| Mud Spring - Mill Canyon Loop |
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Looking for an alpine singletrack ride that has everything? Solid tough climb, fantastic views, rockin' tech downhill? The Mud Spring - Mill Canyon Loop, in the North Fork of American Fork Canyon, gives you all that. But in return, it demands good climbing skills, strong legs, great aerobic capacity, and advanced downhill skills. This 11-mile loop has over 3000 vertical feet of climbing, with a peak altitude of 8350 feet, and is for advanced riders only. About two miles into the ride, on the Mud Spring trail, we've already climbed 1600 feet -- a brutal average 14% grade. We're looking north to the granite ridge separating American Fork Canyon from Little Cottonwood. Photos August 4, 2003 by Bruce. |
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| The trailhead's location at Tibble Fork Reservoir offers a
family opportunity -- the monster climbers can tackle the loop, while
others fish, hike, swim, or paddle at the reservoir. Certainly this is one
of the prettiest trailheads in the state.
The ride begins from the parking lot at the reservoir. If you don't want to get your feet wet in the river (pansy!), you can go over the dam and head south around the lake until you hit the trail just after it crosses the river. If you're game for a little river-rock surfing, head uphill onto the gravel road. 1/4 mile later, the trail drops off the right side of the road and crosses 100 feet of wet creekbed. Looking south from Tibble Fork's parking lot. Bathrooms and water are available here.
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After crossing the North Fork, the trail dips through a
small creek several times. A mile uphill, fork right onto the trail to Mud
Spring. From the river, the trail climbs 2200 feet in 3 miles -- an
average grade of over 14%! But it's all rideable -- assuming the
horses haven't churned the surface too badly.
View of Timpanogos as we reach the high point of the Mud Springs Trail at 8200 feet. We'll now drop down to catch Ridge 157 northbound. |
| The best time to ride this trail is a few days after a
soaking rain. That firms up the trail surface. A trail this steep can
become a sea of loose dirt when subjected to horses and motorcycles. I
found the trail to be relatively buff, with only a couple of 30-foot
hike-a-bikes where I couldn't get traction. There are log water bars and
roots to climb over, but it's a fun climb if you've got the leg for it.
I would strongly encourage you to ride the loop counter-clockwise (from Mud Spring north to the top of Mill Canyon). The upper portion of the Mill Canyon Trail has an ugly mile of rocks, roots, and loose surface as it drops 1000 feet (20% grade). It's great downhill, but uphill it would suck. View uphill on one of the tamer sections of the trail. Drop it in granny, lock out the rear, and climb. |
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When you reach Ridge 157, you're rewarded with some of the
greatest views of any singletrack in Utah. Box Elder Peak, the Snowbird
ridge, Timpanogos, the Cascade Springs valley -- for three miles the great
views just keep coming in every direction.
A meadow offers a brief break from climbing. We're on the Mud Springs trail, nearing the intersection with the Tibble Fork Trail.
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The plunge down Mill Canyon is a lot of fun. Besides the obvious -- 2300 vertical in 3 miles -- there are technical sections where you thread the needle through rocks and roots. This is not a "cruiser" romp. It's a hang-back tech downhill requiring some skill to negotiate. View north to Box Elder Peak. |
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| Riding notes, counterclockwise loop: 0.0 Pass bathrooms onto gravel road along river N 40° 28.98' W 111° 38.68', alt=6050' 0.25 R on ST, drop sharply to river N 40° 29.066' W 111° 38.390' 0.35 Across river, climb up on ST 1.35 Fork R (towards Tibble Fork) N 40° 28.655' W 111° 37.695', alt=7020 2.1 Straight, cross Tibble Fork trail N 40° 28.158' W 111° 37.592', alt=7350 2.8 Keep R (L goes to view) N 40° 27.624' W 111° 37.519', alt=7990 3.3 Keep L N 40° 27.460' W 111° 37.582', alt=8250 4.0 Mud Spring, fork L on Ridge 157 N 40° 27.127' W 111° 37.375', alt=7980 |
4.8 Straight (R=Tibble Fork,
L=South Fork) N 40° 27.547' W 111° 36.894', alt=8070 6.4 L on DT N 40° 28.067' W 111° 35.675', alt=8370 7.0 L on DT (Ridge Trail is ST 50 ft right) N 40° 28.442' W 111° 35.300' 7.15 Straight onto ST N 40° 28.437' W 111° 35.437', alt=8280 8.7 Straight (L) (R = to Holman Tr) N 40° 28.577' W 111° 36.714', alt=7200 9.6 At first fork (m-1.35), keep straight N 40° 28.655' W 111° 37.695', alt=7020 10.7 Cross river, climb ST to road, turn L 11.0 Back at parking |
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Getting there: From I-15, take the Alpine-Highland exit just south of Point-of-the-Mountain. Go east towards the mountains on UT-92 and continue up American Fork Canyon. There's a $3 fee. About 6 miles up the canyon, turn left at the North Fork junction and drive 2 miles to Tibble Fork Reservoir. Go past the dam and park in the long parking area north of the lake N 40° 28.98' W 111° 38.68', altitude 6050 ft. On your bike, head up past the bathroom, and continue straight onto gravel road as the paved road turns left. (Alternate: to riding through the river, bike over the dam and around the far side of the lake until you hit the Mill Canyon Trail 040 sign.) |
| Riding resources for this trail: Single-page riding guide GPS track files and route (right-click and "Save as..."): Garmin National Geographic Google Earth GPX High-res topo (300 KB): View Low res topo: View |
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For lodging in the American Fork Canyon
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