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Mahogany Mountain
traditional route with links to newer alternatesThe Mahogany
Mountain trail traverses a narrow shoulder on the steep hillside east of
northern Pleasant Grove. This intermediate-level trail must be reached via
other trails -- either the steep Grove Creek trail or a
combination of foothill trails to intersect Mahogany Mountain in the
middle -- which makes the overall ride appropriate for upper-intermediate riders. Note
that Sneaky Shiz is a popular climbing route
up to the Mahogany Mountain trail for a loop ride. Cruising south on the way back. Photos and
ride description by Bruce on May 5,
2016. Updated for additional riding routes April 27, 2022. |
| The trail is intermediate in technical requirement. Mahogany
Mountain gains 550 vertical feet over 1.8 miles from south to north, with
a final climb right at the end as you approach the out-and-back
viewpoint. The simplest ride to the viewpoint (via Grove Creek) will be
5.6 miles round trip with 1200 vertical feet of climbing. For perspective
on the Grove Creek climb, see the Grove Creek or Big
Baldy Loop pages.
Northbound as the trail winds past groves of scrub
oak. Our final destination is the viewpoint on the ridge. |
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There are options for loop rides in the area using bits of
the Pleasant Grove bench dirt road and the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.
Below I have a track for a 6.4 mile loop (with a short out-and-back to the
viewpoint) that avoids the mean climb up Grove Creek. If you want to hit
the southern piece of Mahogany Mountain that you'd bypass on this loop
ride, it can be done as a
quick out-and-back once you reach the trail.
Tight side-slope on the southern half-mile of the
trail -- a piece of the ride you can skip if you navigate the lower
foothill trails uphill. Looking south. |
| Most riders today use only a piece of the old Mahogany
Mountain trail. They arrive via an alternate climb (usually Sneaky
Shiz but also Bonneville Shoreline and
Mahogany Bench Climb, then descend via Rojo
Rolling with Bench Connector and BST. This page will mention these
other routes, but see the individual trail pages for riding details.
Note that, as of April 2022, the Forest Service is awaiting funding to
place trail markers on the trails it has approved as official routes. So
navigation is a bit tricky for riders who are new to the area. A
navigation app is recommended.
Heading downhill from Mahogany Mountain on the Rojo
Rolling trail.
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Most riders will want to use the new Thunderdome trail to
the viewpoint. (See the Sneaky
Shiz page for details.) The main (old) trail goes straight up a loose
steep hill and will be hike-a-bike.
Now let's talk about how to climb up to Mahogany Mountain.
View to the west overlooking Pleasant Grove and
American Fork, then Utah Lake and Lake Mountain. |
Via the Grove Creek Trail |
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This is the classic route, and is the simplest to navigate.
Note that Grove Creek is brutally steep, gaining almost 600 vertical in
the one mile up to the Mahogany Mountain trail. (And that's why most local
riders choose to go uphill through the tangled foothill trails. See below.)
The paved trailhead parking is at 5150 feet elevation at the end of Grove
Drive (which is the eastbound continuation of 500 North). Start east uphill on the broad cindered path, directly
toward the canyon.
Looking east into Grove Creek Canyon from the
trailhead. The big path is Grove Creek. To our left is singletrack to the
BST, and there's another connector about 100 feet uphill (at the small
white rock to the left of the trail). |
| After a bit of pleasant climbing eastbound, the Grove Creek trail
gets nasty as it grows steeper. There's one loose and steep 200 foot
chute section that will be a hike-a-bike for just about everybody. At 0.65
miles, the trail approaches the creek then switchbacks to the left to climb west.
(The trails heading uphill toward the creek are hikers' goof-around-at-the-water
paths.)
Eastbound on a smoother section of Grove Creek.
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This section of the trail continues a stiff climb as it hugs
the steep side-slope. Even on a weekday in off-season, I encountered four
groups of hikers in the mile between the trailhead and Mahogany. Consider
this if you plan to descend back the way you came. There's scant room for
passing here.
Looking southwest after turning uphill at the
switchback. |
| At mile 0.95 at 5750 feet elevation, the Grove Creek trail
will switchback to the right to head east. Near the apex of this turn, the
Mahogany Mountain trail forks left northbound along a shoulder on the
mountain. If you enter the canyon eastbound again, you missed the trail.
Backtrack to the turn.
Looking east up the canyon. The snow-covered top of
Timpanogos is barely visible.
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Via the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and
connectors |
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While there are dozens of tangled trails in this area, and
the lack of trail signs (as of April 2022) can make the
navigation seem complex. Most local
riders prefer climbing the foothill trails, avoiding the crowds and
steepness of Grove Creek. An updated GPS navigation app is recommended. Begin by hopping on the
Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST) at Grover
Creek, either by climbing the steep singletrack
on the northeast corner of the parking area or by turning left about 100
feet up the Grove Creek trail.
