Heritage Hills Trails
Stoney Way, Heritage Hills, Vista Ridge, North Point
These trails lie on the hillside north of
Alpine. The area is mostly grass with occasional groves of very short
scrub oak. Stoney Way and Heritage Hills were built in 2019, with the
addition of Vista Ridge in 2020. Stoney Way connects the Schoolhouse
Springs trailhead to the Heritage Hills and Vista Ridge trails, with Vista
Ridge climbing up to the Three Falls Fort Canyon trail on the ridgeline
and Heritage Hills descending to Alpine city.
View northeast toward Chipman Peak and White Baldy
from the eastern end of Stoney Way. Trail review by Bruce on December 10,
2019. Updated October 9, 2020.
Stoney Way
Stoney Way is a traversing trail running east-west along the
hillside above northeast Alpine. It's 1.3 miles in length with a highest
elevation of 5400 feet and low point at 4850.
The riding is easy, suitable for beginners. There are no steeps or
technical features.
Stoney Way slopes generally
downhill from Heritage Hills to The Ridge trailhead, then uphill until its
intersection with Bodily Harm.
On the east end, Stoney Way begins on the Bodily Harm trail,
about 0.1 mile uphill from the Schoolhouse Springs biking trailhead. Fork
left on the lower trail. from here, Stoney Way runs downhill as it heads
west.
From 5400 feet, it reaches its lowest elevation at 4850 at the midpoint
in Big Hollow, where it crosses a dirt road at the edge of a new subdivision under
construction. It then climbs 100 feet before ending on the Heritage Hills
Loop, 0.5 miles uphill from Heritage Hills' origin on North Point
Collector trail.
Heading southwest on Stoney Way as Bruce climbs
toward Bodily Harm from The Ridge trailhead.
The trail is a bench-cut on slopes that have a moderate
pitch. Because there are no trees of any size to block your view, there's
a lot of scenery to take in. To the south is Utah Valley and Utah Lake.
The mountains of the Wasatch form a semi-circle around you north and east.
Looking northeast when the trail was first built, showing the
bench-cut nature of the trail and the constant mountain views.
In the middle of Stoney Way, at it's lowest point, a short
connector descends to a trailhead in The Ridge at Alpine subdivision.
(There's no bathroom or water at this trailhead.) This is a nice spot to
start the Heritage Hills loop ride.
Mountains everywhere. The big hill on the right is
Box Elder Peak.
The mountains north of Alpine, as seen from the
eastern edge of Lambert Park.
Mountains east of Alpine, as seen from the southwest
corner of Lambert Park.
Heritage Hills - Vista Ridge Trails
The North Point Collector, Heritage Hills, and Vista Ridge trails
are a continuous route from the Heritage Hills (North Pointe) trailhead up to the Fort
Canyon portion of the Three Falls trail. It's is a nicely constructed bench-cut
trail with swooping bermed turns. The slope is moderate. It's 1.8 miles
from the trailhead on Heritage Hills Drive to the Three Falls Fort Canyon
trail.
Looking east toward East Mountain and Timpanogos.
North Point Collector
The North Point Collector begins at the trailhead on Heritage Hills
Drive. (There are no services here, merely parking.) It climbs 1/4 mile
before crossing the subdivision road. At that point, it becomes
doubletrack. After another 100 yards, the Heritage Hills Loop forks away
to the right, and the old doubletrack has been erased by construction.
At mile 0.2 from the parking area, the trail has been destroyed by the
leveling of a building lot. Turn 90 degrees left and follow the edge until
you reach a passage between lots. From here, head straight for the street,
and the continuing trail is straight across. (There was storage of
construction vehicles and supplies overtop of the trail here during my
last ride here, so it may not appear like a trail to you.)
Heritage Hills
From its origin at the top of the North Point Collector, Heritage Hills winds
uphill. At mile 0.5, it connects to the west end of
Stoney Way, while the uphill route continues as Vista Ridge. The trail climbs from 4700 feet to 4850 in 0.5 miles; a very reasonable
pitch. All but 100 feet of the trail lies on exposed hillside without
shade. So it will be a toasty climb on a summer's afternoon.
View to the south from just above the connection to
Stoney Way. The downhill trail is seen near the grove of trees.
Like Stoney Way, this part of the trail should be good for winter riding. The snow on this slope
usually melts away within days of a storm because it's highly sun-exposed.
