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Green Canyon
The Green Canyon trail is a favorite of the Logan locals. It starts
right on the edge of town, in the next canyon north of Logan Canyon. The
trail is smooth singletrack, except for 1/4 mile where you follow the dirt
road (as of 2009). It's 4 miles and 1100 vertical feet to the spot where
most riders turn around. If you want to push to the Mt Naomi Wilderness
border, it will be 5.7 miles each way with 1800 feet of climbing.
View of the canyon from the lower
trailhead. Doesn't look impressive from here, but you'll be surprised!
Photos and description from a ride on September 24, 2009 by Bruce
and Jackie.
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| Green Canyon sees plenty of traffic. On my midday weekday
ride, I passed 8 cyclists, 2 hikers, and one mellow black dog that Jackie
decided was evil incarnate.
The trail starts at about 5100 feet elevation. Don't let the cedar and
rabbit brush discourage you. You'll quickly be in cool maple forest. As
you get higher, the maple has a smattering of aspen and fir.
Handlebar view of the trail in maple
forest shortly after starting up from the main Green Canyon trailhead. |
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The canopy hides the canyon from sight most of the time, but
occasionally you'll break out for a view of the nearby hillsides. The climb is at a gentle pace, with occasional rollers. You'll cross
the dirt road a few times as you climb. Except for one little rocky loose
section after the first road crossing, the trail is firm, wide, and
smooth. Plenty of handlebar room.
Looking to the southeast from the
trail, we see ridges of Ordovician era Garden City limestone, deposited
around 450 million years ago at a time when Utah was covered by ocean. |
| At mile 1 as the trail hits the road, the continuing trail
is 100 feet up the road on the left. You can be forgiven if you simply
choose to skip this section and continue up the road, as I observed a
couple of other riders doing. The climb up this piece of singletrack is a bit steep with lots of
loose rock. The trail rejoins the road (and continues on the road at that
time) in less than 0.2 miles.
The singletrack has enough turns,
dips, and interesting features to keep your attention. My bike rests against a maple trunk near a rock outcrop on the way back
down (temporarily uphill). |
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Once you're on the dirt road at mile 1.2, keep riding
uphill through a narrower part of the canyon another quarter mile. Watch
for a path on your left near a marker for campsite 8. If you miss it, the
next connector is campsite 9. On the right, the trail twists through a meadow
broken up by stands of maple, zooms through a dip, then passes through the
anti-ATV chokepoint. |
| At mile 3.9, the trail joins
the road and continues uphill to a fence. Most riders simply do the four miles to the fence, then turn
around and ride back. If you decide to head higher, the trail gets narrow
but is still quite easy to ride.
When you reach a spot where the pitch increases and there are several
log water-bars in a row, 1.7 miles from the fence at the end of the road,
that's the wilderness border according to National Geographic and my GPS
unit. |
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The continuing trail contains quite a bit of
loose rock, and you'll note you're at the fork of two canyons. On your
right, there's a small field of head-sized rock chunks, and the trail
veers toward the right-hand canyon. A couple of switchbacks higher, a sign
informs you that you've reached the Mt Naomi Wilderness. Congratulations. Turn around and head
back.
Uphill view above the end of the road,
as the trail narrows into a tiny ribbon but still rides beautifully. |
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Riding notes, from upper parking:
0.0 ST @ uphill end of parking, near toilet
N41 46.144 W111 46.141
If coming from lower parking,
add 0.7 miles
1.0 Join road, ride 100 ft, L on ST before gate
N41 46.307 W111 45.022
1.1 Keep R at fork N41 46.302 W111 44.892
1.2 Join road N41 46.288 W111 44.827
Ride uphill 1/4 mile on road
1.5 Turn L at campsite 8, ST at back
N41 46.325 W111 44.541
1.6 ST joins from road via campsite 9
N41 46.345 W111 44.395
Further uphill, the trail enters aspen
forest with berry and currant. |
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2.0 Cross road N41 46.515 W111 43.987
2.7 Hard R on road, cross onto ST 150-degrees
N41 46.924 W111 43.595
3.1 Cross road N41 47.164 W111 43.530
3.9 Join road N41 47.630 W111 43.186
4.0 Road ends at fence, ST continues
N41 47.674 W111 43.144
(Toilet and primitive camping
on L)
5.7 Wilderness boundary, turn around
N41 48.663 W111 42.147
11.4 Back at parking
(If starting from lower
parking, mileage = 12.3)
Jackie jogs along the trail behind the
bike. |
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Getting there: In Logan, turn east at 400 North on
US-89 (toward Logan Canyon). At 1200 East, turn left and drive north to
1900 North. Turn right toward the mountains. As 1900 North climbs over a
small rise, pass the Bonneville Shoreline trail on your right. Pass the lower
parking area on your left. 0.6
miles later, turn right into the Green Canyon parking. The trail begins
uphill at the end of the parking zone, near the toilet.
Local riders follow city streets, or
the Bonneville Shoreline Trail shown here, to reach Green Canyon. |
| (Note: Lower trailhead. Bicycles are NOT allowed on the first 0.2 miles of singletrack passing through the King
Nature Park -- between the lower and upper parking
areas. The lower trailhead is intended for hikers and cyclists using the
Bonneville Shoreline Trail, which starts across the road to the south. If
you park in the lower parking lot, take the road uphill to the second
trailhead.)
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