View north. Initial photos
and ride review by Bruce on July 9, 2016.
Periodically updated for new trails with most recent update June 22, 2022.
The Treadstone trail is 2.1 miles long and is a must-ride
for Eagle Mountain. Individual section
have their own names, which may
be confusing to you. The Lake Mountain Trails Association struggles to
keep trail signs at intersections in this complex area. So if you're lost, get out your cell phone's
navigation app and figure out where you really are.
Southbound on the former Behind the Boathouse section of
Treadstone. This bit of trail is now a paved bike path behind building
lots in a subdivision.
Treadstone delivers you to many key trails around the Prayer
Flags hill. You can connect to Given to Fly and the south end of Creed as
well as Cracker Jack. At the prayer flags, Nirvana heads westbound from
Treadstone,
offering connections to the top of Given to Fly and Backspacer. As you
descend Treadstone southbound, Deer Tracks connects down to the Race Loop
staging area, Cow Tracks, and the doubletrack access to Jackrabbit. On the
far south, Treadstone ends at the north end of Deadwood.
Looking north toward Eagle Mountain itself. That's actually the Bingham Canyon copper
mine tailings you can see on the ridgeline.
Deer Tracks Trail - access from the "Rockpile"
parking area
Treadstone can be reached quickly from the Race
Loop's trailhead via
Deer Tracks. The Deer Tracks trail starts westbound away from the dirt road
just where you enter the parking area. It climbs gently 0.2 miles to
intercept Treadstone at mile 0.75 from Deadwood. Like Treadstone, it's
narrow singletrack.
Just uphill from the trailhead, we're heading
southwest.
Deer Tracks can also be considered a continuation of the Cow
Tracks trail when riding into the area from the north. From Cow Tracks, veer a bit
to the right as you roll downhill toward the parking zone and hold straight as you cross the branching doubletracks at the
eastern side of the race parking zone. As you reach the westernmost
doubletrack on the far side of the parking zone (heading south-southwest)
look for the singletrack starting uphill on your
right.
To make the connection in reverse rom Treadstone, descend Deer Tracks then cross the open area veering
slightly left toward an ATV track. Just uphill on the ATV track, Cow
Tracks is on your left.
Almost to the connection spot, heading west, with
miles of Great Basin in view.
Cracker Jack
Cracker Jack forks away from the Deer Tracks trail just uphill from the
"Rockpile" parking zone. It extends north to Hidden Canyon. It
runs in a north-south direction along the lower slope of the "Prayer
Flag" hill. The trail is easy to ride both uphill and down.
Cracker Jack runs through a grassy area that burned a
few years ago. Few live trees remain.
Cracker Jack is 0.7 miles in length with 150 vertical feet elevation loss from Deer Tracks
to Hidden Canyon.
Descending Cracker Jack toward Hidden Canyon.
Near its northern end, Cracker Jack joins Supersonic for
1/10th mile. Keep left and downhill at the merger, then fork downhill to
the right at the trail split. Cracker Jack ends on Given to Fly. To the
right is the path toward the trailhead (affected by construction in 2022),
and to the left is the Given to Fly trail westbound.
Looking
uphill on the 2022 re-route of Cracker Jack as we climb up from Given to
Fly. Just ahead is the merger with Supersonic.
Treadstone Trail
In 2016 the Treadstone Trail was added to the Eagle Mountain trails in
the Hidden Canyon area. In 2022 Treadstone is 2.1 miles long with an
elevation gain
of 350 feet.
Treadstone offers both new loop ride options and an
extension or variation of pre-existing loops. The riding season is March
through December, weather permitting. The riding is suitable for
intermediates, but will be satisfying cranking for hammerheads.
The famous Prayer Flags of Eagle Mountain are at the
Treadstone Trail's highest point. On a Saturday morning, you'll find plenty of
local bikers hitting this trail system.
Note January 2018: Sections of Treadstone are signed
with various names (in addition to the main trail name). These include
Billy Idol from Treadstone to Deer Tracks, Cougar Tracks up to the hill
top, and Prayer Flags for the route on top of the hill before the trail
becomes Supersonic at the dirt road).
