Alpine to Three Falls Area
Links to Bodily Harm,
Forbidden, More Effort, Three Falls
plus EZ Breezy, new DH, and Last Chance trails
plus Stoney Way, Heritage Hills, and Vista Ridge
Cooperation between Alpine City and real estate developers has resulted
in a great new public trail system in the mountains north of Alpine. As of
2022, there are some long satisfying loop rides with plenty of climbing,
and there are short and easy options. The riding ranges from
upper-intermediate to easy. There are four formal trailheads to access
these trails.
Rolling a turn on EZ Breezy. Original
photos and trail notes April 28, 2018 by Bruce,
with frequent updates since. Latest update April 2022.
Bodily Harm
The Bodily Harm trail from Alpine Cove starts just off the Schoolhouse Springs dirt
road in Alpine Cove at 5400 feet elevation. It ends on the Three Falls
Fort Canyon trail at 5900 feet elevation. It's 1.7 miles long, with some
stiff climbing on the way up.
The Fort Canyon section of Three Falls trail connects the Three
Falls Ranch trailhead in Fort Canyon to the Bodily Harm trail on the
ridgeline, then continues through Fort Canyon to Forbidden and the Draper
section of Three Falls. To the Bodily Harm
junction, it's 1.4 miles with 500 vertical feet of elevation change. At
mile 2.3, the Three Falls trail reaches the Forbidden trail junction then
continues westbound toward Draper.
Crossing the ridge between Utah Valley and Fort
Canyon, with Lone Peak forming a picturesque background.
The Three Falls Fort Canyon trail becomes
the Three Falls Draper section at the border between the two cities. The
Draper Three Falls continues uphill to Peak View.
The bridge over the creek. Take a minute to enjoy the
spot.
Forbidden trail
The Forbidden trail lies to the
northeast of Bodily Harm, taking the "other way" around Fort
Canyon. 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 and ends on Three Falls just north
and uphill from the paved subdivision road.
Looking
east toward Box Elder Peak on Forbidden shortly after leaving the Three Falls trail.
More Effort
More Effort is a connecting trail 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. It can be used to switch between climbing trails (Bodily Harm
versus Forbidden) after climbing part-way up.
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.
Ready to join Forbidden, uphill or down, from More
Effort. We're looking northeast.
Vista Ridge
The Vista Ridge trail is the continuation of Heritage Hills at the
point where Stoney Way intersects the uphill route. This segment is 1 mile
long, climbing 250 vertical feet in the first 0.6 miles then descending a
bit as it drops to the opposite side of the ridge to connect to the Fort
Canyon Three Falls trail.
The North Point Collector, Heritage Hills, and Vista Ridge trails
are a continuous route from the Heritage Hills (North Pointe) trailhead up to the Fort
Canyon portion of the Three Falls trail. It's is a nicely constructed bench-cut
trail with swooping bermed turns. The slope is moderate. It's 1.8 miles
from the trailhead on Heritage Hills Drive to the Three Falls Fort Canyon
trail.
Stoney Way is a traversing trail running east-west along the
hillside above northeast Alpine. It's 1.3 miles in length with a highest
elevation of 5400 feet and low point at 4850. The riding is easy, suitable for beginners. There are no steeps or
technical features. It connects the bottom of Bodily Harm to the junction
of Heritage Hills and Vista Ridge.
Looking northeast, showing the
bench-cut nature of the trail and the constant mountain views.
DH Trails in Big Hollow Left Fork
EZ Breezy (easier DH flow trail)
Machine-built in the left fork of Big
Hollow in 2021, EZ Breezy is an early intermediate downhill flow trail. It
descends from upper Bodily Harm down to the bottom of the canyon, where
the Last Chance trail climbs to the Three Falls Fort Canyon trail
section. This is Alpine's first directional flow trail
and it's a lot of fun. The trail is one-way from
east to west (from Bodily Harm west to Three Falls in Fort Canyon). The EZ Breezy trail is machine-cut
singletrack, 0.7 miles in
length, with 250 feet of elevation loss.
It's a smooth and easy trail to ride.
The Alpine Slide upper-intermediate to expert DH flow trail in the left fork of Big
Hollow is 0.5 miles long, descending 250 vertical feet to the bottom of
the hollow. It forks away from upper Bodily Harm at 0.3 miles from the
junction with Three Falls Fort Canyon, just 1/10th mile above the trail
fork for EZ Breezy.
Turns
are highly banked for speed.
Last Chance (climbing trail)
Last Chance is the climbing route to return from either EZ
Breezy or the new intermediate DH trail. It's 0.8 miles long with 200 feet of climbing as you pedal up to the Three Falls
Trail on the ridge above Fort Canyon.
On the western side, the
trail's exit is 1.1 miles uphill from the Fort Canyon trailhead, 0.4 miles
downhill from the junction of Bodily Harm and the Three Falls Fort Canyon
trail.
As Alpine's main street begins to turn a bit to the east, turn left on
the Fort Canyon Road. Drive uphill to the main gates, but turn right to
the trailhead. From the Fort Canyon Ranch Trailhead in Alpine's Fort
Canyon, find the Three Falls Fort Canyon trail to the left of the bathroom
and climb up to your destination trail. For example, the top of Forbidden
is at mile 2.4 from the Fort Canyon Ranch trailhead.
Looking northeast in the paved parking lot in Fort
Canyon. The Three Falls Fort Canyon trail is just to the left of the
bathroom.
Heritage Hills (North Point)
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 North Point,
then cross the street to continue on Heritage Hills. When you reach a
trail fork, Stoney Way is on the right. Vista Ridge continues uphill.
View up Dry Canyon with the North Point trail
straight ahead.
The Ridge
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.
The Ridge (Big Hollow) trailhead. Stoney Way goes
both directions from here.
Forbidden
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.
Schoolhouse Spring
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
drive about 0.2 miles uphill until you hit the Lehi gate that prevents
further travel. The trail is to the left. Cross the creek then descend
until you hit the Forbidden trail.
The trail at left crosses the ravine, then descends
to catch Forbidden about 1/10th mile uphill.
Getting to Lambert Park from Draper!
At the bottom of either Forbidden or Bodily Harm, descend down to the paved
Aspen Drive. It will now be exactly 1/2 mile of paved road to arrive at the
singletrack in Lambert Park. At the end of Aspen Drive, turn left at the T intersection with Alpine Cove Drive.
The slopes above the cove are fully sun-exposed, and
will be hot at mid-day in the summer..
Pedal 0.2 miles to the 4-way intersection and turn right downhill. Keep straight
as you pass Juniper Circle and the road veers east (left). Keep straight
as you pass Grove Drive on the right. Cross the bridge, then keep right on
Box Elder Drive. 200 feet later, turn onto singletrack. Left off the
pavement is Rodeo Up; right and downhill is Middle.
Rolling into a switchback turn as we descend the
mountain toward Alpine.
Three Falls to Lambert Park
If the above video does not appear on your
browser/device, you can watch it on YouTube by clicking
here.
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.
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.
The Ridge TH (Stoney Way and Big Hollow): At the T intersection of Grove Drive,
turn left and follow the road as it then veers left and approaches the
mountain.
Facilities: bathroom at Fort Canyon trailhead, bathrooms at Lambert
Park trailheads. (No services at Schoolhouse Springs, Big Hollow, or Heritage Hills
trailheads.)
See below for the Schoolhouse Springs trailhead area routing as of August 2021.
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. 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.