But that also means the frozen dirt surface will warm up and melt quickly
if the sun is out. Finishing the ride before 10 a.m. is recommended!
The only oak grove high enough to give shade. 100
feet. Enjoy.
Note fall 2020: At this time, the best way to access the Heritage Hills
trail is to ride Stoney Way from the Schoolhouse Springs
area trails, or to connect from the Fort Canyon Three Falls trail. There's no
good parking in the under-construction subdivision at the bottom where it
originates on North Point Collector. And the connection to the parking lot
for the North Point Collector trail on Heritage Hills Drive has been
severely impacted by construction. (If you get through, it will be by
walking through not-trail and going rat-in-maze through construction
equipment and supplies to get to the road where North Point Collector
continues to the Heritage Hills Loop.)
Nice view into the valley from the area where Stoney
Way joins the uphill route from Heritage Hills.
Vista Ridge
The Vista Ridge trail is the continuation of Heritage Hills at the
point where Stoney Way intersects the uphill route. This segment is 1 mile
long, climbing 250 vertical feet in the first 0.6 miles then descending a
bit as it drops to the opposite side of the ridge to connect to the Fort
Canyon Three Falls trail.
On Vista Ridge with Lone Peak as a backdrop.
Again here, the trail is a machine bench cut with a broad
smooth riding surface. There are no technical features. Some of the turns
are a bit tight for beginners, so this trail section would rank
lower-intermediate in skill level.
Bruce approaches the saddle between Big Hollow and
Fort Canyon.
As Vista Ridge reaches the Three Falls trail, a hard right
turn will take you uphill. In 0.7 miles, Three Falls will reach the Bodily
Harm trail. If you then turn right to descend Bodily Harm, it will take
you downhill to the Stoney Way trail near the Schoolhouse Springs
trailhead. The loop of Stoney Way, Vista Ridge, and Bodily Harm has been
called the Heritage Hills Loop.
Riding south after leaving Three Falls on the
counterclockwise Heritage Hills loop ride.
At the top of Vista Ridge, you can also keep left to descend
Three Falls to the Fort Canyon trailhead. This trailhead has water and a
bathroom.
Looking southwest to Utah Lake and Lake Mountain.
Video of a loop of Bodily
Harm and Vista Ridge!
If the above video does not appear on your
browser/device, you can watch it on YouTube by clicking
here.
Getting there:
Schoolhouse Springs (Alpine Cove): As you drive into Alpine
on Main Street, keep straight at all intersections until you reach 800
North. Main Street then turns to the right and becomes Heritage
Hills Drive. It will further turn to go eastbound. When you reach the stop
sign at
Grove Drive, turn left uphill. At the T intersection (where a right turn would take you
across the bridge into Lambert Park), turn left on Alpine Cove Drive. At
the 4-way intersection, turn left. As Alpine Cove Drive turns downhill,
turn uphill on Aspen Drive. It will turn into the gravel Schoolhouse Springs
Road. 100 yards later, the fire road forks left. Note the gate just uphill.
Find a spot to park where the road splits. There's
room for 3 cars at the road fork (where the boulders have been pushed
aside as semi-official parking) plus 4 spots on the shoulder within 50
feet. Pedal to the gate then turn right on Forbidden to start your ride.
Fork left after 50 feet, then left again after another 50 feet on Bodily
Harm. After 1/10th mile, Stoney Way will fork left.
Heritage Hills (North Point): Shortly after you veer to
the northeast from Main onto Heritage Hills Drive as above, spot the small
parking lot on your left and turn in. The Ridge TH (Stoney Way): At the T intersection of Grove Drive,
turn left and follow the road as it then veers left and approaches the
mountain.
Fort Canyon Trailhead: As you drive into Alpine on
Main Street, keep straight at all intersections until you reach 800 North.
Then, just as Main Street turns to the right and becomes Heritage Hills
Drive, fork left on Fort Canyon Road to continue north. 0.9 miles later,
turn right just before the Three Falls entry. Turn left into parking. This
is a major paved trailhead with water and a bathroom. From parking, climb
uphill 0.8 miles on the Three Falls Fort Canyon trail. The right fork is
Vista Ridge, while left takes you up to the intersection of Bodily Harm
and Three Falls.