The tread is narrow hand-cut singletrack, with constant
wiggles, dips, and turns. If you're looking for a fast emergency route back to town,
this is NOT it. This trail goes all over the place, back and forth. It climbs around, then over, a small
hill west of the parking area, then descends north on the backside of the
hill as Supersonic.
Climbing along the parched south-facing hillside
shortly after leaving Deadwood.
Treadstone lies at the northwest corner of Eagle Mountain's
Race Loop, but isn't actually part of the loop. It's not directly connected to the Mountain Ranch Bike Park trail
system. It connects to Nirvana (which is your route to the top of Given to
Fly and Backspacer), and Deer Tracks.
The trail winds back and forth constantly.
Bruce is eastbound on the southern side of the hill.
Many riders going clockwise on the Race Loop trails will fork onto the
southern portion of Treadstone after they finish Deadwood (instead of
turning onto dirt road). After riding 3/4 mile on Treadstone, fork right
onto Deer Tracks and drop to the trailhead. This singletrack route is only
slightly longer than the 3/4 mile of dirt road on the official race loop.
But it's a lot more fun and scenic.
We've turned around the mountain, looking down at the
parking area for the Race Loop. Plenty of parking, but bring your own
shade and water. Also, a potty if you'll need one.
For riders who are looking for just a few miles, consider
starting at the Race Loop trailhead. Climb Deer Tracks then take Treadstone
and Supersonic to its north
end on the Hidden Canyon road. To get back, you'll climb Cracker Jack
south uphill.
Eagle Mountain is a great spot for
winter riding. Here Bruce hits Treadstone just south of Creed on December 29th. This spot is
part of the trail also carries the name "Supersonic."
Supersonic
The top of Supersonic is the continuation of Treadstone across a gravel
service road near the top of the Prayer Flags hill. Supersonic runs down to
the edge of the subdivision in Hidden Canyon, where you can connect to
Given to Fly, Creed, Brass Monkey, and the Hickman hill beginner loops. It rides well in either direction and is a popular
route for longer loop rides.
Length 1.1 miles with 300 vertical feet of climbing when done from
Hidden Canyon. Surface easier-intermediate, modest aerobic effort.
Eagle Mountain is a great spot for
winter riding. Here Bruce rolls uphill on Supersonic during a winter ride.
Near its northern end, Supersonic will merge with Cracker
Jack for 1/10th mile. In 2022, these trail forks are not marked for this
recent re-route. If descending Supersonic, keep left as the trail makes a
hard left turn just above a trail fork. (The trail to the right is Cracker
Jack.) Keep left uphill 1/10th mile later as Cracker Jack descends away.
If southbound from Given to Fly -- climbing Supersonic -- keep straight
at the first intersection as Cracker Jack joins from downhill left. Next
fork right uphill as Cracker Jack continues straight.
Northbound on Supersonic as Cracker Jack splits away
on our right.
Nirvana Trail
Nirvana starts from the highest point of the Treadstone trail and
descends to the Pony Express Parkway over 2.2 miles. The elevation loss
will be 320 feet (starting from 5300 altitude). Nirvana is also your route
to Given to Fly and Backspacer. Although thought of as a descent, Nirvana
is also a good climbing route.
The trail starts at the "prayer flag pole." In December 2017,
the connection isn't obvious. If you don't see a trail fork, just walk
your bike over to the opposite side of the flags and find the trail
heading south.
Little Rocky rests against the flagpole at the top of
Nirvana. (The Treadstone trail is just out of sight 10 feet behind my
bike.)
Once you drop off the top of the hill and cross a jeep road,
the trail becomes almost pure dirt. It rode pretty smooth for a brand-new
trail. As it heads west, then north, the trail stays in the wild stuff
above the dry-farm in the valley. I didn't find anything scary or tricky.
Nirvana is a swoop and whoop type of trail.
