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Flintstone Trail
The Flintstone Trail is a mile of expert downhill singletrack with multiple man-made stunts. It lies on the northeast corner of Lake Mountain, with a trailhead in Eagle Mountain's Mountain Ranch Bike Park. A loop ride is 4.7 miles. Vertical change is 500 feet, to an altitude of 5400 feet. View over a ramp toward Utah Lake and Timpanogos. Ride and review by Bruce and Jackie, December 2, 2009. |
| It's probably possible to shuttle this ride with a drive
around the northern end of the mountain and up to the new water tank about
1/2 mile north of the trail's top. There were sedans parked in the work
area, so if the dirt road is open to general traffic, you could shuttle
your big DH rig to the top. (Email me driving directions or a GPS track,
and I'll add it to this page.)
The ridgeline ride that connects to Flintstone has long areas of loose rock, and some largish embedded rock. This is not a ride for soft intermediate bikers. |
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The loop starts at the bike park. As you enter the park from
the kiosk at the north end, ride the broad gravel path southward along the
west border of the park. Turn left as the path ends on gravel doubletrack.
Follow the DT as it turns southwest to climb to the top of the hill.
(Extra point route: as the DT turns, go L on ST, then R at the fork, R at
the next fork, then straight to where the ST hits the DT, where you'll
turn L.)
View northeast over Saratoga Springs, with the clouds of a cold front kissing the top of Lone Peak (mid left), Pfeiferhorn (mid) and Box Elder (just to R of middle). |
| At the top of the mountain, turn left on continuing
doubletrack. At the next couple of forks, keep left and straight as you
climb up the ridgeline. It's a bit of a grunt. The surface has a lot of
small angular rock. In general, you want to stay close to the east side of
the rim. Small roads forking to the west (right) may take you off the
mountain.
View southwest from the ridge. Good views, even in winter. |
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The ridgeline DT will wind around through juniper trees and
pass a newly-constructed water tank (wet cement on the top December 2,
2009). Keep left and on the ridge. As you reach a small rise with no
trees, you'll see a singletrack on your left, heading toward the edge.
Easy to miss. Hopefully, you'll see tire tracks turning into the trail.
This is the beginning of the Flintstone trail form the ridgeline doubletrack, aiming toward Provo Canyon. As you cross over the top, the trail becomes very obvious. |
| Now it's time to change from Grind-it-Out gear to
Downhill-Flight. The trail is designed for expert downhillers. Turns have
high banks for speed. And you need to take them with speed. The apex of
the turns have steep slopes, so you can't crawl through with your brakes
on. And you can't put a foot down. The loose stuff on top of hard clay
guarantees that you'll slip and go down hard. Get the idea? No Beginners!
Jackie waits while I snap a photo as the trail veers northwest. Not to the steep part yet. |
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Most of the man-made stunts have ride-arounds. On the other
hand, in other spots the trail reaches control points (such as little
cliffs) that function to keep horses, ATVs, and other trail-destroyers off
the route. You won't be able to see what's downhill from that rock ledge
on your first ride.
A diving board jump, about a foot wide, with its landing transition. The ride-around is just uphill of the photo.
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| As you reach the bottom, turn left on the dirt road. When
you reach the subdivision, find your way to the northwest corner. Here the
Golden Eagle Road takes you over a low pass (unpaved in 09 up to the
pass). Follow the road back to your car.
At right, a four-footer. The riding line is between my bike and Jackie. Photo below: nearing the bottom of the mountain, an alternate riding line can take you over the teeter. |
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Riding notes, Flintstone Trail from Bike
Park: 0.0 Uphill from kiosk, N40 21.414 W111 58.695 Stay on broad gravel path 0.4 R on DT, N40 21.144 W111 58.961 Follow DT around turn and uphill 0.6 Fork L uphill on DT N40 21.060 W111 59.076 0.7 Keep L (follow ridgeline) N40 21.038 W111 59.034 0.8 Keep L N40 21.021 W111 58.929 In general, stay L on ridgeline 1.6 Pass water tank 2.0 Flintstone ST on L, N40 20.328 W111 58.152 3.0 At fence, L on DT, N40 20.452 W111 57.665 3.3 Enter subdivision, follow streets to NW corner Aim for gravel road going over rise to NW 4.1 On gravel road, becomes paved 4.7 Back at parking |
| Getting there: Take the I-15 Lehi Main Street
exit and turn west. Continue west on SR-73, crossing Redwood Road (11600
West). Just after climbing the hill, turn left at the stop light onto The
Ranches Parkway. Stay on that road as it narrows and begins to wind
around. When you come to a T intersection at the end of The Ranches
Parkway, turn right on Golden Eagle Road. Drive about 1/3 mile and watch
for the trail kiosk on your left. Park by the trail kiosk and begin your
ride by climbing up the trail heading south.
Bathrooms: port-a-potty near jump line of the bike park, BR in city park west of trail head |
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| Riding resources for this trail: Single-page riding guide Website: www.mountainranchbikepark.com GPS track files and route (right-click and "Save as..."): Garmin GPX Topo map: View Lodging, camping, shops: Links to Provo area resources |
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