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Doctor's Dozen and Sunrise trails
These trails are found on the northeast side of the Powder Mountain
resort area, at an average elevation of 8700 feet. The riding season will
be late June through September. The trails are easier-intermediate in
difficulty. On this page I discuss Doctor's Dozen, Sunrise, and their
connections. The old Hidden Lake Lodge route has been
"decommissioned" but is included on my map -- and is mentioned
in the trail descriptions -- because some riders are
still using it at the time of this writing.
Riding northeast as the trail traverses the hillside.
Initial photos and ride review June 27, 2016 by Bruce.
Updated for new trails September 16, 2021.
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The Doctor's Dozen trail consists of a singletrack and a less-used doubletrack
segment. The singletrack section connects the northeast corner of Power
Mountain's Brim
Trail to Hidden Lake (not the lodge but the lake itself). This singletrack portion is 3.7 miles long. From
the lake, a gravel road continues west for 1.3 miles, over a ridge and down to the
main Powder Mountain lodge.
Westbound on Doctor's Dozen, just before the plunge
down to Hidden Lake.
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Most riders will be using the portion of Doctor's Dozen that
lies between the western end of the Sunset Trail and the Brim Trail. The trail is two-way
traffic and is an easy ride with nothing technical. It connects to GBPB
(which connects to Paper Airplane and Baggage Claim), Sunset (which connects to the Trail
Yeah! Loop), and the Brim Loop.
View north, on the northern side of the mountain.
That's Hidden Lake in the middle. We'll descend to the lake shortly. |
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Doctor's Dozen from Brim...
On its southeast end, Doctor's Dozen forks northbound away from the
counterclockwise Brim
Trail loop just 100 feet before the singletrack ends
on the doubletrack. Starting at 8550 feet altitude, Doctor's Dozen contours northbound around the eastern side
of the mountain, gradually rising to an elevation of 8750 over 1.4 miles. On the east side of the mountain, you're looking into Brown's Hole and the Middle Fork
of the Ogden River.
View west toward Mount Ogden from the trail's
southern end. Plenty of fragrant Mule's Ear.
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A connector trail from the Brim doubletrack joins at mile
0.3 from Brim. Keep straight. On a saddle area at mile 1.4, Doctor's Dozen crosses an open area to a
dirt road then veers off the road to the left. (On the right on this
saddle, the Sunrise trail forks to the right. Sunrise meanders further east then
returns to the west lower on the slope, running parallel to and just
downhill from Doctor's Dozen.)
Wild delphinium blooms along the trail as we cruise
between the aspen groves on the southern end. |
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At mile 1.7, keep left to stay on Doctor's Dozen. The right fork takes
you down a short connector to the Sunrise trail.
The trail alternates between meadows, low scrub, and stands
of aspen or fir. On the northern slope, there are views that
extend past Wellsville Creek Canyon to the mountains in the Logan area.
My trail buddy the pine hen. She kept running down
the trail ahead of my bike, and as I'd speed up to force her to fly, she'd
just land a little further down the trail and we'd begin again.
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As the trail meanders a mile to the west along the north
slope, you'll reach the peak elevation of 8850. At mile 2.2 the GBPB trail
(coming from Paper Airplane) joins on your left. Keep
right through the two connectors.
Then the trail drops
through a series of turns and crosses the old bench-cut for the Hidden Lake
Lodge trail. Keep straight as you cross. To your right, a few feet down
the old Hidden Lake Lodge trail, the Sunrise trail forks away to the left
downhill.
Another aspen grove as the trail undulates along the
edge of the mountain. |
| (If your ride plan is the old Hidden Lake Lodge trail to
the parking area at Hidden Lake Lodge, turn left where Doctor's Dozen
crosses the old bench-cut, and in 100 feet, drop to the right off the
bench-cut on singletrack. This trail may or may not be possible to ride in
the future.)
Doctor's Dozen continues to twist through multiple turns down to Hidden Lake. You'll drop about 450
vertical feet over 1.3 miles of descent.
View to the east into Brown's Hole.
