders to complete the entire 26-mile loop.

Fish Lake lies in a "grabben," a chunk of land that slipped downward between two fault lines. It's the origin of the Fremont River. The Sevier Plateau is covered with volcanic deposits, dating from the last 20 million years, on top of lakebed deposits from the Tertiary Period (age of mammals beginning around 65 million years ago). The plateau was lifted up in the mid-Tertiary. The Great Basin subsided, creating the dramatic elevation change between the I-15 corridor (5000 feet) and the plateau country just a few miles to the east (9000 feet).
Dominic Bria takes a breather in the pines on the south side. Picture by Bruce A...
Dominic Bria takes a breather in the pines on the south side. Picture by Bruce Argyle, August 27, 1998
Doc Argyle on Mytoge Mountain overlooking Fish Lake. Photo by Mike Engberson.
Doc Argyle on Mytoge Mountain overlooking Fish Lake. Photo by Mike Engberson.
Getting there:
Fish Lake is about 210 miles south of Salt Lake City. Take I-15 to Cipio, then UT-50 to Salina. Backtrack west (turn right) on I-70 about 7 miles, then take UT-24 to UT-25 and continue to the lake. The shoreline trail can be picked up anywhere along the north side. There's a parking area titled "Doctor Creek Trailhead" at the west end of the lake, which is a good place to pick up the shoreline trail.

Riding resources:
GPS track file (right-click and "Save as..."):
     GPX
Topo maps for printing:
     View Low-Res
     View H-Res

map
Fish Lake area map

For additional information, including nearby lodging, rentals, camping, and current conditions, may we suggest:
General info on the Fish Lake area:
     http://www.go-utah.com/Fish-Lake
     http://www.utah.com/nationalsites/fishlake.htm
Fish Lake Lodge:  http://www.fishlake.com/
Utah outdoor activities:  http://www.utahoutdooractivities.com/
Camping:  http://www.go-utah.com/Fish-Lake/Camping/
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources fishing info:  http://www.wildlife.utah.gov/fishing/
Forest Service Ranger District:  http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/fishlake/