NOTE! Nirvana has been interrupted by a
fence in November 2022. The trail re-route is still pending. When
descending, you'll want to fork to the right on Given To Fly.
Dirt ribbon descends through old burned trees. The
homogenous-looking area in the valley is the dry farm.
There will be a little bit of climbing when the trail turns
into a little valley. You'll turn to the south and climb about 80 vertical
feet to a higher level on the hill before resuming the northward journey. As you reach Pony Express Parkway, turn right
and connect to Brass Monkey to continue your ride.
Climbing
Nirvana. At the trail fork on the ridge, we'll head left toward the prayer
flags.
Given to Fly
Given to Fly is
two-directional, but you'll like it more as a downhill. As a climber, it's
mellow and easy at first, then reaches a steep area with a couple of rock
drops that will probably have you pushing your bike. The trail is 1.4
miles with 350 vertical feet of altitude change. The steep spots make
Given to Fly an upper-intermediate trail, although most of the trail is
quite easy.
The bottom half of Given to Fly is very smooth and
easy to ride, with minimal grade. If you're riding it uphill, things will
get substantially more difficult on the second half.
As an uphill:
The north (bottom) end of Given to Fly forks away from Supersonic at the
edge of the new subdivision. (This area is changing.
Stay tuned.) Keep straight here as
Supersonic turns left uphill, then cross over the Creed connector heading southwest.
Climbing
Given to Fly, with a few homes of Eagle Mountain visible behind me.
As a downhill:
You can reach the top of Given to Fly via Nirvana. As you
approach the prayer flags at the top of Treadstone southbound, veer right
(west). After 0.2 miles, keep left as Nirvana forks up and over the ridge
northbound.
At mile 0.5 from the prayer flags, fork to the right uphill and over
the ridge northbound to stay on Given to Fly. (Downhill and left is
Backspacer.)
Westbound while riding Given to Fly downhill. In 0.2
miles from the trail's origin on the ridgeline, keep right to cross over
to the north side of the mountain.
Backspacer
Backspacer is primarily done as a
downhill. But it rides well in either direction. It extends from Given to Fly (around 1/4 mile from the trail's
origin) down to the bottom of Deadwood. It crosses Treadstone on the way
downhill and has a fork to Crop Duster at the wash where Backspacer turns
west.
Dropping into the first turn on the downhill as
Backspacer begins. The trail fork is at the left edge of the photo.
Right-hand fork over the ridge if Given to Fly. Downhill and left is
Backspacer.
Backspacer is only 0.7 miles long. The vertical drop is
around 200 feet. The trail isn't particularly technical. This is an easy
descent. There is one dip through the wash that beginning riders will want
to walk. Near the bottom of Backspacer is a trail fork for Crop
Duster,
a popular option.
Rolling into a turn shortly after crossing Treadstone
on the way down.
At the end of Backspacer, you can head south on
Deadwood, north and uphill on Treadstone, or east on the race doubletrack.
As
a climbing route, Backspacer has slow and steady altitude gain, without
any particular challenges. It's a great alternative route if you're at the
north end of Deadwood and want to take the fastest route up to the prayer
flags.
Handlebar
view as I drop through the wash near the end of Backspacer.
Space Dust
Space Dust is a short trail that's a fun ride. But it doesn't connect
to the other singletracks in the area. Instead, both ends are found on
doubletrack ATV trail. The length of the singletrack is 0.4 miles, or 0.6
if you count the DT and connector down to Crop Duster. There's about 50
vertical feet of overall climbing and the trail is easy-intermediate in
tech requirement.
When riding east to west, we're looking up at the
first turn since leaving OHV route 1.
The western end of Space Dust is a doubletrack extending
uphill from OHV route 1 about 1/4 mile east of the junction of Deadwood
with the west end of Treadstone. After climbing uphill past the end of
Backspacer, keep on the doubletrack to mile 0.2 where the singletrack
branches to your right.
Looking east while on the traversing section of the
ride.
The trail winds along the hillside a bit before descending through a few
swooping banked turns back to OHV route 1.
