The Forbidden Trail is part of a popular route from Alpine to Draper. It can be part of a long loop ride in the mountains north of Alpine when combined with Three Falls Fort Canyon plus either Vista Ridge and Stoney Way or Bodily Harm. It's intermediate in tech requirement, with around 700 vertical feet of climbing from Alpine to Fort Canyon. See the area overview page for links to other area trail pages.

Looking north toward Lone Peak on the Fort Canyon side of the trail, descending toward Three Falls. Original photos and trail notes August 2018 by Bruce. Latest trail update April 18, 2022.

View of the Forbidden trail entry in spring 2022.

The Ridge (Big Hollow) trailhead. Stoney Way goes both directions from here. 

Looking northeast in the paved parking lot in Fort Canyon. The Three Falls Fort Canyon trail is just to the left of the bathroom.

View up Dry Canyon with the North Point trail straight ahead.

The Forbidden trail, finished in late summer 2018, lies to the northeast of the Bodily Harm (historic Neph's Lake) route. It's 2.6 miles long, running from Alpine Cove to the Three Falls trail in Fort Canyon. The trail begins on the Schoolhouse Springs (Hammagog) road just after it leaves the Three Falls subdivision road.

Heading uphill toward Lone Peak on the lower segment of the trail, near Schoolhouse Springs in Dry Creek Canyon.

A connector from the small Lone Peak (Schoolhouse Springs) trailhead joins Forbidden one switchback uphill from the creek. There is currently very scant parking at the bottom of Forbidden, so you'll likely need to use the Schoolhouse Springs trailhead or find roadside parking away from the construction area if you're driving into the area.

Looking east toward Box Elder Peak from the Forbidden Trail in Fort Canyon.

Across from lower Forbidden on the Three Falls Lane road is the combined Stoney Way and Bodily Harm trails heading southwest.

The upper end of Forbidden is on the Three Falls trail to Draper, just east of the bridge over the big ravine and above the Three Falls Lane road. A left turn downhill takes you to Three Falls Fort Canyon, while a right turn takes you toward Draper.

View across upper Fort Canyon at the highest point of the Forbidden trail at around 5900 feet elevation, looking south.

At mile 0.9 of Forbidden, the More Effort trail (see below) joins on the left as Forbidden turns hard to the right. 

The trail hits crosses a road at mile 1.7 from the bottom. The continuing trail is at the break in the fence just across the road. This is the highest elevation of the Forbidden trail. The trail now begins dropping into Fort Canyon. It will join the Three Falls trail in another 0.7 miles. Here a left turn takes you down and across the road, and a right turn takes you across the bridge on the Three Falls trail toward Draper.

Bruce rolls a turn in the maple forest during an April ride.

In the downhill direction, around mile 1.6 from the Three Falls trail fork the Forbidden trail settles into a series of long traverses between switchback turns as it slowly sheds elevation.

At mile 1.7, keep left on a turn as More Effort joins the middle of that turn from your right.

Typical stretch of trail above Alpine Cove. Exposed trail winding back and forth across the mountain between tight turns.

As you get close to the bottom, at mile 2.5, a trail joins from the left. This is the connector to the Lone Peak trailhead uphill. If you continue straight, it will take you down another couple of turns, through the creek, and you'll join the trailhead road at mile 2.6.

Rolling west above the Fort Canyon subdivision road in April 2022. A sliver of Utah Lake can be seen below Lake Mountain.

I really like the Forbidden trail as a climber. It's less steep than Bodily Harm. From Alpine Cove to Three Falls, you'll do much of the elevation gain on the traverses. They work a lot better uphill than downhill, I think. The trail has 600 feet of elevation gain. The surface is smooth and turns have a generous radius. It's a fairly easy trail to pedal.

Looking toward Lambert Park on the Dry Creek side of the hill. At the bottom is the Lake Hardy/Hammagog equestrian trailhead. At lower mid-photo are the homes of Alpine Cove. Lambert Park sits like a fat "U" around the homes of Box Elder, right in the middle of the picture.

A loop ride from Alpine Cove using Forbidden, Three Falls Fort Canyon and Bodily Harm will be 5.5 miles with 1000 vertical feet of climbing.

Looking east at the entry to Forbidden from the Three Falls trail just north of the Fort Canyon road.

A loop up Forbidden, Three Falls Fort Canyon, Bodily Harm to EZ Breezy, up Last Chance, then Vista Ridge to Stoney Way is 9 miles with 1500 feet of climbing.

Rolling a switchback on lower Forbidden while descending the trail toward Schoolhouse Spring in Dry Creek.

The trail can be used as the bottom of a long loop from above, joining Bodily Harm and Forbidden. Or for beginners, it can be the top of a short loop starting from Alpine.

The new origin of More Effort. Seen as if climbing Bodily Harm. Bodily Harm is a 180 degree turn to the left; More Effort is straight ahead.

Rolling through the oak brush after crossing the Three Falls Lane road.

Ready to join Forbidden, uphill or down, from More Effort. We're looking northeast. The flags are marking the route for an upcoming bike race.

Facilities: bathroom at Fort Canyon trailhead, bathrooms at Lambert Park trailheads. (No services at Schoolhouse Springs, The Ridge (Big Hollow), or Heritage Hills trailheads.)

See below for the Schoolhouse Springs trailhead area routing as of August 2021.

To start from the formal trailhead, go 1/4 mile uphill and park at the Lone Peak trailhead. Go all the way up to the "Lehi" gate and turn left to get on the singletrack that dips through the creek. Keep left and descend on the trailhead connector. You'll find a connection to Forbidden on the right. To reach Bodily Harm, you'll need to coast all the way down to the raised Three Falls Lane road, then crawl up and over it to find Bodily Harm on the opposite side.