The Oakley Trail Park is located just east of Oakley (south of Rockport
Reservoir and north of Kamas) at the mouth of Seymour Canyon. The trail
system was built in 2018 and includes both general-purpose two-way trails
-- open to horses -- and one-way bikes-only trails. At an elevation of
6700 feet, the riding season is June through October.
Hitting a turn on the Lower Rodeo trail. Trail review
and photos by Bruce on September 4, 2018.
The park includes beginner, intermediate, and expert-level
downhill trails. Still waiting completion (September 2018) are a planned
jump line, skills trail, and pump track. The terrain is a mix of sage,
oak, maple, and aspen.
In addition to the 3 miles of trail in the park, the system connects to
the Oakley and Seymour Canyon trails for access to the upper mountain.
Drone shot of the twisty climb on Lower Lariat.
The trailhead is reached via Boulderville Road on the
south end of Oakley. This road becomes 1000 East, then Pinion Lane. See
the "Getting there" instruction below. Parking is on the west
(left) side of the road across from the trail park.
Turning
north (left upon entering the park) on Lower Lariat.
There's a trail map at the base of the park and trail ID
posts at trail forks. I found it necessary to pull up the map of the trail
system while on-trail, because there's a lot going on here. Trail forks
come quickly and close together.
Airborne between two bumps to complete a double.
General-purpose trails (horses and two-way
traffic)
Lower Lariat
The Lower Lariat trail runs across the lower slope. It's your access to
the other trails in the park, as well as your return trail from the
downhill-only trails. As you pedal to the doubletrack across from the
parking strip, you'll intersect Lower Lariat about 40 feet from the paved
road. Lower Lariat is 0.6 miles in length.
Northbound
on Lower Lariat.
The eastern end of Lower Lariat ends in a little loop, with
a short connecting trail to the road. Don't bother going left, as this
side of the trail is a return from Rodeo and Buckaroo.
Northbound -- a left turn from the doubletrack -- Lower Lariat makes a
twisty climb up the hill for 0.2 miles. At this point, you'll reach forks
for the Buckaroo Connect (hard right) and Lariat Connect (left then right
uphill) trails. To continue on Lower Lariat, keep left and pass both
trails. Lower Lariat then settles in for a traverse to the north.
Looking south on Lower Lariat.
You may recognize that this part of Lower Lariat is a re-dig
of an old trailcut. At the junction of Lower Lariat with Upper Lariat, the
old trail continues north. It dead-ends at a private property border
1/10th mile later.
An older boardwalk gets the trail across a couple of
swampy spots.
Upper Lariat and Lariat Connect
At its north end, Upper Lariat begins on Lower Lariat, then climbs
through a series of turns to the middle-mountain area. It turns southbound
and offers connections to Barrel Racer and Lariat Connect before ending on
the doubletrack access road. This DT can be considered part of Upper
Lariat and is your route to the Oakley trail, Seymour Canyon, and Upper
Rodeo. The loop at the end of the DT is a vehicle trailhead for the
upper-mountain trails.
Trail fork of Upper Lariat (on
the right) and Lariat Connect. This trailpost is typical.
From Lower Lariat to the Oakley trailhead, Upper Lariat is
0.7 miles in length. It has only about 100 feet of elevation gain.
The Lariat Connect trail is 0.2 miles long, connecting a meander of
Lower Lariat with the middle of Upper Lariat. Lariat Connect provides a
quick short climbing route if your object is to reach the top of the Rodeo
downhill trails quickly.
Southbound on Upper Lariat. Mostly scrub oak here.
Downhill bike-only trails
Buckaroo
Buckaroo is a beginner-level downhill-only flow trail. It's only 1/4
mile in length, dropping 75 vertical feet. It's reached by taking Lower
Lariat up to the 4-way intersection. Make a hard right turn and head south
on Buckaroo Connect. (There will be connections to the skills and jump
line trails from Buckaroo Connect in the future.)
Entry to Buckaroo. Aspens and shade for a cooler
ride. Note that you can also bike, push, or drive a tiny distance up the
dirt road to reach the top of Buckaroo.
As you cross the Oakley-trailhead access doubletrack on
Buckaroo Connect, the trail becomes Buckaroo. You'll immediately notice
that the trail has been liberally covered with crushed roadbase. Hopefully, this
means no ruts and no moondust-wallowing.
There are some "try-it" bumps built into the trail. This
helps beginners learn to get off the saddle and let the bike
"buck" under them -- and also offers a chance to try a little
jump. Buckaroo ends on Lower
Lariat.
Typical trail view. The pink color is due to
reinforcing crushed rock.
