Looking north toward Lone Peak on the Fort Canyon side of the trail, descending toward Three Falls. Original photos and trail notes August 2018 by Bruce. Latest trail update April 18, 2022.
On Alpine's Grove Drive, head north to the second T intersection (where a right turn would
take you across the bridge into Lambert Park). Instead, turn left on Alpine Cove Drive. At
the 4-way intersection, turn left. As Alpine Cove Drive turns downhill, turn uphill on Aspen
Drive. It will turn to the Three Falls Lane road. As the larger road veers left, keep straight
onto a smaller dirt road and quickly find the trail on your left. (Alternatively, continue
uphill to the Schoolhouse Springs trailhead and take the connecting trail downhill to Forbidden.
See the map.)
View of the Forbidden trail entry in spring 2022.
The Ridge (Big Hollow) trailhead. Stoney Way goes both directions from here.
At the first T intersection when northbound on Alpine's Grove Drive, turn left. After 1/10th
mile, turn left again. Go 1/10th mile and turn right on Savannah Circle, then right into The
Ridge trailhead. Take Stoney Way northeast 1/2 mile. Keep right as you reach Bodily Harm and
traverse another 0.2 miles. Hike-a-bike up to the road and cross to find Forbidden on the other
side.
From the Fort Canyon Ranch Trailhead in Alpine's Fort Canyon, you can reach Forbidden by taking
the Three Falls Fort Canyon trail. Keep left as
Vista Ridge
,
Last
Chance
, and
Bodily Harm
fork away on your right. Descend into upper Fort Canyon, cross the paved road, and climb uphill
about 1/10th mile. At mile 2.4 from the Fort Canyon Ranch trailhead, fork to the right on Forbidden.
Looking northeast in the paved parking lot in Fort Canyon. The Three Falls Fort Canyon trail is just to the left of the bathroom.
View up Dry Canyon with the North Point trail straight ahead.
On Alpine's main street, continue north until the road turns right at Fort Canyon, then watch
for a small paved Heritage Hills (North Point) trailhead on your left in about 1/4 mile. Climb
up through Heritage Hills until you reach Stoney Way and turn right. Traverse the hillside
northbound for 1.5 miles to reach Forbidden across the Fort Canyon Lane road.
Heading uphill toward Lone Peak on the lower segment of the trail, near Schoolhouse Springs in Dry Creek Canyon.
The Forbidden trail, finished in late summer 2018, lies to the
northeast of the
Bodily Harm
(historic
Neph's Lake) route. It's 2.6 miles long,
running from Alpine Cove to the Three Falls trail in Fort Canyon. The
trail begins on the Schoolhouse Springs (Hammagog) road just after it
leaves the Three Falls subdivision road.
A connector from the small Lone Peak (Schoolhouse Springs) trailhead joins Forbidden one switchback
uphill from the creek. There is currently very scant parking at the bottom of Forbidden, so
you'll likely need to use the Schoolhouse Springs trailhead or find roadside parking away from
the construction area if you're driving into the area.
Looking east toward Box Elder Peak from the Forbidden Trail in Fort Canyon.
View across upper Fort Canyon at the highest point of the Forbidden trail at around 5900 feet elevation, looking south.
Across from lower Forbidden on the Three Falls Lane road
is the combined
Stoney Way
and
Bodily
Harm
trails heading southwest.
The upper end of Forbidden is on the
Three Falls
trail
to Draper, just east of the bridge over the big ravine and above
the Three Falls Lane road. A left turn downhill takes you to
Three
Falls Fort Canyon
, while a right turn takes you toward Draper.
At mile 0.9 of Forbidden, the More Effort trail (see below) joins on the left as Forbidden
turns hard to the right.
The trail hits crosses a road at mile 1.7 from the bottom. The continuing
trail is at the break in the fence just across the road. This is the highest elevation of the
Forbidden trail. The trail now begins dropping into Fort Canyon. It will join the Three Falls
trail in another 0.7 miles. Here a left turn takes you down and across the road, and a right
turn takes you across the bridge on the Three Falls trail toward Draper.
Bruce rolls a turn in the maple forest during an April ride.
Typical stretch of trail above Alpine Cove. Exposed trail winding back and forth across the mountain between tight turns.
In the downhill direction, around mile 1.6 from the Three Falls trail fork the Forbidden trail
settles into a series of long traverses between switchback turns as it slowly sheds elevation.
At mile 1.7, keep left on a turn as More Effort joins the middle of that turn from your right.
As you get close to the bottom, at mile 2.5, a trail joins from the left. This is the connector
to the Lone Peak trailhead uphill. If you continue straight, it will take you down another
couple of turns, through the creek, and you'll join the trailhead road at mile 2.6.
Rolling west above the Fort Canyon subdivision road in April 2022. A sliver of Utah Lake can be seen below Lake Mountain.
