Redford Run Trail in Alpine - Access to Lambert Park

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Lambert Access Trails
Redford Run and Lone Peak Wilderness Trails

This page describes two routes along the east side of Alpine that feed into Lambert Park. Most likely, only locals will find these trails of interest. Redford Run goes down a corridor between homes, crossing a few streets. Meanwhile, the Lone Peak Wilderness trail (LPWT), commonly called the Lambert Access Trail, runs higher on the hill. (An act of Congress in late 2022 has redrawn the Lone Peak Wilderness borders, so the LPWT is now LEGAL for bikes!)

Looking north on the Lone Peak Wilderness trail near Lambert Park. Photos of Redford Run from May 13, 2018 and photos of LPWT by Bruce on June 4, 2019.

Redford Run Trail

The Redford Run trail is a very easy, almost flat trail that runs along the High Bench Ditch irrigation canal in Alpine. It's only 1.1 miles long, but is important to local riders because it provides a dirt route into the southern end of Lambert Park.

All of Redford Run lies within Alpine City boundaries.

Looking north on Redford Run. Lone Peak dominates the view in the distance.

This trail is an excellent choice for a quick ride by the overweight and out of shape, or true raw beginning riders. It's also a great trail for very small children. (Don't worry about the canal. It's almost impossible for anyone to fall into it. And if they do, it's usually almost dry.)

There's parking at the end of Bald Mountain Drive at the south end of Lambert Park. But there's no trail parking for Redford Run to the south. Locals pedal or hike to the trail.

The trail is shaded for 90% of its distance. Cool. And no sunburn.

The southbound trail diverts onto Preston Drive high on Alpine's east bench at mile 0.7 from Lambert Park. When southbound, drop downhill on pavement and turn left into Preston Circle (labeled Holly Circle on Google). At the end of the circle, Redford Run continues straight and a bit downhill. (The left-hand trail climbs to the Lone Peak Wilderness trail.)

One of the rare spots where the trail isn't under trees right alongside the canal. Looking north.

Southbound Redford Run ends at mile 1.1 on Moon Drive. If your destination was Highland or the mouth of American Fork Canyon, you'll need to backtrack to Preston Circle and climb steeply up to the Lone Peak Wilderness Trail.

Connecting bridge from the singletrack that runs along 300 North.

Northbound, the trail can be hard to find. There are signs, but they're tiny, low to the ground, and may be partially hidden by brush. On Moon Lane, there are two trails about 100 yards apart that merge into a single northbound trail. The upper trail is the official route.

Along the way north from Moon Lane, the trail will dump onto Preston Circle. Go out to Preston Drive, turn right uphill, and pedal about 150 yards to find the tiny, hard-to-spot singletrack on the left. The road you'll cross is Lone Peak Drive.

View south as the trail crosses Bald Mountain Drive southbound.

The next street will be 300 North. There's a wooden bridge leading to a 0.2 mile connector along the south side of 300 North. The pitch of this short trail is fine for experienced riders, but may stop children. It ends with a bridge across the canal, which most riders simply ignore, choosing to dip through the canal.

The next road is Bald Mountain Drive. Cross to the far side to continue north. (Bald Mountain is the road to the parking area at the south end of Lambert Park.)

This trail is so flat, it feels like it's downhill in both directions! The wider gray stripe on the left is the canal; dry at this point. The trail is the smaller gray stripe slightly to the right.

Northbound after crossing Bald Mountain, you'll see the Corkscrew trail of Lambert Park climbing the hill on your right. Take Corkscrew to begin your Lambert ride. (You may also notice a trail angling north below Corkscrew, which is a "social trail" connector to Flank. The official Flank trail fork is about 100 feet uphill on Corkscrew.)

If you continue north on Redford Run, you'll hit the broad parking zone. Look for the hole in the cement barrier. From there, follow the flat doubletrack north to the High Bench trailhead area.

The Redford Run trail emerges from the trees just south of the parking area at the end of Bald Mountain Drive.

Lone Peak Wilderness Trail

The Lone Peak Wilderness trail (LPWT) runs 2.6 miles from the mouth of American Fork Canyon to the uphill edge of Lambert Park. While it's mainly used by local trail runners, it does provide a continuous trail from AF Canyon to Lambert Park, and is often referred to as the "Lambert Access trail."

Looking north toward Lone Peak on the LPWT. These photos June 4, 2019.

Note! In the past, the LPWT ran inside the borders of the Lone Peak Wilderness. The wilderness borders have been moved, so the entire trail is now legal for bikes and can become the official route for the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

Just uphill from the gravel pit near the mouth of American Fork Canyon. From this sign, the trail descends to just a few feet away from the backyard of some homes. There are connections here to neighborhood paved trails!

