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Solitude Resort Loop
Solitude Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon has a very nice singletrack loop. It traverses many of the resorts ski runs as it zips in and out of the trees. The loop is 6 miles long, with 600 vertical feet of climbing. (It will feel like more.) The ride reaches a peak altitude of 8550 feet. Singletrack is an upper intermediate technical, with about a mile of advanced tech. View up the ski slopes of Solitude. Photos July 11, 2002 by Bruce. |
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Ridden counterclockwise, the loop climbs Serenity singletrack through the area of the Eagle Express lift. Then it hits the lift road, for a tiny bit of pavement, then a mile of doubletrack as it heads across the resort to the southern end. If you want a shorter ride, you can drop down the Apex trail from the doubletrack. View towards the Eagle Express lift, early in the ride. We'll go far beyond the lift to the west, past the ski area boundary. |
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We peel off the doubletrack at the Kruzr Trail. This
singletrack gets a bit more technical. Hope you like roots and rocks. At
the southeast corner of Kruzr, you can catch a narrow singletrack that
climbs up to Twin Lakes at the top of Brighton (if you want). Turning your
bike's nose downhill, you've got a nice radical ride, zipping back and
forth through the trees to the bottom.
Heading up the canyon along the Summit Lift.
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| Ride notes, counterclockwise loop: 0.0 Southeast corner Moonbeam parking area N 40° 37.383' W 111° 35.794' singletrack south, fork R after 100 feet 1.7 Paved lift road, turn R N 40° 37.220' W 111° 36.371' 1.9 Pass chalet, dirt doubletrack 2.0 Fork L (R=Powderhorn) 2.5 Straight (Apex ST forks off to L) 2.8 Keep R 3.0 Fork L onto ST (Kruzr) 3.15 Hiking trail in from R, keep L 3.25 Fork L (R=Sunrise Lift) 3.7 Fork L (R, then R again = SolBright, top of Brighton) 4.5 Cross DT 4.85 Apex comes in from L 5.1 Keep R (L goes up to Moonbeam) 5.7 Paved road, go R N 40° 37.211' W 111° 35.769' 5.8 L on ST, head towards Moonbeam 6.0 At first trail fork, R to parking |
View north towards the Wasatch Crest, with Brighton's Silver Lake below us. This shot was taken from the SolBright Connector trail, on the way to the top of Brighton Resort. |
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Getting there: Go to Big Cottonwood Canyon (Wasatch
Blvd and 72nd South) and drive about 10 miles up from the traffic light.
Turn right into the first Solitude parking lot at the Moonbeam Center. As
you enter the parking area, the singletrack trail will be at the far left
corner of the lot. N 40° 37.383' W 111° 35.794'
NOTE: Solitude LOCKS the gate to their lower lot in the evening. If think you'll be there past 6 pm, park in the lot uphill! [Go to UtahMountainBiking.com's
Trails Options Page] |
| Riding Resources for Solitude: Topo map, includes race loop options: Download Single-page riding guide for printing. |
GPS track files (right-click and "Save as..."): Garmin National Geographic Google Earth GPX |
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For additional information, including
nearby lodging, rentals, camping, and current conditions, may we suggest: |