Looking toward Lambert Park on the Dry Creek side of the hill. At the bottom is the Lake Hardy/Hammagog equestrian trailhead. At lower mid-photo are the homes of Alpine Cove. Lambert Park sits like a fat "U" around the homes of Box Elder, right in the middle of the picture.
I really like the Forbidden trail as a climber. It's less
steep than
Bodily Harm
. From Alpine Cove to Three
Falls, you'll do much of the elevation gain on the traverses. They work a
lot better uphill than downhill, I think. The trail has 600 feet of elevation
gain. The
surface is smooth and turns have a generous radius. It's a fairly easy
trail to pedal.
A loop ride from Alpine Cove using Forbidden, Three Falls Fort Canyon and Bodily Harm will
be 5.5 miles with 1000 vertical feet of climbing.
Looking east at the entry to Forbidden from the Three Falls trail just north of the Fort Canyon road.
Rolling a switchback on lower Forbidden while descending the trail toward Schoolhouse Spring in Dry Creek.
A loop up Forbidden, Three Falls Fort Canyon, Bodily Harm to EZ Breezy, up Last Chance, then
Vista Ridge to Stoney Way is 9 miles with 1500 feet of climbing.
The new origin of More Effort. Seen as if climbing Bodily Harm. Bodily Harm is a 180 degree turn to the left; More Effort is straight ahead.
More Effort is a connecting trail between Bodily Harm and Forbidden, 0.6 miles in length. Starting
from Bodily Harm, it will cross the Three Falls Lane road and climb 150 vertical feet to join
the Forbidden trail.
The trail can be used as the bottom of a long loop from above, joining Bodily Harm and Forbidden.
Or for beginners, it can be the top of a short loop starting from Alpine.
When climbing Bodily Harm, the fork for More Effort comes at mile 0.5, on the right. (180 degrees
right continues uphill on Bodily Harm.) After leaving Bodily Harm, the trail will reach the
Three Falls Lane road in 1/10th mile. Go uphill slightly to turn into the continuing trail.
Rolling through the oak brush after crossing the Three Falls Lane road.
Ready to join Forbidden, uphill or down, from More Effort. We're looking northeast. The flags are marking the route for an upcoming bike race.
More Effort joins Forbidden in the middle of a hairpin turn, 0.9 miles from the bottom.
Northern Alpine foothills trail map
Getting there, Fort Canyon Ranch Trailhead: As you drive into Alpine
on Main Street, keep straight at all intersections until you reach 800
North. Then, just as Main Street turns to the right and becomes Heritage
Hills Drive, fork left on Fort Canyon Road to continue north. 0.9 miles
later, turn right just before the Three Falls gate. Quickly turn left into
the parking lot for the Three Falls Farm trailhead. Pedal up Three Falls,
crossing upper Fort Canyon, to reach the upper end of Forbidden.
Heritage Hills (North Point): Shortly after you veer to
the northeast from Main onto Heritage Hills Drive as above, spot the small
parking lot on your left and turn in. Pedal up through the subdivision and
find Vista Ridge/Heritage Hills heading uphill. If you're heading for the
top of Forbidden, keep left. For the bottom of Forbidden, go right for 1.5
miles.
The Ridge TH (Stoney Way and Big Hollow): At the T intersection of Grove Drive,
turn left and follow the road to another T intersection. Turn left, then
right on Savannah Circle. As it approaches the mountain the trailhead is
on your right. Take Stoney Way 0.7 miles northeast to find Forbidden on
the opposite side of the Fort Canyon Lane road.
Facilities: bathroom at Fort Canyon trailhead, bathrooms at Lambert
Park trailheads. (No services at Schoolhouse Springs, The Ridge (Big
Hollow), or Heritage Hills
trailheads.)
Getting there, Alpine Cove - Schoolhouse Springs: Instead of turning left
on Fort Canyon Road, stay on Heritage Hills Drive. Turn left uphill on
Grove Drive. At the T intersection (where a right turn would take you
across the bridge into Lambert Park), turn left on Alpine Cove Drive. At
the 4-way intersection, turn left. As Alpine Cove Drive turns downhill,
turn uphill on Aspen Drive. It will turn to the Three Falls Lane road. As
the larger road veers left, keep straight onto a smaller dirt road.
There's a spot to your left just after you leave the main road. That's the
beginning of the trail.
To start from the formal trailhead, go 1/4
mile uphill and park at the Lone Peak trailhead. Go all the way up to the "Lehi"
gate and turn left to get on the singletrack that dips through the creek.
Keep left and descend on the trailhead connector. You'll find a connection
to Forbidden on the right. To reach Bodily Harm, you'll need to coast all
the way down to the raised Three Falls Lane road, then crawl up and over
it to find Bodily Harm on the opposite side.
Close-up of the Schoolhouse Springs portion