I'll divide the trail into three segments:
AF Canyon to Highland, 0.5 miles. Infrequently used but has a big parking lot for non-residents. Note that most trail users don't actually start at the American Fork Canyon parking lot, but will catch a connector within Highland or Alpine.
Highland's Shoreline Drive to Alpine's Preston Drive, 1.4 miles. Fairly plush trail, easier intermediate overall.
Preston Drive to Lambert Park, 0.9 miles. Steep side-slopes, occasional steep spots, some tech challenges. Upper-intermediate with a few short expert sections.

Looking out over Alpine from the northern section of the trail.

American Fork Canyon mouth to Highland

Head east toward the canyon from the parking lot, then find the trail turning north (left) and climbing steeply up the hill. You'll pass between the water tank and the gravel pit in a relatively torn-up area before reaching the wilderness border fence at mile 0.4. Coast 1/10th mile down to the fence along the homes and start the next segment.

Photo about a mile from AF Canyon. The terrain on the first segment is basically cheat grass and gravel.

Highland to Preston Drive

A paved trail runs from Shoreline Drive at its easternmost turn. If you started in the subdivision, drop down off the pavement and go through the fence. Turn left (north).

In 0.2 miles, there's a trail fork. What appears to be the main trail straight ahead just goes to local homes. It looks like the main trail because so many riders go down it (and back) by accident. Instead, fork to the right uphill.

Looking north, about 1/2 mile from Preston Drive.

At mile 0.7 from Highland, keep right and uphill as the Hope Trail heads down to the big corral and buildings at Bridle Up Hope (not a public access).

Then at mile 1.0, keep right and uphill. The trail heading downhill to the left joins Redford Run at Preston Circle. (Many riders choose this option, dropping down to Redford Run to avoid the more-techy northern end of the trail.) A bit uphill from the Redford Run connector, keep left and level as the trail from Preston Circle leaves the LPWT to climb uphill.

A short stretch of the trail is designated the Hope Trail where it runs across private property.

At mile 1.4 from Highland, the trail hits Preston Drive. Find the next segment across the street. (If you want to go to Redford Run, it's 0.3 miles down Preston Drive.)

Looking south on a bit of meandering trail.

Preston Drive to Lambert Park

This northern mile of LPWT is more technical. There are two rough steep canyons you'll drop through. I'd rate it as upper-intermediate overall, with some walkable sections for non-experts. The side-slope here is often steep, and the tread is narrow with occasional pedal-banging rocks and stumps.

A bit steeper, a bit rougher already. But wait.

Northbound, the only trail fork is at mile 0.7 where left and downhill takes you to the southern end of Ziggy near the top of the rebuilt Zag. If you continue straight, the trail will take you to an old doubletrack. Veer a bit downhill, then find the northbound Ziggy. NOTE! Trail connections have changed with the rebuild of Lambert Park's southern end.

Tight switchback just north of Preston Drive.

At the northern end of the LPWT, you can connect to Lambert Park's trail system. Your options for descending include Pepper (green flow), Blue Suede (blue flow), Hooked on a Feeling (black alternate that descends to Blue Suede), and Zag (two-way multi-purpose trail).

Southbound, we're about to drop steeply into this rocky ravine.

If you continue to traverse the hillside on the rebuilt Ziggy, you'll arrive at a trail fork where Ziggy turns downhill and the (foot traffic only) wilderness trail heads up into the canyon.

Looking south, shortly after leaving Lambert Park.

Getting there:
Note that these are not considered "destination" trails. They're primarily used by locals to pedal to Lambert Park. But you're welcome to explore them.

Redford Run: There's parking at the north end at the Bald Mountain parking area. As you drive into Alpine, turn onto 100 South in Alpine. Drive east until you're forced to turn at Country Manor Lane. Go left. At 300 North, turn right, then take the next left on Bald Mountain Drive. Go to the end of the road and park.
There are no bathrooms at the Bald Mountain trailhead; nearest bathroom at High Bench trailhead (see Lambert Park page.)

Lone Peak Wilderness Trail: If you're coming from the far south end, you can use the American Fork Canyon parking lot on SR-92 -- to your left right before you enter the canyon. From here, find a trail heading steeply uphill to the north, skirt the gravel pit area, and find the break in the fence before descending north. There's a bathroom at this trailhead.
You can also access the southern end via paved trail off Shoreline Drive in Highland, above the gravel pit. There's no trailhead here. It's a pedal-in access for locals.
There's a tiny parking spot for two cars high on Preston Drive in Alpine. This is approximately at the trail's midpoint. It's on the left side of the street with the northbound trail just uphill, southbound trail opposite.
The north end of the trail is high on the mountain in Lambert Park. You can reach it from upper Ziggy, near the start of Lambert Park's downhill flow trails.

For connections to south-end trails at Lambert Park, see the Lambert south trails page.

Riding resources:
     Trail maps...
         Launch map in separate window for printing
     Lambert Park pages...
         Lambert Park overview
         North Trails   West Trails South Trails
     GPS track files (right-click a file and select "save as..."):
         Redford Run track     LPWT track
         Multi-track area file
      Lodging, camping, shops:      Links to northern county resources