Timpanogos Great Western

Timpanogos Great Western
(Timpanogos Perimeter)

The Great Western Trail skirts Mount Timpanogos on its way from American Fork Canyon to Provo Canyon. This section is also called the Mount Timpanogos Perimeter Trail. This is a narrow singletrack with some steep climbs and many rough sections, but with beautiful scenery that makes it all worth while. We'd rate this trail advanced technical and strenuous aerobic. Altitude gain is 1300 feet. Because the trail intersects the Timpanooke Road at three locations, you can bail out any time for a shorter ride. The ride we describe here is 15 miles round trip.

Timpanogos looms above the trail.
July 7, 1999 by Bruce Argyle

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Timpanogos itself is composed entirely of limestone. This is precipitated calcium carbonate and shells of small creatures deposited in a deepening ocean basin during the Pennsylvanian Period, around 320 million years ago. The deposits are several thousand feet thick. As the crust of the western edge of the continent was lifted up, this region became dry land during the Triassic Period (age of reptiles, 200 million years ago). After remaining near sea level during the age of the dinosaurs, Utah was elevated to its present height during the Tertiary Period, beginning around 65 million years ago. As the Great Basin slid downward relative to the mountains of eastern Utah, the limestone was exposed along the Wasatch Fault in Utah County.

The Timpanooke Trail and the Great Western begin together (GPS N 40° 25.891' W 111° 38.402') in the Timpanooke Campground. But about 40 feet from the parking lot, the narrow Great Western turns right (west) uphill away from the Timpanooke Trail. (The Timpanooke Loop trail branches left a short distance later. Bikes are NOT allowed on the main Timpanooke Trail beyond the border of the wilderness area!) The trail climbs through aspen, spruce, choke cherry, and elderberry trees with a riot of wildflowers.

Blossoms of Vase Flower (also called Sugarbowl and Hairy Clematis) along the trail.
Picture July 7, 1999

Bell-shaped blossoms of Old Man's Beard

This ride has a great mix of aspen groves, deep pine woods, and flower-studded meadows. And the views are fantastic.

After one mile comes your first chance to bail out onto Timpanooke Road. Just catch a trail heading right when you reach the bridge over the small creek.

Cruising an easier section of the Great Western.
July 7, 1999

At 1.8 miles, you'll cross a meadow on the ridge top that rivals any postcard of the Austrian Alps. Cue "The Sound of Music" as you enjoy (real name) Julie Andrews Meadow. From here, you'll drop down to cross the Timpanooke Road (mile 2.2).

Julie Andrews Meadow. The first set of mountains are up-warped limestone from the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian Period (older than Timpanogos), while the more distant peaks are granite from a recent (26 million years ago) igneous intrusion.
Photo July 7, 1999 Bruce Argyle

Julie Andrews meadow, with the Wasatch Mountains as a backdrop

As you near the Timpanooke Road, you'll come to a trail fork at N 40° 26.186 W 111° 39.680. There's a fork on the right (Trail 179) that heads downhill to the West Fork of Bear Canyon. About 20 feet later, the trail splits. If you go straight, it dumps you directly onto Timpanooke Road. To follow the GWT singletrack, fork left (south). The trail will parallel the Timpanooke Road, traversing a couple of primitive camp areas that connect to the road, before crossing the road.
If you took one of several doubletrack connectors out to Timpanooke Road, you may need to turn and peddle south (left) a little ways along the road. Look for the descent into Rock Canyon at GPS N 40° 26.061' W 111° 39.937' on your right. (Watch carefully! It's very easy to miss it.) Don't worry, it's not as steep coming up the other side.

You'll cross the Timpanooke Road again at GPS N 40° 25.939' W 111° 40.877', mile 3.8. The trail climbs the bank directly across from you, but it isn't very easy to see. From here, you'll climb briskly through the pines, then after a mile of fairly level biking, descend to the Timpanooke Road again. The trail merges with the road at GPS N 40° 24.132' W 111° 41.029', mile 7.5. To complete a loop, ride back on the rocky Timpanooke Road. You'll have to regain 700 vertical feet to the summit. In the picture at right, you're at 8250 feet elevation.

Colorado Columbine blooms wave in the breeze.
Bruce Argyle, July 7, 1999

To add more miles to the ride, when the singletrack hits Timpanooke Road (as above), go straight across through the log fence. Follow the singletrack along the hillside. As it contours along an erosion trench, the Grove Creek trail will join from downhill. Go uphill and cross the meadow. At the doubletrack, turn left. Go a short distance to the doubletrack and turn left again. You're on the Timpanooke Road, heading home.

Alternately, turn onto the Grove Creek Trail to descend 2800 vertical feet over 5 miles (steep and hairy in spots!), ending up in Pleasant Grove.

Or, continue on from the end of the Timpanooke Road, on the Battle Creek Trail as it head south towards the saddle behind Big Baldy. Ride up the switchbacks behind Big Baldy, then drop 3000 feet over 5 miles into Provo Canyon at Canyon Glen.

Lupine, Sticky Geranium, and Paintbrush stud a meadow overlooking Grove Creek Canyon, with Utah Lake in the background. July 7, 1999

The view down Grove Creek Canyon

The trail is usually clear of snow by late June. Other good rides in this same area include the Timpanooke Loop (starts at same trailhead), Ridge 157, Tibble Fork-Pine Hollow, Aspen Grove, and Deer Creek South Fork.

Getting there: From I-15, take the Alpine-Highland exit and drive 7 miles to the mouth of American Fork Canyon. Pay your $3 fee there. Five miles later at the fork in the road, go along the south fork of the river. About 4 miles up, there's a T in the road. Turn right into the Timpanooke Campground road. The parking area is on your left about 1/4 mile later.

[ Current Conditions, top of American Fork Canyon ]

Riding resources for this trail:
Single-page riding guide
GPS track files (right-click and "Save as..."):
Garmin National Geographic Google Earth GPX
GPS track file of Timpanooke Road (for cross-overs):
Garmin Google Earth GPX
High-res topo (700 KB): View (includes waypoints)

UtahMountainBiking.com is provided to you by the hard-biking guys at Mad Scientist Software, a Utah company that creates and publishes the world's best emergency medicine training software.

For lodging in the American Fork Canyon area, as well as travel guides and information on other activities, may we suggest:
Lodging: http://www.utahvalley.org
Timpanogos Cave info: http://www.nps.gov/tica/
Camping info: http://www.outdoorsinutah.com/americanfork-camping.htm
Rock climbing in AF Canyon: http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/listArea.php?AreaID=13
Uinta National Forest Ranger District: http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/uinta/
Utah National Forest Camping and Picnic sites: http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/maps/brochures/camp_picnick_utah.pdf
AF Canyon Recreation Map (PDF): http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/uinta/maps/maps/af_canyon_rec_map7.pdf

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