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Draper DH Trail (Maple Hollow)
The Maple Hollow DH route is two miles of hard-core stuff. It drops from
the Maple Hollow trailhead on Deer Ridge of Traverse Mountain down to just
below Traverse Ridge Road near the Bonneville Shoreline trail. There's
around 1000 vertical feet of elevation loss. As the "DH" should
tell you, it's one-way downhill-only.
Typical bermed turn designed for
high-velocity, high-G change of direction. Rail it! Trail review by Bruce,
September 2008. Photos September-October, 2008. Latest information update
December 2017. |
This trail is for expert riders. You don't need a
DH-specific bike, but you need the skills and brass to take some steep
drops and high-G turns. The turns are sloped for aggressive riders.
Intermediates will struggle on this trail, because many turns won't let
you "mosey on around" -- you've got to rail it.
Here the trail splits into two bermed turns leading
either into a dirt jump
(A-line for air-cravers), or a simple drop through the dip and up into a
banked turn (B-line for XC types). |

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Yes, there's a B-line to skip most jumps. With good skills, you can
enjoy swooping down the trail. You don't have to be a jumper. But if
you're anything but an expert rider, please stay away.
As riders fall away from the banked
turn above, experts should keep enough speed to gap-jump up onto a higher
A-line. Non-jumpers and slower riders will veer onto a lower line. |
The trail starts at the Maple Hollow trailhead (at the
west end of the mountaintop Suncrest subdivision) where Deer Ridge Drive
meets Elk Glen Drive. It plunges 1000 vertical feet in two miles. Most
stunts have an A-line for the hardcore and a B-line for the merely
skilled.
The step-up in action.
Above, leaving the launch. |

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In shaded forest areas, the soil gets pretty slimy after a
rainstorm. This trail will be highly dangerous when wet. Big tires,
aggressive knobs, low center of gravity.
Landing the bike on the
higher trail. |
This trail will be closed
during early spring and late fall when the surface is soft. Do NOT poach
this trail during off-season or when temporarily closed due to storms.
Check Draper's recreation website for closure status.
This tabletop jump clears 8 feet.
Launch the upside, land the downside. If you fall short, there's the
tabletop to land on. The B-line (to your right) skirts the jump, but
offers a little lip to jump off, if you like. |

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This trail will continue to evolve as stunts are worked over and
structures age. So you may not see the exact features that are shown on
this web page.
This ladder marks the official entry
into the DH area. There's wheelie-drop off the ladder, then a whoop-de-doo
down a short gulley. |
Note that the nearby Oak Hollow trail is NOT part of the downhill route!
Oak Hollow is a multi-use trail, and it upsets some trail users when they
encounter fast-moving armor-plated riders on Oak Hollow. They complain to
Draper City, and it causes trouble for the people who build and maintain
the trails. Your shuttled DH ride should end at Traverse Ridge Road.
Stunts are being added as the trail
matures. Here's a rock with a couple of feet of air on the downside.
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The trail finishes on Traverse Ridge Road. Don't cross the
road. Instead turn to the left (west downhill) on the trail that runs parallel to the road. Cross a
subdivision road, then find the singletrack dropping steeply into the
ravine. When the trail joins the BST (Bonneville Shoreline Trail) in the
bottom of the ravine, make a hard right turn to go downhill to the
underpass under the road. As you exit the tunnel, turn left. Immediately
fork L again on the uphill trail. (The left downhill fork is the Oak
Hollow trail down to the pool area.) After 1/10th mile, the trail will
reach the north side of Traverse Ridge Road. Now keep straight and
coast down to the fenced parking area. Lower parking
area. The trail from the BST is behind the camera. (At the south end, a
doubletrack descends to the golf course, intercepting the Oak Hollow
trail, but it's not a route you'd want to take as your climb back to the
parking lot.)
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Notes on the Maple Hollow DH trail:
0.0 West from TH, keep R at Ann's Connector
0.3 Cross DT N40 28.593 W111 51.156
0.5 R for entry into DH N40 28.634 W111 51.343
1.9 R (straight = old Maple Hollow)
2.1 Traverse Ridge Rd, L along road
N40 29.081 W111 51.856
Cross subdivision road
2.2 Drop into ravine, hard R on BST
Through tunnel, then full L
uphill
R = BST, mid-L = Oak
Hollow
2.3 Straight to parking After
a steep plunge, these two pop-up ramps await. |

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Getting there, Maple Hollow (Deer Ridge) trailhead:
From I-15
in Salt Lake City, take the Bluffdale exit and head east on Highland Drive
toward the mountains. As you reach the traffic light at the top of the
hill, about 3/4 mile after leaving the freeway, turn right on Traverse
Ridge Road. Drive about two miles up to the top of the mountain. At the
stop sign in Suncrest, turn right on Deer Ridge Drive and go 0.9 miles.
Just before the road crosses a bridge, turn right onto Elk Glen Drive and
immediately turn left to park at the small picnic area. The Suncrest Loop
Trail starts with the cinder path on your left. The Maple Hollow DH trail
is straight ahead and veers to the right toward the Salt Lake valley.
Shuttle vehicle, Oak Hollow (Traverse Mountain Road): Leave
your vehicle at the fenced parking area on the north side of Traverse
Ridge road, about a mile uphill from Highland Blvd. The trail will come
into the east (uphill) side of the parking lot, from the underpass where
the BST crosses under Traverse Ridge Road.
[Important: Use the official trailhead. Cars parked along the road may be
ticketed!!!]
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Riding Resources:
No one-page guide to this trail yet.
GPS Files, incl. Draper trails (Right-click and "Save as..."):
Garmin
GPX
Large-format topo regional map:
View
Lodging, camping, shops: Links to southern SLC resources
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Copyright 2008 Mad Scientist Software Inc
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