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Bench Creek Loop
Includes Camp Hollow, lower Little South Fork trails
The Bench Creek Loop is a pretty ride on the southwest corner of the
Uintah Mountains. The loop climbs Bench Creek, descends a combination of
Camp Hollow and Little South Fork, then catches Highway 35 back to
complete the loop of 17.5 miles.
Bruce
heads up the Bench Creek Trail. August 20, 2008. Photo by Mike. |
| Most of the ride is intermediate in
technical requirement, but the trail is narrow with some tricky spots. The
length, remoteness, and altitude limit this ride to well-prepared advanced
mountain bikers. Lowest altitude is 6800 feet; peak altitude 8950; total
climbing 2500 vertical. |
| The season for this trail is July through September. You'll
be riding in mixed fir and aspen forest. There will be a few
creek-crossings. Creek depth gets less as the summer goes on. In
mid-August, one creek was still axle-deep. On the top, plant life gets
thicker in late summer, hiding the roots and rocks you'll be hitting with
your pedals. Crossing Bench Creek on the way
uphill. Photo by Bushwacker, August 3, 2008 |
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Most of the trail is fairly narrow. In some spots brush and
wildflower undergrowth makes it hard
to spot your lines on the downhills, and you may get a few brush-bleeders
on your arms on Camp Hollow and Little South Fork. One very short section near the
top of Bench Creek (when crossing the doubletrack) was so overgrown we
weren't able to see the trail. Know where you're going.
Mike pedals a typical section of Bench
Creek. Firs predominate lower down; in the upper elevations it's mostly
aspen. There's plenty of trailside foliage.
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| Cujo note, September
2008: About half-way up the Bench Creek trail, a couple of
angry-sounding sheep dogs came over to investigate us. Once they reached
us, the dogs decided we weren't sheep-nabbing coyotes, stopped barking and
simply walked away. Recently, two separate groups of riders report they've
been forced to take protective action and back away from three snarling
snapping dogs. So if you're headed that way this fall, consider packing
some pepper-spray. Or a pistol. |
| The ride starts with a steady climb up the Bench Creek
singletrack. The overall pitch is only 6% (300 vertical per mile), but it
will feel a lot steeper. The trail narrows after the first mile or so. At
3.1 miles, the trail forks steeply down through the creek, then you'll
scramble up over some steep rough sandstone outcrops for a short
hike-a-bike. A bit later, the old trail up the draw is closed off, and
you'll turn sharply left uphill on a loose stiff climb.
At the top, shoulder-high growth
obscures the trail in spots. Photo by Bushwacker, August 3, 2008
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When you arrive at doubletrack on top of the hill, cross it. If you're
following old trail descriptions (as we were) you'll be suckered into
thinking this DT connects to the top of the Camp Hollow trail. The ST on
the other side of the DT was overgrown with black-eyed susans, so at first glance
it won't look like the right way. Cross the meadow and find the continuing
trail. A short ride after re-entering the
trees, you'll drop through a dip and hit the connection to the Camp Hollow
trail. Turn left and head downhill.
Bruce hits a water hazard on the Camp
Hollow Trail.
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| When you arrive at Camp Hollow (dirt road with some
primitive camping spots), you have two return options (see
map). The traditional ride takes you left up the dirt road, where you'll
climb another 700 vertical then drop steeply back to the trailhead over
4.3 not-particularly-fun miles. I recommend instead that you catch the
Little South Fork singletrack: fork left on the dirt road,
then catch the singletrack on your right about 100 yards later. This route
is a few road-miles longer, but almost as fast and definitely more fun.
Descending the Camp Hollow Trail,
photo by Bushwacker. The first couple of miles are straight, smooth and
fast, then things get a bit more tech.
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Little South Fork has some rough spots and one small hill to climb
over near the bottom. Still, it's a fairly fast and fun downhill. At the
Little South Fork trailhead, head left on the dirt road. Turn left again
when you hit
35. Four miles later, catch the eastern end of Bench Creek Road, and a
mile later you'll find the turn toward the National Forest.
This is a great ride for strong bikers who can tolerate a little
altitude.
View uphill from a creek crossing.
September, Little South Fork
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Ride notes, counterclockwise loop:
0.0 ST on R side of DT @ metal gate
N40 32.309 W111 11.322 (6900
ft)
3.1 Fork L and cross creek
N40 30.092 W111 12.438
Rough sandstone hike
4.0 Fork L uphill (straight = old trail)
N40 29.432 W111 12.460
4.8 Cross DT
N40 29.000 W111 12.271
5.1 Fork L downhill (R = up to road)
N40 28.720 W111 12.085
On Camp Hollow Trail |
8.6 L on DT, climb 100 yards
N40 30.793 W111 09.969
8.7 R on Little South Fork ST
N40 30.869 W111 09.917
12.0 L on DT
N40 32.663 W111 07.561
13.0 L on Highway 35
N40 33.480 W111 07.870
15.0 L on Bench Creek Road
N40 33.346 W111 09.760
16.3 L uphill between two houses
N40 33.346 W111 09.760
17.5 Back at TH |
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Getting there: From I-80, take the US 40 exit
south (toward Heber). A couple of miles later, exit and turn left (east)
toward Kamas on US-189. In Kamas, turn right (south) at the stop sign,
towards Francis. One mile later at the stop sign in Francis, turn left
(east) and drive 4 miles to Woodland. In Woodland, watch for the Bench
Creek Road on your right. Go 3.3 miles on Bench Creek Road, then turn
right on a small broken-up semi-paved road between two houses. 0.9 miles
later, there's a fence and cattleguard, which is the forest boundary. (If
the road is muddy, park here.) Proceed another 0.3 miles on rougher dirt
road to a meadow in a dip. Park here. As the road heads uphill at the
meadow's end, there's a metal gate. Just past the gate, the singletrack
forks off on your right (N40 32.309 W111 11.322). |
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