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Keep left as you reach a well-traveled dirt and gravel road,
with Hidden Lake on your right.
You're now on the doubletrack portion of Doctor's Dozen. Crank straight up
the hill, gaining 250 vertical feet in 1/2 mile. As you reach the ridge, Brittain's
Ribbon crosses. This singletrack can take you up to Hidden Lake
Lodge, or down to the Powder Mountain Lodge.
Doctor's Dozen continues as a wide dirt road 0.7 miles down to the main
Powder Mountain Lodge parking. There's little to recommend here -- when
compared to the descent on Brittain's Ribbon -- unless your objective is
to get downhill as quickly as possible.
The northern end has a bit more fir forest, but still
is mostly open. |
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Doctor's Dozen from the lower lodge eastbound...
Doctor's Dozen from the downhill end is straight-forward. Go to the
left of the main Powder Mountain Lodge. Stay on the doubletrack uphill from the
lodge, and then crank on up the dirt road (350 vertical in 0.7 miles).
Cross the ridge and descend to the lake. Just past the lake, fork right on
singletrack and begin climbing. Stay straight until you hit the Brim
Trail, 3.7 miles after joining the singletrack.
The trail rides well in either direction. |
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At mile 1.2 from the lake, you'll have reached the old
bench-cut of the Hidden Lake Lodge trail. Cross it to the singletrack
uphill. You've now climbed 400 vertical feet from the doubletrack.
If your destination is Sunrise or the Trail Yeah! loop, don't cross the
bench-cut, but veer left on the shelf, then drop quickly to the left onto
the Sunrise trail.
At the old Hidden Lake Lodge trail, heading eastbound
on Doctor's Dozen. Doctor's Dozen is the trail climbing on the right,
while Sunset is out of sight on the left just a few feet down the old
bench-cut. |
| At mile 1.6, keep left as GBPB joins on your right. (You can
use GBPB to reach Baggage Claim, which will take you to the Brim
trailhead. This route dips through a valley, so even though it's shorter,
I think it's harder than following Doctor's Dozen all the way to Brim.) At mile 2.1, a connector to Sunrise joins from downhill on your left.
Keep level and straight. Near the GBPB trail fork,
looking north. |
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At mile 2.3, the trail will hit a dirt road on a saddle. Join the road for a
few feet then veer off it to the left. At this spot, the other end of the
Sunrise trail joins on your left. To continue on Doctor's Dozen, find the
continuing singletrack straight ahead.
Eastbound as the aspens feel the fall chill in
September. We're just past the little connector trail to Sunrise. |
| There's an unmarked trail fork at mile 3.3, where the uphill (right) option
is a shortcut to the Brim doubletrack. To follow Doctor's Dozen to its official
end on the Brim singletrack, keep left into the trees.
Flying through an aspen grove as we approach the end
of Doctor's Dozen on the Brim trail loop. |
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On its western end, the Sunrise trail begins where Doctor's
Dozen crosses the cat-track of the old Hidden Lake Lodge trail. After 3.3
miles, Sunrise rejoins Doctor's Dozen a mile north of the Brim Loop.
If your goal is to ride the Trail Yeah! loop, you'll need to get onto
Sunrise to make the connection (see the Trail
Yeah! trail page).
Getting started eastbound on the Sunrise trail after
leaving Doctor's Dozen. |
| After traversing the hillside for 0.6 miles from the western
end of Sunrise, there's a trail fork. Sunrise makes a downhill detour
through a series of swooping turns, then climbs back up to the same
elevation before continuing east. Fork left downhill to enjoy Sunrise.
If your goal is to get somewhere quickly, keep right onto the Picnic
trail. This trail is only 0.2 miles long and mostly flat. Picnic's 0.2
miles bypasses 0.8 miles and 150 vertical feet on the official Sunrise
trail.
At the first trail fork. Right is the shortcut Picnic
trail. Go left downhill to stay on Sunrise.
