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Ant Knolls
Dry Fork Loop, Big Flat LoopThe Ant Knolls trail starts at Pole
Line Pass at the top of the North Fork of American Fork Canyon. This is a
very scenic trail, with views of Mineral Basin, the Snowbird ridge, and
the Heber Valley. The ride can be done as an out-and-back, as an
intermediate-level loop by circling east into Big Flat, or as a
challenging advanced-technical loop by dropping into Dry Fork. This
is the first of the Ant Knolls. Ridge 157 climbs up the ridgeline at the
edge of the trees, while Trail 31 traverses around. Your choice. Photos
August 22, 2006. |
| The singletrack section is only 2.5 miles long. It's an
intermediate-technical ride, but the trail is narrow, so good
bike-handling skills are required. Aerobically the trail is moderately
tough because it starts at
9000 feet and climbs 500 from there.
Most riders will prefer to fork left
on Trail 31, rather than try to climb to the top of the knolls on Ridge
157. Motorcycles churn the steep ridgeline climb on 157 into a long
push-a-bike. Yes, the views from the top are great. But if your goal is to
RIDE, go left at each of the two forks.
Section of Trail 31 early in the ride.
The track is about 12 inches wide here. It's often narrower.
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The out-and-back is a great ride all by itself, for a total
of 5 miles. For more riding, the out-and-back can be combined with a climb
up the gravel road from Dutchman Flat or from Tibble Fork.
You can also do the out-and-back as a side-trip while doing the Forest
Lake Loop. This makes a surprisingly nice ride, but the descent to
Forest Lake and down Shaffer Fork requires advanced-level skills.
View east over the Heber Valley. |
| Intermediate Loop Ride: Big Flat. 2.5 miles after leaving Pole Line Pass, the trail forks on top of the ridge.
Going right, the trail slopes down to a narrow dirt road. Just keep right
at all forks, and including 2 miles later when you reach Snake Creek road,
a larger dirt-gravel road. You'll drop 1000 feet down
Big Flat before climbing 600 vertical back to the pass. This loop is 8 miles. If you reach the loop by
starting at Dutchman Flat, it's a 16-mile ride with 2500 vertical.
View west down American Fork Canyon. |
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Advanced Tech Loop Ride: Dry Fork. Fair
warning -- Dry Fork is a vicious and abusive little downhill. I'd suggest
this route only for confident, strong, skilled riders with good
suspension. At the fork at the end of the ridgeline, go left to a slope
that looks ridiculously steep. The trail drops 600 vertical over 1/2 mile
of loose, rutted switchbacks. Reaching the Dry Fork doubletrack, you'll
bounce over huge loose boulders. The best strategy is to whoop-de-do the
sidewall, pick a spot to cross, hit the opposite rim, then turn and bounce
across again. This loop is 7.8 miles. If you start from Dutchman Flat, the
ride is 10 miles.
View up Mineral Basin. In the middle,
you can barely make out the towers of Snowbird's ski lifts on the skyline.
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Ant Knolls-Big Flat Loop, From Dutchman
Flat
0.0 Begin riding uphill on gravel road
N 40° 31.626 W 111° 36.205
0.7 Fork R uphill
4.0 Pole Line Pass. Find ST on left.
N 40° 31.901 W 111° 34.243
4.2 Fork L on Trail 31 (157 = short but steep)
N 40° 32.040 W 111° 34.257
4.7 Ridge 157 rejoins
N 40° 32.245 W 111° 34.307
5.1 Fork L on 31 (R = 157 = climb Ant Knoll)
N 40° 32.542 W 111° 34.265
(continued...)
Handlebar view on Trail 31 as we skirt
the second Ant Knoll. |
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(continued Big Flat Loop...)
6.1 Ridge 157 rejoins
N 40° 33.302 W 111° 34.564
6.5 Fork R, end Ant Knolls trail
N 40° 33.671 W 111° 34.778
Alt=9500
Keep R at all road forks
8.0 R on Snake Creek Road
N 40° 33.585 W 111° 33.346
Alt=8350
10.5 Keep R at fork
N 40° 32.388 W 111° 33.189
12.0 Pole Line Pass, continue downhill
16.0 Back at parking
View near the end of the trail. The
fork for Dry Fork vs Big Flat is just before the last grove of trees. |
Forest Lake Figure 8 (see Forest
Lake Page)
12.0 Ride Big Flat Loop as above to mile 12
Don't descend from
Pole Line Pass.
Fork L on ST on west side of clearing
(If you go
immediately uphill: wrong way!)
12.6 Fork R
N 40° 31.404 W 111°
34.249
14.3 Fork R downhill to Forest Lake
N 40° 30.347 W 111°
34.861
14.8 Pass Lake, keep R on DT
16.7 Cross river, go R uphill on road
N 40° 31.364 W 111°
36.506
17.1 Back at parking
View of typical section of the
doubletrack in Big Flat. |
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Ant Knolls-Dry Fork Loop, From Dutchman
Flat
0.0 Begin riding uphill on gravel road
N 40° 31.626 W 111° 36.205
0.7 Fork R uphill
4.0 Pole Line Pass. Find ST on left.
N 40° 31.901 W 111° 34.243
4.2 Fork L on Trail 31 (157 = short but steep)
N 40° 32.040 W 111° 34.257
4.7 Ridge 157 rejoins
N 40° 32.245 W 111° 34.307
5.1 Fork L on 31 (R = 157 = climb Ant Knoll)
N 40° 32.542 W 111° 34.265 |
6.1 Ridge 157 rejoins 31
N 40° 33.302 W 111° 34.564
6.5 Fork L, end Ant Knolls trail
Steep descent into Mineral
Basin
N 40° 33.671 W 111° 34.778
Alt=9500
7.0 L on doubletrack
N 40° 33.764 W 111° 35.094
8.9 L on gravel road
N 40° 32.399 W 111° 35.546
9.3 Right on North Fork Road
10.0 Back at parking. |
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Getting there: From I-15, take the
Alpine-Highland exit just south of Point-of-the-Mountain. Go east towards
the mountains on UT-92 and continue up American Fork Canyon. There's a $6
fee (as of 2009). About 6 miles up the canyon, turn left at the North Fork junction and
drive 2 miles to Tibble Fork Reservoir. Go straight past the
outhouse onto the gravel road that goes up along the river. To ride the trail
from the summit, drive 8 miles up the rough road to Pole Line Pass,
keeping right at the fork at mile 5.3. For the ride options described
above, go from Tibble Fork only to Dutchman Flat at mile 4. Find the
parking area with a wooden fence on your left. Start the ride heading
uphill.
And this is the path down Dry Fork!
Get yer butt back, be light on the handlebars, but ride aggressively! The
typical boulder in the photo is 10-12 inches in diameter... |
Copyright 2006 Mad Scientist Software Inc
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