The Fango trail links
lower Hog Hollow to lower Mercer
Hollow and to Woods Hollow. It's 3.3
miles long and is an easy trail to ride. For this discussion I will divide
the trail into two segments: eastern and western. The two sections are
different in character and are often done alone. The average elevation is 5300 feet.
The expected
riding season for this trail will be early May through November.
Bruce
hits the first mini-summit westbound on the Hog Hollow side of the trail.
Lone Peak is in the background. Trail review
and photos August through October 2019.
Trailheads
The eastern end of the trail starts on the old Hog Hollow trail, just 50 feet
below the exit from Achtung Baby. From the Angel Gate trailhead on the
border where Alpine, Highland, and Draper touch, it's 0.4 miles on Hog Hollow
to reach Fango.
When riding westbound, the western section begins as Fango splits in two as it approaches the Mercer
Hollow doubletrack. The uphill fork crosses Mercer Hollow and climbs
around the hill.
(The downhill fork descends to the Mercer Hollow trailhead.) Fango crosses Suncrest Drive
then continues uphill to Woods Hollow.
To start from the western end, you'd use the South Maple Hollow trailhead
and take Woods Hollow to Fango.
The fork from lower Hog Hollow, found just below the
end of Achtung Baby on the western side of the hollow.
In the middle is the Mercer Hollow trailhead. If you start from the Mercer Hollow trailhead, the trail forks away from the Mercer
Hollow doubletrack just uphill from the road. (When driving uphill from
Utah Valley, the small parking spot is on your right about a mile after
you started climbing the hill.) Just pedal around the gate and watch for the trail on your right in
around 100 yards. If you miss it, the trail crosses Mercer Hollow about
0.3 mile uphill.
The trail access to Mercer Hollow on Highland Blvd (Suncrest
Drive). The trail skirts the tires on the left. Fango is on the right
side, just where the doubletrack disappears from sight in this photo.
If you continue uphill on the doubletrack Mercer Hollow, the second (uphill) entry to
Fango is at mile 0.3 from Suncrest Drive. A right turn is for Fango
eastbound. You'll join the connector from the trailhead in about 1/10th
mile. A left turn uphill puts you westbound on Fango. When the trail
reaches Suncrest Drive, turn left and ride 100 yards to make the
connection uphill to Woods
Hollow.
Entry to westbound Fango from Mercer Hollow.
And here's how things work if you're descending Mercer Hollow. The
singletrack turns to doubletrack at mile 1.2 where Two Hollows forks away.
Keep heading downhill on Mercer Hollow. At mile 1.8 from the top, 0.6
miles on doubletrack, Fango's western segment will cross the trail.
In the hollows, the trees are tall enough to give
some shade and hold the early-morning cool.
Eastern segment summary
It's 2 miles from the Hog Hollow to the small trailhead in Mercer Hollow.
This section contours the hillside around a couple of small canyons.
There's only about 100 feet of elevation gain as you ride east to west.
Up-and-down riding adds about 150 feet of overall climbing to the trip.
Western segment summary
The western segment forks away from the eastern trail as it approaches the
trailhead in Mercer Hollow. From here it climbs steadily, gaining 320 feet
in 1.3 miles. It will cross Suncrest Drive and end on the Woods Hollow
trail.
Westbound toward Woods Hollow. We've crossed Suncrest
Drive and are about to dip through a small creek.
The trail alternates between open brush on the ridgeline
areas, and tall gambel oak in the hollows. When done east to west (from
Hog Hollow to Mercer Hollow), you'll climb uphill through a long oak
grove, then get out onto a ridgeline with open views. Then you'll traverse
into two more hollows with tall oak.
Looking southwest at Utah Valley, Utah Lake, and Lake
Mountain.
There are views of Lone Peak to
the northeast. And to the south, you'll be looking over Utah Valley.
Cranking
gently uphill while the camera looks southeast at the Wasatch range
forming the east border of Utah Valley.
The riding isn't at all technical. This is an easy trail.
It makes a nice out-and-back for a beginner from either the Hog Hollow or
Mercer Hollow ends.
After the initial climb out of Hog Hollow, the trail
is fairly flat, even as it passes through two more hollows.
A good loop ride combines Mercer Hollow (plus or minus upper
Mercer Hollow and Mercer Mountain) and Two Hollows for the climb, then
Achtung Baby downhill, with Fango joining the two sides of the loop at the
bottom.
Breaking out of the forest as we climb away from Hog
Hollow.
Navigation on the eastern segment is straightforward. Just pedal until you
hit the trail fork. Left downhill takes you to the trailhead; right uphill
puts you on the trail to Woods Hollow.
On the uphill fork, the trail will steadily climb around the small hill and end on the entry
road to the subdivision. Cross Suncrest Drive and go downhill about 100
yards, then turn right onto the continuing singletrack. The trail will
continue to climb. When you reach
Woods Hollow, you can fork hard right uphill to get to Eagle Crest and the DH trails or
keep left downhill to descend to the South Maple Hollow trailhead.
Descending
from Woods Hollow on western Fango as a rider approaches heading uphill
with Lone Peak in the background.
Fango from Hog Hollow to Mercer Hollow...
If the above video does not appear on your
browser/device, you can watch it on YouTube by clicking
here.
Bottom line:
Nice easy addition to Draper's south-side trail system. Will be a major
attraction to Alpine and Highland locals because it creates a loop on the
south side of the mountain. Also good as an out-and-back for a quick ride.
Heading toward the Mercer Hollow trailhead on the
lower fork of Fango's west end. (The upper fork climbs across Suncrest
Drive to end on the Woods Hollow trail.)
Getting there:
Angel Gate at Spring Hollow (Hog Hollow side): On Westfield
Road, turn uphill (north) on Beacon Hill Blvd. Drive 0.5 miles, then as
Beacon Hill turns to the right (east), turn left on Lighthouse Drive to
continue straight north uphill. Lighthouse will become Angel Gate. Keep
straight until you pass the irrigation facility, then park. At the
northeast corner of the fence, a doubletrack descends east across the
hollow. Immediately after crossing the creek, turn left on Hog Hollow.
Suncrest Drive (Mercer Hollow side): There's room for 3 or 4 cars at the bottom of the doubletrack portion of
Mercer Hollow on Suncrest Drive.
Brookside Drive Trailhead (South Maple Hollow):
Brookside Drive turns to the west off Suncrest Drive, just uphill from the
Maple Hollow subdivision. This is about a mile uphill from Utah Valley.
Drive past the homes and uphill to the end of the road and the trailhead.
The rightmost trail (Woods Hollow) will
take you uphill to Fango.