Looking down Space Dust at a nicely banked and
reinforced turn on a west-to-east ride.
Cropduster
Cropduster is mentioned here because the downhill (western) portion of
it falls within this riding area. It is discussed in detail on the Eastern
Eagle Mountain Area page. The downhill end of Cropduster forks away from Backspacer after southbound Backspacer crosses a dirt road. Veer
to the left and turn east along the edge of the ravine. Cropduster will
give you a gentle but sustained climb to the top of the ridge on Lake
Mountain where you can connect to Gunslinger downhill.
Shortly after forking onto Cropduster from Backspacer,
we're heading southeast along the ravine.
Sampler of Eagle Mountain Trails...
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Riding notes, Treadstone Loop from Pony
Express:
0.0 Intersection Pony Express Pkwy and Hidden Valley Pkwy
East on paved trail (south side
of Pony Express)
100 feet, singletrack uphill on
the right
N40 21.344 W111 59.483
0.7 Cross DT N40 21.069 W111 59.065
100 feet, then fork R (to Cow
Tracks)
N40 21.049 W111 59.032
50 feet, cross DT N40 21.038 W111 59.036
1.0 Keep R for Cow Tracks (L = Ridgeline ST)
N40 20.943 W111 58.911
1.6 R on DT N40 20.597 W111 58.592
100 ft across to far west side
(1.6 continued)
R uphill on ST (Deer Tracks)
N40 20.563 W111 58.613
1.8 R on Treadstone
N40 20.486 W111 58.730
4.0 Trail turns N (future ST fork?)
4.2 ST joins dirt road N40 21.001 W111 59.320
4.3 Keep L and join main dirt road
N40 21.053 W111 59.329
4.5 Straight down pavement
4.7 Back at Pony Express
Getting there:
Take the I-15 Lehi Main Street exit and turn west. Continue west on SR-73,
crossing Redwood Road (11600 West). Continue westbound uphill. Just after
climbing the hill, turn left at the stop light onto The Ranches Parkway.
At Pony Express Parkway, turn right. The road will veer a bit south
(left), then back west (right) as you get one mile from Ranches Parkway.
After you pass a large hill on your left, just before Hidden Hollow
Elementary, take the next left. (Note: as of 2020,
there is no longer primitive parking near the elementary school and
construction may block access. See below. You may need to get creative to
find a roadside spot.)
Behind the Boathouse (Treadstone) and Hidden Canyon trails: The paved trail eastbound directly along Pony
Express will take you to singletrack. Keep right for Treadstone, left
uphill for Hidden Canyon.
Creed: Cross the road and go to the sidewalk along the parkway
heading west. In 0.25 miles, spot the trail on the hillside to your left
and cross the decorative patch of chunk rock to get there.
Race Loop trailhead: After turning off Pony Express Parkway, go uphill to the end of the pavement and
it will become Hidden Canyon road. Stay southbound on the dirt road. Keep generally left and heading southeast at all road
forks, staying just below the slope of the hill on your left. When you
reach the broad valley and see a bunch of competing road forks at mile 1.3
from Pony Express Parkway, you're
there. (Note 2020: ongoing construction may often
make it impossible to get through to the Race Loop trailhead.)
Mountain Ranch trailhead: You can also pedal to the trail from the Mountain
Ranch bike park. Instead of turning onto Pony Express, stay Ranches
Parkway as it narrows and begins to wind
around. When you come to a T intersection at the end of The Ranches
Parkway, turn right on Golden Eagle Road. Drive about 1/3 mile and watch
for the trail kiosk on your left. Park by the trail kiosk and begin your
ride by climbing up the trail heading south.
Bathrooms: None at Hidden Canyon.
Porta-Potty at the Mountain Ranch
Bike Park.
Water: None.
Camping: No developed or designated campgrounds. Flat spots can be
found in the trailhead race-staging area.
Bike services: UtahMountainBiking store in Lehi.
Copyright 2016 UtahMountainBiking.com
Latest update June 2022