Early in the ride. The BST will meander just uphill
from the power-line corridor. Yes, there's a trail under the power lines,
too. |
| The BST forms an arch going uphill from the Bench Road
elevation, then descending back down to that elevation on the north end.
In between, it gives birth to the climbing options up to Mahogany Mountain
(Sneaky Shiz, Mahogany
Bench Climb and Rojo Rolling). Looking back to the
south on the BST.
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You will need to navigate the BST correctly and find your
preferred route uphill.
The terrain varies between this (dry, hot, and open),
and groves of trees, including some wild fruit trees. |
Via the Mahogany Bench Climb |
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For this option, pedal 0.6 miles north from Grove Creek on
the BST, then fork hard right uphill on a narrower trail. This is the
Mahogany Bench Climb. It will zigzag up the hill at a modest climbing rate
to join the Mahogany Mountain trail at 0.5 miles from Grove Creek. See the
Mahogany Bench page for more details.
View uphill on the Bench Climb.
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Via the BST and Rojo Rolling |
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This climbing route stays on the southbound BST from Grove
Creek until the trail hits its highest point. Then instead of turning 90
degrees downhill at a trail crossover, keep straight and leave the BST to
climb the Mahogany Bench Connector. When the connector hits Rojo Rolling
0.2 miles later, stay straight and continue uphill until Rojo Rolling ends
on Mahogany Mountain. See the Mahogany Bench page
for more details.
Cliffs of Grove Creek Canyon above the rider. Not bad
-- views in every direction!
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Get to the Pleasant Grove Bench Road and connect uphill to
the BST above the middle of the Valley Vista trail system. Find Sneaky
Shiz forking uphill off the BST to your right when riding north shortly
after the old upper bench road narrows to a wide singletrack. Follow
Sneaky Shiz uphill to Mahogany Mountain. See the Sneaky
Shiz page for more details.
Heading uphill on Sneaky Shiz.
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Mahogany Mountain (Mahogany Bench #301), southern section |
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The first portion of Mahogany Mountain is 0.6 miles,
descending about 100 vertical feet as you head north. I believe this
section has been given a separate trail number by the Forest Service and
will be called "Mahogany Bench" while the northern end of the
trail will still be called "Mahogany Mountain."
The trail is
narrower here, and the steep side-slopes will make early-intermediates
uneasy. This is the portion you'll skip if you navigate the lower foothill
trails uphill rather than climbing Grove Creek.
Northbound about 1/4 mile after leaving Grove Creek. |
| From Grove Creek, two competing routes go on opposite sides
of a gambel oak grove then rejoin. Now navigation is straight-forward. At
any trail fork, just pick the flattest fat trail that continues north. When in doubt, keep uphill. Around
one-half mile from the Grove Creek trail you'll start passing connectors
from downhill.
View to the south.
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If you plan to return to the trailhead through these lower
trails, stop and eyeball the layout occasionally to match routes with the
area map. (You'll probably blunder onto unintended trails anyway, but
eventually you'll wind up back at your car. Getting lost here isn't really
a problem. Just keep working downhill. There are too many trails for you
to end up stranded on the mountain, and the constant view of the mountain
above and valley below keeps you from getting turned around.)
This bit of the trail is narrower, but
offers nothing tricky. |
Mahogany Mountain, northern section and viewpoint hike-a-bike |
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This part of the trail begins around where the Mahogany
Bench Climb trail joins. It's here that all the action occurs!
Whichever way you got uphill, the next mile of the trail is
wonderful. Heading north along the mountain's shoulder, the slopes extend
steeply above you. To your left the views go all the way from Santaquin to
Eagle Mountain to Herriman.
Looking uphill to the east. But I think this photo
was actually shot from the upper arch trail (Upper BST?) rather than
Mahogany Mountain. |
| The trail angles gently uphill. You'll climb 300 vertical
feet over this next mile on smooth and non-technical trail, undulating
through meadows among groves of scrub oak.
On Mahogany Mountain heading northbound. The little
dip in the mountain contour is our destination.
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The limestone cliffs to your right were formed when this
area was a deep ocean trough, from 360 to 280 million years ago during the
Carboniferous (Mississippian and Pennsylvanian) Period. The chunky
limestone in the trail and the exposed slope means that these trails tend
be good for riding after storms or early in the spring.
We're a little closer to the limestone cliffs here.
We're riding on Lake Bonneville's highest and oldest shoreline, when it
was 1000 feet deep. Then the lake broke through to the north and partially
emptied, dropping to the lower level that formed the more prominent Bonneville Shoreline bench. |
| At 1.0 miles from the Grove Creek trail, there's a smaller
trail on the uphill side that makes a 150 degree right turn. This is Thunderdome, and it's an alternate route to the viewpoint. (If you take
Thunderdome, you won't pass the top of Sneaky Shiz or the Mahogany
Mountain downhill trail, as those trail forks are on the main route.)
