Potato Hill Trail with Red Potato, Lexie & Ethan trails
These short trails offer
nice views and greatly increase the area riding options. The Potato Hill trail starts at a trailhead on Traverse Mountain Road
and descends to the
Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST) just west of Coyote Hollow. It's only 1/2 mile in
length. The Red Potato trail extends from the Potato Hill
trailhead west 0.7 miles downhill to the BST just east of Red Rock. At 0.4
miles down Red Potato, the newer Lexie & Ethan trail heads 0.6 mile
west past Red Rock to join the BST near its crossing of Mike Weir Drive.
View west from the overlook on Potato
Hill. Potato Hill trail photos and GPS tracks August 17, 2011 by Bruce.
Red Potato trail added May 20, 2014.
The Potato Hill trailhead parking has been expanded and
paved to meet demand. It's located on Traverse Mountain Road, about half-way
between Highland Drive and the Traverse Mountain summit.
This trailhead also provides a
nice start for riding Ann's
Trail as part the Draper Rim Loop (11.5 miles, 1500 vertical when
you include the Potato Hill trail downhill to the BST at the start of the
ride). And for bigger miles, when you reach the top of Clarks add a loop of
Rush-down, Canyon Hollow-up for a total 17 miles, 2300 vertical.
Here's the
Potato Hill trailhead, on the north
side of Traverse Mountain Road, right below the Roadie Wind Tunnel Balance-test
Section. (You roadies know what I mean.) There are 30 parking places in
the paved lot. If it's full, drop down to the Little
Valley trailhead, just 100 yards down the road.
At the trailhead, the break in the fence on the north is the
bike entry to Red Potato and Potato Hill. The cindered path leaving the east
side of the parking lot (near the bathroom) turns west and crosses the Potato Hill trail before ending 100 yards later at to the
viewpoint over the city. It's worth going up there to look around.
Looking north from the viewpoint at
the end of the cindered path.
The Potato Hill trail lets you create a small (4.6 mile) eastern loop
with the BST, Clark's and Ann's trails. Red Potato lets you combine Ann's
and the BST for a western loop of 6 miles.
A nice beginner ride is a loop
using Potato Hill, BST, and Red Potato. This little loop is only 2.2 miles
with 250 vertical feet of climbing. We decided to call this little ride
"the Potato Soup loop."
Alex Argyle descends Red Potato as we
ride the "Potato Soup" beginner loop before heading on to Ann's
and Rush.
Potato Hill Trail
After the entry through the log fence, the Potato Hill trail is to your
right. About 1/10 mile later, fork hard left to stay on Potato Hill. (Straight ahead is a short connector that continues east a few feet to
Ann's Trail where it enters/exits the underpass.)
Heading northeast toward Corner Canyon
on the Potato Hill trail.
The Potato Hill trail descends a broad valley, turning
slowly east into Corner Canyon. It reaches the Bonneville Shoreline trail
about 1/2 mile west of the junction with Clarks Trail above the Coyote
Hollow trailhead.
Potato Hill is also a great trail for climbing, with gentle slope and
nothing tricky. There's 150 vertical feet of elevation change over the
half-mile between the BST and the Potato Hill trailhead.
Exposed corner as we look north.
Red Potato Trail
Red Potato was added to the trail system in 2014. This descends 0.7 miles as it heads slightly west to the Bonneville
Shoreline Trail. From the Potato Hill parking area, Red Potato forks west to your
left just a few feet after you pass through the gate at the north end of
the trailhead.
View west as Alex Argyle enters Red
Potato, just past the first fence. (The fence on the right is to keep
short-cutters from heading directly up to the viewpoint.)
Red Potato has 250 vertical feet of elevation change as it
descends the mountain from the trailhead. It will join the Bonneville
Shoreline trail about 0.2 miles east of the Red Rock trailhead on Mike
Weir drive.
Alex descends Red Potato. Nicely done,
Draper Trail Crew!
The trail has long traverses with a steady slope,
interrupted by three or four switchbacks -- depending on whether you call
the uppermost turn a switchback. The switchback turns make Red Potato more
challenging for beginning riders than Potato Hill. Walk what you must.
In May 2014, the upper switchbacks on the brand-new
trail are already pretty smooth.
Lexie & Ethan Trail
The Lexie & Ethan trail forks off Red Potato at a switchback 0.4 miles from the Potato Hill trailhead; 0.3 miles from the
origin of Red Potato on the Bonneville Shoreline trail. Lexie & Ethan
extends westward past Red Rock to end on the Bonneville Shoreline (BST)
just before it crosses Mike Weir Drive.
View from upper Red Potato. The fork where Lexie
& Ethan begins can be seen. Red Potato drops downhill, while Lexie
& Ethan contours around the hill just below the homes.
