Green Pond Loop

View towards Snowbasin from Green Pond in late October. 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. Latest update August 5, 2018.

Green Pond Loop

The Green Pond Loop is a beautiful singletrack ride on the east side 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.

A quick note...

Some riders still refer to this route as the "Maples Loop." That's because the upper Wheeler Creek trail used to be called the Maples Trail, and the loop could be ridden while camping at the Maples Campground north of Snowbasin. The campground no longer exists. And the "Maples Trail" is a short connector from Snowbasin to the Ogden Canyon Overlook doubletrack.

Climbing the Green Pond trail towards the Needles trail on the clockwise loop.

View of the mountains and ski runs from East Fork.

A couple of alternatives...

Consider starting at the Wheeler Creek 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).

For a shorter ride, you can cut the loop in half by using Middle Fork (trail info on the East Fork loop page). Or you can skip the higher-elevaton bits by turning onto the Snowbasin access trail near Green Pond. See the topo map link below.

There are three main trailheads on the loop itself. The Art Nord trailhead is most-used. Starting here lets you finish with a nice downhill. It has the added advantage of bathrooms! To get there, drive up the old Snowbasin road from Pineview in Ogden Valley. (The road is gated off at Snowbasin and at Art Nord, so you can't get there from Weber Canyon.)

The Green Pond trailhead sits in the middle of the climb on the south end of the loop. For most riders, this is the quickest trailhead to get to. On weekends, the trailhead parking fills up with hikers, but there's room to park along the road.

The Ogden Canyon Overlook trailhead is at the Snowbasin resort. As you approach the resort base in your car, veer to the left and descend to the big parking area. The loop starts at the doubletrack behind the gate on the northwest corner.

Bruce heads up the East Fork Trail along the edge of the Green Pond trailhead in October 2003.

On the East Fork trail. East Fork is machine-cut and generally smooth, with a few gentle turns and wooden bridges spanning each gully.

The track has easy-intermediate (East Fork), intermediate (Snowbasin), and upper-intermediate (Green Pond) sections. You can ride either direction, but it's easier to navigate through Snowbasin if you go clockwise. My ride description starts at Art Nord with the East Fork trail .

Some sections of East Fork (and upper 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.

At the trail fork 2.9 miles up East Fork, go left and climb 0.2 miles to the Green Pond trailhead. Cross the road to the Green Pond trail. You've now climbed 700 vertical feet.

The Green Pond trail, starting at this artistic but hard-to-read metal sign, just across the road from East Fork and the Green Pond trailhead.

Lower Green Pond is deeply forested, with a cooler temperature.

The Green Pond trail is a fairly easy slope. But spots are twisty with rocks and a few sharp roots to skewer your tire (my tire in 2003, anyway).

At 0.7 miles from the road, keep left for the longer loop ride. The right fork will take you directly to Snowbasin. (It will rejoin the loop there.)

Just after crossing a gravel road, continue on Green Pond by keeping right at a trail fork at mile 2.2 from the paved road. For a longer ride, fork hard left uphill on Last Chance. Both of these trail options will end up on the Needles trail, which will take you down to Snowbasin.

Green Pond ends on Needles at mile 2.6 from the Green Pond trailhead. Keep right and begin your downhill!

Flying through an aspen grove on the downhill.

Cruising along on a bit of buff trail.

Traverse the hill above Snowbasin Resort, but keep generally uphill until you arrive at a metal gate and a gravel road. This gravel road is the Ogden Canyon Overlook trail. Ride it 0.7 miles to the Wheeler Creek trail.

The upper Wheeler Creek trail has been reworked in recent years, and is mostly broad and easy to ride. After a couple of miles, you'll reach the bumpy, trenched lower portion and you'll follow this to Art Nord.

Bottom Line
Nice loop, very much worth doing. On weekends, expect lots of hikers and dogs on the lower Green Pond trail.

Passing through a dried-out patch of mules ear flowers near the top of Green Pond.

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'
5.3 Keep R (Snowbasin Trail system) N 41° 12.139' W 111° 50.717'

5.7 Cross dirt road at gas line, go downhill
       (If riding reverse, keep L downhill) N 41° 12.377' W 111° 51.020'
       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

Lower Snowbasin area map

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 parking area at the Ogden Canyon Overlook trail) is 3.0 miles. Note that if the old Snowbasin road is locked, you can't drive from here to the Middle Fork trailhead (4.7) or Art Nord (6.0).

Riding resources:
Single-page riding guide
GPS track files (right-click and "Save as..."):
     Loop Green Pond from Art Nord TH
     Loop around Snowbasin to Icebox from Wheeler TH
     Loop around Green Pond from Snowbasin
     GPX multi-track file
Specialty track files (right-click and select "Save target as..."):     Mt Ogden 50K race Loop     GPX
    2010 Intermountain Cup race loop     GPX
High-res area topo map for printing:   View map
Lodging, camping, shops: Links to Ogden area resources

Updated 2018