Barrel Racer
Barrel Racer is an intermediate-level downhill-only flow trail. It's
1/4 mile long, with 120 feet of elevation loss. The trail starts at the
northeast corner of Upper Lariat, so it can be reached either from Lower
Lariat clockwise or Lariat Connect counterclockwise. (The trail fork is
engineered to access Barrel Racer by climbing from Lower Lariat
clockwise.)
Looking south, we're at the trail fork between Upper
Lariat and Barrel Racer.
Compared to Buckaroo, Barrel Racer has higher berms, steeper
turns, and bigger bumps. There are some tabletop jumps and doubles. But
you can simply roll everything on the trail. An experienced beginner can
manage this trail.
Barrel Racer ends on Lower Lariat, where a right turn can take you back
uphill for another go. If you keep left, it will take you to the 4-way
fork with Lariat Connect and Buckaroo Connect.
Descending. Short and not too tricky.
Rodeo (Upper Rodeo and Lower Rodeo)
The Rodeo trails are for experts or aggressive upper-intermediates. The
two trails combine for a downhill route of 3/4 mile with 275 feet of
elevation loss. The Rodeo trails feature high steep berms, quick turns,
and plenty of jumps.
Both trails are reached by climbing to southbound Upper Lariat, then continuing south
when the singletrack joins the Oakley trailhead access
doubletrack. If you only want Lower Rodeo, you can turn onto the trail
from the doubletrack.
Approaching the step-over at the Oakley trailhead,
heading for Upper Rodeo.
To reach Upper Rodeo, continue uphill on the gravel road.
Keep right at the road fork (it's a one-way loop). As you curve around the end of
the loop, turn uphill to the right at the Oakley trailhead sign.
Keep left at the trail fork immediately after the step-over gate. The
right fork is for Seymour Canyon. After 100 yards on the Oakley trail,
including a short tricky rockslide, keep left at the fork to start
downhill on Upper Rodeo.
Dropping in.
It's 0.3 miles on Upper Rodeo until you hit the gravel-road
crossing. Angle across to Lower Rodeo.
The Rodeo trail has almost constant turns. They're bermed for speed. In
general, as you get further down the hill the tabletop jumps become
taller. Launch what you dare; roll the rest.
Railing a turn on Lower Rodeo.
Rodeo ends on the southern end of Lower Lariat. Time to head
back uphill for another run.
Approaching a tabletop jump. This one looks like it's
old-man sized, so go for it!
Upper mountain trails
Oakley Trail
The Oakley trail is, of course, your access to Upper Rodeo, but you'll
only be on it for about 100 yards. If you venture further, you'll find
that the trail winds back and forth across a huge rockslide. There's nice
rockwork in place (in 2018). If you spin out on the "smooth"
center trail, consider riding the big-rock line on the edge. Or hike your
bike.
Are you sure you want to do this? The first 1/4
mile of Oakley really sorts out the casual riders.
These rockslides will be a lot of run to ride on the way
down. And once you're past them, the trail is pretty good, although steep.
With occasional push-a-bikes, at least for me.
A turn. Wasn't able to clean it going up, but
downhill, you can simply take the line on the outside of the stairs.
The Oakley trail is a bit over 2 miles long, extending up to
a ridge overlooking the Kamas Valley. The downhill is very nice.
Looking toward the valley through a grove of mountain
mahogany.
Seymour Canyon Trail
The Seymour Canyon trail is a right-turn from the Oakley trail, just
after you cross the step-over gate. It extends about 3 miles south up
Seymour Canyon. Like the Oakley trail, it's a stiff climb but offers some
nice views and a flying downhill.
Looking southeast as we climb Seymour Canyon.
Quick trip uphill and down Rodeo
If the above video does not appear on your
browser/device, you can watch it on YouTube by clicking
here.
Getting there:
From Utah Country, head to Heber and turn left on US-40. At the light
below Jordanelle, turn right on SR-32. In Francis, turn left at the stop
sign to stay on SR-32. Go straight through Kamas and Marion, and as you
approach Oakley and the road veers a bit left, turn right onto New Lane.
Now turn right (east) on Boulderville Road. Drive one mile. Boulderville
Road will turn 90 degrees left and become 1000 East. After another mile
the road will turn right (back to the east) and become Pinion Lane. In 1/4
mile the road again turns to the left northbound. Now watch for the trail
park on your right and the parking strip on the left.
From Salt Lake, take I-80 to Highway 32 and head south. As you pass
through Oakley, go about a mile south and turn left on Boulderville Road.
Go to the stop sign with New Lane, keep straight and proceed on
Boulderville Road to the trailhead as above.