As you reach a rise preceding a dip before the final climb
to the viewpoint, note this spot. (See photo.) Just a bit behind you was a
narrow trail that offers a loop return back to the Bench Road.
Catching my breath to get ready for the final push to
the top!
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At the ridgeline, the trail splits. Go left to look over the
valley. You can even see across the edge of Traverse Mountain to the
Bingham Mine. Take a minute to look around before planning your return
route. The smaller singletrack route from the viewpoint is called
Thunderdome (see the Sneaky Shiz page). Many
riders use it as the climbing route, but almost everyone takes it as the
way down.
The south wind behind the approaching storm mixes a
bit of desert dust into the air, right when I want a clear "see
forever" photo. Still, the views are nice! |
Descending Routes
Rojo Rolling, Connector, and BST downhill |
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This is the most popular downhill route at this time. Around
0.1 mile south of the trail fork between Mahogany Mountain and Thunderdome,
find the smaller Rojo Rolling trail on your right. Follow it downhill and
keep right again at the connector to Mahogany Mountain. The trail is now
officially the Mahogany Bench Connector. Keep downhill until this trail
hits the BST. A 90-degree right turn takes you downhill to the north (to
the upper bench road), while going straight up the little rise then
downhill the ridge puts you on the BST southbound toward Grove Creek.
Bruce hits a turn on Rojo Rolling, the most popular
descending route.
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Mahogany Mountain downhill trail |
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One of the simplest return routes is found just before the
last climb to the viewpoint. This narrow singletrack traverses around the
viewpoint prominence, then drops down to a steeper old doubletrack. It reaches
the Bench Road about 2.3 miles north of the Grove Creek trailhead. From
there, it's an easy and flat crank back.
Traversing trail forks left northbound near the
northern end of Mahogany Mountain. Nice narrow singletrack for a loop
ride. |
| The connection to Mahogany downhill is 0.4 miles after leaving the viewpoint on the
ridge. When southbound, the Mahogany Mountain downhill section will start on your right.
It's marked by a rockpile. The trail is fairly straight and is a quick
drop back to the valley. After 0.9 miles, it hits dirt roads that will
take you down to the bench road.
To reach this trail after descending Thunderdome, keep right onto
Mahogany Mountain and pedal past Sneaky Shiz 0.4 miles to find the trail
entry.
Here's the trail fork where Mahogany Mountain turns
to descend. The main trail here is the steeper route to the viewpoint (and
to points higher on the hill). |
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Sneaky Shiz is found 0.7 miles from the
viewpoint via the Mahogany Mountain trail, or 50 yards north of the bottom
of Thunderdome if you took that way down. It's 2.1 miles down to the BST,
where you can connect north or south down to the Bench Road. From there,
you take your favorite way back to the trailhead.
Descending Sneaky Shiz.
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| The Pleasant Grove and Cedar Hills Bench Road can be thought
of as a fail-safe route at the bottom of the Forest Service trail system.
It ties all the various routes together and provides an easy bail-out
return to Grove Creek, and to the top of the Valley
Vista descending trails to the paved Murdock
Canal Trail. |
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Note about the map! There are other singletrack trails that are
not are shown here, and some that are shown will
be "retired" by the Forest Service as they develop the trails in
this area.
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| Getting there:
Canyon Road TH Murdock Canal Trail (Cedar Hills): The Canyon Road trailhead
is located on the uphill
side of Canyon Road where the Murdock
Canal Trail passes
under Highway 146. The connector to The Pit trail of Valley
Vista is about 1/4 mile south
of the trailhead, on the left side of the Murdock Canal trail.
Wade Springs TH Murdock Canal Trail (Pleasant Grove): The Wade
Spring trailhead is located on 1100
North at approximately 650 East. The Valley
Vista trail system is reached by pedaling
0.2 miles north on the Murdock
Canal Trail. Veer right and gently uphill
on a gravel doubletrack.
Grove Creek TH:
From the south, get off I-15 at the Pleasant Grove exit and head east
toward the mountains. As the street curves north, you'll reach State
Street. Turn right. As State begins to curve southward past a big shopping
complex, turn left at the traffic light to Main Street. Go through the
4-way stop at Center, then turn left at the light on 100 East (Canyon
Highway). Proceed north to 500 North and turn right.
From the north, exit I-15 at the Alpine (American Fork Canyon) exit. Take
Timpanogos Highway all the way to the mouth of the canyon, then turn right
on the Canyon Highway, which will become 100 East. Drive south to 500
North (opposite the cemetery) and turn left.
Drive uphill on 500 North, continuing toward the mountains as it becomes
Grove Creek Drive. Follow it up to the paved parking area. (Bathroom at
trailhead.) The ride starts on the east (mountain) side of the parking
area, heading straight up the canyon. N 40° 22.483 W 111°
42.721
Bathrooms and water at all trailheads above.
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