Maples Loop

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Maples Loop
(East Fork, Green Pond, Snowbasin, Wheeler Creek trails)

The Maples Loop is a beautiful singletrack ride on the base of Mount Ogden. It incorporates the East Fork Trail, Green Pond Trail, Snowbasin's Strawberry Express connector trail, and the Wheeler Creek Trail. From any of the three trailheads on the loop, it's 11.6 miles with 1600 vertical feet of climbing, rising to a peak altitude of 6900 on the slopes of Snowbasin resort.

View towards Snowbasin from Green Pond. The pond isn't directly on the trail. You must watch for a small connector foot trail. If you see the pond through the trees from above, you missed it. Photos by Bruce, October 22, 2003.

An alternative is to start at the Wheeler trailhead opposite the Pineview dam: the Wheeler trail adds an easy 3.5 miles plus 500 vertical (15.1 miles total, total climbing 2100 ft). The track has easy-intermediate (East Fork), intermediate (Snowbasin), and upper-intermediate (Green Pond) sections.

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There are three main trailheads: The Art Nord trailhead is most-used. Starting here lets you finish with a nice downhill. It has the added advantage of bathrooms! The Green Pond trailhead sits in the middle of the climb on the south end of the loop. This is the quickest trailhead to get to for riders south of Ogden. The Maples Campground trailhead is near the top, just north of Snowbasin resort. Camp here and spend an extra day riding Snowbasin.

You can ride either direction, but it's easier to navigate through Snowbasin if you go clockwise. I like starting from the Wheeler Pineview trailhead and doing the 15-mile lariat loop.

Bruce heads up the East Fork Trail. Over the ridge to the north is Pineview Reservoir. The draw in the more distant mountain contains the Southern Skyline trail. Photo snapped by a 69-year old mountain biker, while his 73-year old riding partner was napping 1/4 mile below. Thanks!

The East Fork trail is machine-cut and smooth, with a few gentle switchbacks and about a dozen wooden bridges spanning the gulleys. The Green Pond trail is a fairly easy slope, but twisty and containing rocks and a few sharp roots to skewer your tire (my tire, anyway). The Wheeler Creek (Maples) trail has been reworked in recent years, and is mostly broad and easy to ride. The Snowbasin Strawberry Express to Base trail has quite a few switchbacks, but they're broad, bermed, and easy to handle.

View up towards Mount Ogden.

Some sections of East Fork and Wheeler Creek pass through meadows of clay. These areas get very ugly when wet. I recommend against early-season, late-season and rainy-day riding on this loop.

From the Strawberry Express connector trail, we're looking down towards the lodges and parking areas of Snowbasin.

Riding Notes, Clockwise Loop:
Add 1.8 to mileage if starting from Pineview Trailhead
0.0 Art Nord Trailhead, right on paved road
       N 41� 14.017' W 111� 49.224' Alt=5430
0.1 L on ST (East Fork Trail)
2.5 Fork L uphill
       N 41� 12.453' W 111� 49.995' Alt=6220
2.8 Cross paved road (Green Pond Trail)
       N 41� 12.412' W 111� 50.124' Alt=6310
3.2 Faint foot trail branches left uphill to Green Pond
       N 41� 12.185' W 111� 50.189' Alt=6380
3.6 Fork L
       N 41� 12.313' W 111� 50.414' Alt=6510
4.8 Cross gravel road, turn north
       N 41� 11.951' W 111� 50.606' Alt=6730
5.3 Keep R (Snowbasin Trail system)
       N 41� 12.139' W 111� 50.717' Alt=6830

Rolling under a lift at Snowbasin.

5.7 Cross dirt road at gas line, go downhill
       (If riding reverse, keep L downhill)
       N 41� 12.377' W 111� 51.020' Alt=6900
       Pass W side of lodges and parking areas
       (don't drop directly down to lodges)
7.7 Gravel road at NW corner of parking area
       Turn L on gravel road (Maples CG road)
       N 41� 13.118' W 111� 51.795' Alt=6250
8.2 R on ST at Wheeler Creek Trail sign
       N 41� 13.539' W 111� 51.817' Alt=6210
10.2 Keep L (R = Middle Fork trailhead)
        N 41� 13.707' W 111� 50.307' Alt=5640
11.6 Back at Art Nord Trailhead

View down the Wheeler Creek Trail, riding the loop clockwise.

Getting there: From Ogden, head up the canyon on U-39. For the Wheeler trailhead, turn R on doubletrack just before Pineview dam (Trailhead GPS N 41� 15.168' W 111� 50.511'). For Art Nord, keep straight (R) at the dam, then 2.7 miles later, turn R on U-226. Go another 3.6 miles and turn R into the Art Nord trailhead parking N 41� 14.017' W 111� 49.224'.
From the south, leave I-15 for US-89 in Farmington. Turn right (east) to take I-84 up Weber Canyon. Take the Huntsville/Pineview exit and turn left under the freeway, then right to continue up the canyon. About a mile later, follow the signs to turn left towards Huntsville on U-167. 6.8 miles after leaving I-84, turn left on U-226 towards Snowbasin. The Green Pond trailhead is at a parking turnout 1.3 miles from the turn. The Snowbasin turnoff (which leads to the Maples Campground) is 3.0 miles, the Middle Fork trailhead is 4.7, and Art Nord is 6.0.

Riding resources:
Single-page riding guide
GPS track files (right-click and "Save as..."):
   Garmin      GPX    (includes Middle Fork, Wheeler, Coldwater)
Specialty track files (right-click and select "Save target as..."):
    Mt Ogden 50K race Loop    MPS     GPX
    2010 Intermountain Cup race loop    MPS    GPX
High-res topo map for printing:   View
Lodging, camping, shops:
   Links to Ogden area resources