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Don't be too quick to decide you want to bypass this section
of Sunrise. The descent is on fun swooping turns, which function as nice
climbing turns as you return uphill. Sunrise rejoins the eastern end of
the Picnic trail at mile 1.4 from Doctor's Dozen.
Sample of a swooping turn on this "bonus"
section of Sunrise. |
| In a bit, you'll break out of the continuous aspen forest
and begin to see some views. Sunrise enters an area of low scrub with
occasional stands of small aspen and fir.
Looking down and to the north. We're on the upper
limb of a couple of climbing turns that replaced the old steeper Hidden
Lake Lodge trail.
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At mile 1.8 there's an unmarked trail fork. The right fork
goes 1/10th mile uphill to the Doctor's Dozen trail. Keep left to stay on
Sunrise.
Here some sections of Sunrise are the old Hidden Lake
Lodge trail. |
| At mile 2.4, the Trail
Yeah! loop forks away on the left. This is a fun 3.2 mile loop with
nice aspen riding and good views to add a few miles to your ride.
Looking at the entry to Trail Yeah! from Sunrise. In
this photo, we'd be arriving here riding east to west -- the opposite of
my trail description.
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After passing the Trail Yeah! fork, Sunrise continues east
for a bit, then begins a slow circle around to the west.
Eastbound as the trail prepares to turn back to the
west. |
| At mile 3.3, Sunrise comes back to the Doctor's Dozen trail
on a saddle area with a dirt road. Eastbound Doctor's Dozen is to the
right, then left across the road. From this spot, it's 1.2 miles on
Doctor's Dozen to return to the origin of Sunrise.
A left turn here joins Doctor's Dozen heading south, with 1.3 miles to
the Brim Loop.
Back westbound on the final bit of Sunrise.
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The combination of Doctor's Dozen from Brim, Sunset east to
west, then Doctor's Dozen back to the east makes a nice lariat loop ride.
It's 7.1 miles long with only mild climbing.
Autumn colors surround the fir trees on the ridge. |
Bottom Line:
Excellent addition to the Powder Mountain system, especially since the
construction of the new Sunset trail and Trail
Yeah! Use Doctor's Dozen with the Brim
Trail Loop as an extended
loop ride, with Paper Airplane and Woody's as the other side of the loop.
Trailside flowers include paintbrush, mules ear,
wasatch penstemmon, delphinium, phlox, sticky geranium, lupine, and the
occasional columbine.
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Getting there: From I-15, take Exit 347 to
Ogden Canyon. Drive 7 miles up Highway 39 and turn left across the Pine View dam
onto Highway 158. Four miles later as you pass the gas station in Eden, keep straight at the stop sign.
Drive steep uphill 7 more miles to Powder Mountain. Pass the lower lifts
on your left as you follow a turn in the road. The next road on your right
is Powder Ridge Road. To go to the main Powder Mountain Lodge, keep
straight and continue into the parking area. The bottom of Brittain's
Ribbon (singletrack) and Doctor's Dozen (doubletrack) are on the left
(east) side of the lodge.
Starting from Woody's World: Use this trail for an epic loop ride
around Brim and Doctor's Dozen. The bottom of Woody's
World is 1/10th mile up the Powder Ridge Road, which was on your right
just before the main parking lot.
There's a bit of parking on the shoulder of Powder Ridge Road, presumably
legal. Pedal uphill until you see the trail on your right.
From the Brim Trailhead: Drive up Powder Ridge Road. Pass
the entry to the Hidden Lake Lodge parking. Continue on the main road past
Summit Village, then find the Brim
Trail trailhead. Go southeast on doubletrack 0.5
miles, as though you were riding the Brim loop clockwise (keep straight at any DT forks). Find singletrack on the left.
Follow it 100 feet, then make a hard left onto the Doctor's Dozen trail's
south end.
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Riding resources:
GPS track files (right-click and select "Save as..."):
Area
multi-track file
High-res topo map for printing: View
map
Lodging, camping, shops: Links to Ogden area resources
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Original review 2016, updated 2021
Copyright UtahMountainBiking.com
division of Mad Scientist Software Inc |
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