Lexie & Ethan is 0.6 miles long with about 100 vertical
feet of elevation gain from the BST to its junction with Red Potato. As a
machine-cut trail, the surface is broad and easy to ride.
Passing through a maple grove.
The Lexie & Ethan trail passes just above the top of Red
Rocks -- literally just 10 feet away from the drop-off. Rock climbers may
be just out of sight below you.
View from the top of the Red Rocks.
At around the middle of the trail, a hiking trail heads
eastbound toward Red rocks. If you're heading downhill, keep straight. If
climbing, keep right and uphill.
Looking east toward the rock climbing area.
The trail ends on the Bonneville Shoreline trail (BST) just
east of the Mike Weir Drive crossing.
A nice easy loop ride is to start from the Red Rocks (Mike Weir Drive) trail head and
ride the BST to Red Potato. Fork right uphill and climb to Lexie &
Ethan and fork right again. Now descend back to the BST and fork right to
return to the trailhead access. This loop is only 1.6 miles with 150 feet
of total climbing. It's an easy outing for beginning riders. (See the
video below.)
Another stretch of shady maple near the bottom.
Another nice loop ride is to start from the Potato Hill or
Little Valley trailheads. This is a bit longer but still easy. My sample
ride (see GPS track) starts at Little Valley -- because parking is often
full at Potato Hill -- for a ride of 3.4 miles with 450 feet of total
climbing.
On the Bonneville Shoreline trail just east of the
Mike Weir trailhead, doing a fun little loop with Red Potato.
A little beginner's loop on
Lexie & Ethan...
If the above video does not appear on your
browser/device, you can watch it on YouTube by clicking
here.
Sample Ride: Eastern Potato Hill mini-loop
This loop descends Potato Hill and heads east on the BST. It climbs Clarks
to Anns, which returns us to the trailhead area.
Eastern Potato Hill mini-loop, clockwise:
0.0 North, then L after fence N40 29.305 W111 50.924
Go NW up to viewpoint N40 29.326 W111 50.968
Backtrack to fence, veer L (east)
0.2 L (North) downhill on Potato Hill N40 29.286 W111 50.845
0.7 Keep straight (east) on BST N40 29.479 W111 50.539
1.3 Straight (R) over bridge to Clarks N40 29.562 W111 50.220
2.6 Hard R onto Ann's N40 29.204 W111 49.380
4.6 R onto connector to Potato Hill N40 29.266 W111 50.815
4.8 Back at trailhead
Descending Potato Hill toward the BST.
Sample Ride: Western Red Potato mini-loop
This ride climbs Ann's westbound to the Maple Hollow area
then descends to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. The route goes eastbound
on the BST to climb Red Potato back to the trailhead. As an alternative,
you can fork onto Lexie & Ethan and climb that trail to the second
switchback of Red Potato.
Alex heads east on the Bonneville
Shoreline Trail as we approach Potato Hill.
Western Red Potato mini-loop, clockwise:
0.0 North through fence N40 29.305 W111 50.924
then R (east) downhill toward Ann's N40 29.286 W111 50.845
R into underpass N40 29.270 W111 50.837
Keep L as Little Valley forks R
1.5 Straight as Maple Hollow joins from L N40 28.647 W111 51.340
1.6 L as Maple Hollow drops R N40 28.635 W111 51.343
3.5 R onto road N40 28.880 W111 52.017
then rapid L onto singletrack
4.0 Under road N40 29.054 W111 51.965
At tunnel exit, fork R on BST N40 29.075 W111 51.989
4.9 Cross street, L uphill on ST N40 29.163 W111 51.645
5.3 Keep L uphill (R = down to TH) N40 29.295 W111 51.338
Then straight (180-R = Red Rock
trail)
5.4 R uphill on Red Potato
5.7 Hard L (R = Lexie & Ethan) N40 29.250 W111 51.211
6.1 Back at Potato Hill TH
Sample Ride: Beginner "Potato Soup" Loop
This ride descends Red Potato, forks to the right
(eastbound) on the Bonneville Shoreline trail, then climbs back up Potato
Hill. It's suitable for beginners at 2.2 miles and 250 vertical feet of
climbing.
0.0 Through fence at TH N40 29.312 W111 50.934
then L down Red Potato
0.4 Hard R (L = Lexie & Ethan) N40 29.250 W111 51.211
0.7 Hard R onto BST N40 29.344 W111 51.156
1.6 Hard R uphill onto Potato Hill N40 29.477 W111 50.532
2.1 Hard R uphill to stay on Potato Hill N40 29.285 W111 50.843
Straight = to Ann's
2.2 L into parking
Heading eastbound, Alex approaches the
intersection between the Bonneville Shoreline and Potato Hill on the
Potato Soup Loop.
