The Maple Canyon trail starts on the edge of Mapleton and climbs
steadily uphill. Most riders do only the bottom 1.2 miles -- from the
trailhead to Whiting Campground -- as a nice quick intermediate-level out-and-back. This page covers
the full 6.1
miles of the Maple Canyon trail up to the junction with the Sawmill Hollow
trail at 8050 feet elevation, although the upper portion of this trail
will be of interest to only a scant few hardcore adventurous riders.
We've reached the aspens at 7000 feet elevation.
Photos and ride review by Bruce on July
10, 2018.
The trailhead is on the south side of the Maple Canyon Road,
just 1/4 mile up the canyon from the homes of Mapleton. The starting
elevation is 4800 feet. The trail climbs eastbound up Maple Canyon, signed
as trail 006.
In this lower section of the trail, the climbing is frequently broken
up by short gentle downhills as the trail twists around through the maple
forest.
Getting started through the maple forest.
The trail is singletrack through a forest of maple. There's
an occasional oak, pine, and fir. You won't see any views. In fact, you'll
see very little of the sky, as the trail is covered by maples. Maple
Canyon is quite cool compared to nearby areas at the same altitude.
The ride is almost 100% in dense forest.
At mile 1.2, you'll reach the parking for the group area of
Whiting Campground. You've climbed 400 vertical feet. This is where most
riders turn around. Many will continue another 1/2 mile uphill to the
parking lot at the far end of the campground before turning back.
Very few will make the climb to the top. It's tough. But if you want to
tackle it, here we go...
Typical trail -- lots of maples.
Upper Maple Canyon 006
As you hit pavement, turn left and cross the creek, then
turn right uphill through a second gate. Immediately veer left on
singletrack with a 006 carsonite post.
The trail passes behind the camp sites of Whiting CG as it
continues east and uphill. At mile 1.6 from the trailhead, you'll again
hit a paved parking area. The continuing trail is to your left uphill, at
the end of the parking area.
Passing behind the camp sites at mile 1.4 from the
trailhead.
At first, the trail is broad and the climbing rate is
reasonable. But you're doing 3200 vertical feet, so every bit of mellow
trail means steeper stuff coming up. The average slope for the upper 5
miles is 650 vertical feet per mile.
Trail view just uphill from the upper parking area.
Some stretches are nicely buff, but other sections are
covered with loose rocks, stirred
up by hikers and horses. If the loose stuff immediately bothers you as you
ride away from the campground, well, you ain't
seen nothin' yet.
The trail will cross the creek a few times. There are
split-log bridges. If the water flow allows, you can simply splash through
the creek.
Which is spookier for you? Riding the balance beam,
or bouncing through the creek bed.
Around mile three, the trail starts to get mean. The pitch of
the trail increases, then increases some more -- there's one mile with 800
vertical feet of elevation change, which for most of us is push-a-bike
time.
You'll spend a couple of long stretches riding straight up the creek
bottom. Don't expect to do this trail until the run-off is complete and
the water level drops, which would be mid-July most years.
This is the trail. Right up the middle of the creek.
Ride what you can. Expect wet shoes.
The trail hides under dense forest until you're almost to
the top. Then you'll finally have a few views. My recommended turn-around
is at mile 6.1, where the Maple Canyon trail ends at the junction of the
Sawmill Hollow trail 013 with the Little Diamond trail 016. You're at 8050
feet. If you go further, you'll need to climb back uphill to get out.
A peak out over the next hill.
The downhill is a lot of fun. Big wheels, fat tires, plush
suspension, and a dropper seatpost will let you bang through the stretches
that are creek instead of trail.
Bottom Line:
Do the little out-and-back up to campground. It's fun riding and quite
pretty. If you want to test yourself, go ahead and climb on uphill. But I
doubt you'll want to do that big ride twice.
Bruce rolls his Rocky Mountain down the trail.
Out-and-back to the campground...
If the above video does not appear on your
browser/device, you can watch it on YouTube by clicking
here.
Water:
campground
Bathrooms:
campground
Getting there:
Take the 400 South Springville exit from I-15 and go east toward the
mountains. At Main Street, turn south (right) on US-89. Keep right as Main
Street splits into Highway 51 and US-89 (right lane). On US-89 in
Mapleton, turn left on 1200 North. Drive to Main Street and turn south
(right). At 400 North, turn left and drive to the mouth of the canyon.
There's roadside parking at the end of 400 North at the winter gate to
Maple Canyon Road. (This is where hikers park who are strolling uphill on
the road. It also functions as overflow parking when the trailhead is
full.) Continue up the road 1/4 mile, then turn left into the trailhead
parking area. Note that the campground, and the 006 upper trailhead
parking, are a fee area.
