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Perry Canyon Trail
(Grizzly Peak)
The Perry Canyon trail is a stiff hillclimb on narrow singletrack. It's
10.2 miles of climbing, 4400 vertical feet, to a top altitude of 8800. The steepness and narrow track
-- plus plenty of power-turns -- make this trail one for very strong
riders.
View north over Brigham City, from 2
miles into the ride. Photos Sept 4, 2008, by Bruce. |
| The trail now (as of 2010) goes all the way to Grizzly Peak, where
you can connect via ATV track to the Willard Basin dirt road. This offers the option of a shuttled DH ride. Or
you can extend the out-and-back ride by
heading south to Inspiration Point. For true fanatics, you can do a loop
with the dirt road up from Mantua, or long point-to-point by adding the
Willard Peak trail to Ben Lomond, then Northern Skyline to the North Ogden
Divide, then down to the valley.
Stan Thompson, age 76 at the time of
this photo, did a lot of the work on this trail. |
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The trail begins. Look for
the shot-up bear atop
a
stump reading "Grizzly Pk 9 mi". In less than 1/4 mile,
you're out of the sage and riding in trees along the creek. |
Typical handlebar view of
the trail. Small maples
alternate with open grassy areas. The
surface is
mostly smooth hardpack.
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| The trail begins just outside Geneva Rock. As you approach
the gates of the quarry, turn right through a big chain-link fence and
park. Look for the singletrack just across the small dip on the mountain
side of the parking (just ride toward the bear). Base altitude is 4500
feet. View
south from the ridge at mile 4. That's Willard Bay. Note: this is the area
where the White Rock trail rejoins. |
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The trail heads up along the north side of the creek for 1/3 mile, then
crosses over to the south side and begins climbing. The rate is fairly
stiff, averaging 10% slope -- 500 vertical per mile.
The trail hugs a steep sideslope in maple forest as you
climb up and around several tough turns. At mile 1.3, turn hard left at
the fork to continue up Perry Canyon, as the White
Rock trail heads
west on your right.
Typical trail view as we head through
a stand of maples. |
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At two miles, the trail breaks out onto grass-covered hillside. Then it
dips in and out of maple groves as the pitch mellows a little. At
mile 3.7, keep left as the White Rock trail
rejoins.
Just after mile 5, the slope gets tougher and the trail is a bit soft.
(Needs more bike tires to compact it.) This half-mile was the toughest for
me. At mile 6, the trail is on the tree-less upper slopes of Grizzly Peak.
View south at about mile 6. The trail
is still very good here, although a bit soft and weedy because fewer
bikers venture this high. |
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| After Grizzly Peak, the trail flattens, and actually goes
downhill a little bit. At the gravel road, you can ponder your next move.
I suggest heading south to the Willard Basin trail and hitting the top of
Ben Lomond. That will give you the full Vertical Mile, and then some.
This is a tough trail, but it's a lot of fun. The countless
climbing turns require a bit of power. Plaster your body onto the frame
and spin on up. The narrowness of the trail requires good balance to avoid
bobbling out of control during tough climbs. Once you reach the top, the
downhill is a riot. I did take a little skin off my left arm, twice,
leaning too hard into tight turns and discovering something unsoft in the
overhanging vegetation.
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Riding notes, climbing:
0.0 Pass the bear heading east on ST
N41 27.347 W112 01.934
0.4 Short switchback up to DT
Hard L to cross DT onto ST
N41 27.394 W112 01.549
0.6 Go either way, lower route less steep
1.3 Fork hard L (R = BST)
N41 27.031 W112 00.973
4.4 Fork R (L = older route, rejoins)
N41 26.390 W112 00.052
5.6 Keep straight (R = blind end)
N41 26.243 W111 59.578
8.7 Grizzly Peak. N41 25.654 W111 59.016
Short fork to top of peak
10.2 Junction with Inspiration Point road
N41 24.670 W111 58.143
Upper trailhead. |
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Getting there: From I-15, take exit 357
(Perry-Willard) and turn right toward the mountains. Drive 0.6 miles and
turn left (north) on US-89. 2.2 miles later, turn right on 3000 South.
Drive 0.2 miles and turn right through the big chain-link gate to a small
gravel parking area. (Don't go straight into Geneva Rock!) The trailhead is on
the left (east) side of the small parking area, at the bear statue. N41 27.346 W112 01.940
From Brigham City: At the intersection of 1100 South (heading east from
the freeway exit) and US-89, turn right (south) and drive 2.3 miles,
turning left on 3000 South. |
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