Sample Ride: Beginner Lexie & Ethan Loop - from
Red Rock TH
This ride starts at the Mike Weir (Red Rock) trailhead with a left turn
onto the eastbound BST. It uses half of Red Potato as the climb, Lexie
westbound, then the BST to return. Quick, easy, and only a touch of
climbing.
0.0 Uphill 300 feet from Mike Weir TH
L turn onto BST N40 29.295 W111 51.342
0.3 R uphill on Red Potato N40 29.332 W111 51.146
0.6 R on Lexie & Ethan N40 29.250 W111 51.211
1.2 R onto BST N40 29.175 W111 51.581
1.5 L downhill towards TH N40 29.295 W111 51.342
1.6 At parking
At the trail fork of Lexie & Ethan from Red Potato.
Sample Ride: Potato Bow-Tie -- a Figure 8
of Draper's best
This awesome ride comes highly recommended. It can be
managed by early-intermediates with reasonable leg endurance. The figure
eight is 12.2 miles, with 6 miles on each side of the bow-tie. You can cut
the ride in half at the mid-point if you need to. Total climbing will be
around 1500 feet.
Begin the ride from the Potato Hill trailhead by taking the Potato Hill
trail over to Ann's Trail and heading east. (Leave Potato Hill at the
first fork by keeping straight and heading for the tunnel. Don't enter the
tunnel. Keep left on eastbound Ann's.)
Alex Argyle is almost to the Clark's
intersection on Ann's.
Climb to the top of Ann's and join Clarks to reach the Peak
View Trailhead. Now plunge down Rush. Bail off Rush when Canyon Hollow
crosses it near the bottom and take lower Canyon Hollow over to Coyote
Hollow, where you'll climb up to the Bonneville Shoreline trail westbound.
Fork uphill on Potato Hill. Near the trailhead, join Ann's, but this
time, go to the right and pass through the tunnel. Head west (consider the
fun detour on Little Valley) climbing Ann's then descending back to the
BST.
Take the BST eastbound to Lexie & Ethan or to Red Potato, then climb up to the
Potato Hill trailhead. (The ride description assumes you'll do Red
Potato.)
Alex plunges down Rush on the
figure-eight ride.
Potato Bow-Tie Figure-eight Ride:
0.0 At TH, R on Potato Hill N40 29.312 W111 50.930
0.1 Straight at fork N40 29.286 W111 50.844
L (eastbound) on Ann's N40 29.276 W111 50.834
2.2 Straight (R) and join Clark's N40 29.204 W111 49.382
2.4 Peak View TH. L on Rush N40 29.292 W111 49.247
2.8 L on Rush (R = The Trees) N40 29.266 W111 49.430
3.2 The Trees rejoins N40 29.461 W111 49.435
3.9 Keep L (R = to Canyon Hollow) N40 29.670 W111 49.583
4.5 L on Canyon Hollow N40 29.715 W111 49.928
4.9 Keep L, then L uphill N40 29.618 W111 50.312
(Straight = to Coyote Hollow TH)
5.1 L on Bonneville Shoreline N40 29.560 W111 50.233
5.6 L on Potato Hill N40 29.479 W111 50.535
6.1 Straight (L = to TH) N40 29.286 W111 50.844
then R into Tunnel on Ann's
westbound
6.3 Straight (R = Little Valley
option) N40 29.175 W111 50.816
6.5 Keep L (R = Little Valley) N40 29.061 W111 50.916
7.5 Maple Hollow joinsN40 28.649 W111 51.339
200 ft, then keep L on Ann's N40 28.635 W111 51.342
8.0 Keep straight (L = to Maple Hollow TH)
N40 28.493 W111 51.586
9.6 R on Bonneville Shoreline N40 28.874 W111 52.037
10.0 Through tunnel, R on BST (L = Oak Hollow)
N40 29.075 W111 51.989
10.9 Cross road N40 29.166 W111 51.652
Keep L (R = Lexie & Ethan N40 29.178 W111 51.585)
11.2 Keep R (L = to TH) N40 29.294 W111 51.344
then stay on BST (R = Red
Rocks)
11.4 R onto Red Potato N40 29.344 W111 51.156
11.7 Hard L (R = Lexie & Ethan) N40 29.250 W111 51.211
12.2 Back at TH
Getting there: Take the Bluffdale exit from I-15 and turn
east towards the mountains on Highland Drive. At the light at the top of
the hill, turn right on Traverse Mountain Road. After one
mile, pass Mike Weir Drive on your left. Look for the Potato Hill TH on your left about mile 1.3 from the
light.
Note: See the Ann's Trail page (or click link
to topo map below) for overview of some other loop ride options. For a
nearby easy ride, see the Little Valley
page.
Bathrooms: At Potato Hill trailhead.
Water: None at the trailhead
Camping: No
Dogs: On leash (Dogs NOT allowed on Maple Hollow
DH, Rush, or Ghost
Falls!)
