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Stakeout Trail System, lower trails
Lacey's Loops (Kyhv Peak Circles), Luna's Trail, Pole CanyonThe Stakeout Trails are narrow singletrack trails on forested slope at the mouth
of Provo Canyon. This page covers the area known as Lacey's Loops -- also
known as the Kyhv Peak Circles -- and includes Luna's Trail and Pole
Canyon. The trails are
upper-intermediate in technical difficulty because they are narrow and
occasionally bumpy. The expected riding season is June
through September.
View up Provo Canyon as the sun first hits Timpanogos.
Photos and ride review July 8, 2016 by Bruce. Updated June 2018.
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| The Lacey's Loops and Luna's trails lie in a zone from 5300 to 6300 feet in elevation
on a north-facing slope. The area is heavily forested with occasional
meadows and view breakouts. The summer pedaling is surprisingly cool for
this altitude. The trails follow natural breaks in the trees with no bench-cuts.
Occasional spots have hand-tool smoothing, but much of the trail was
constructed by bike tires wearing away the brush and grass. The result is very narrow singletrack that weaves through the trees.
There are no trail signs; so expect to "explore" a bit.
Looking east at Cascade Mountain. |
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The "Dell" trails continue uphill from Lacey's
Loops, creating a narrow singletrack route all the way to the Buffalo
Peak trail. From the top of Lacey's Loops, the trails are: lower
Erindell, upper Erindell, Ellendell to a bit of Kyhv Peak DH, Overlook
Connector to upper Overlook, then Ashleedell to Buffalo. This is a good climbing route for the Kyhv
Peak downhill route, but a lot more work than grinding up the road.
All these trails are very narrow and unmarked, so accurate maps and a GPS
track are highly recommended.
Mules Ear blossoms on the upper Erindell trail as we
climb higher from Lacey's Loops. |
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Main Kyhv Peak parking
The main parking for Kyhv Peak is a large lot, located one mile up the Kyhv
Peak road. See the map. The featured ride below starts here. At the
far uphill corner of the parking area, find the singletrack BST Access
Trail and follow it uphill to the Bonneville Shoreline trail. Then turn
right on the BST. 100 yards later, fork left uphill on the faint Lacey's
Connector. (Note: Kyhv Peak was formerly known as "Squaw Peak."
Kyhv is pronounced "kive" and is the Ute word for
"mountain.")
This is the trail from the parking along the Kyhv Peak road, looking east from my car. Brand new in 2016. The trail, not the car. |
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From the BST
There are three connectors from the BST to Lacey's Loops.
East to west, these are Pole Canyon, Lacey's Connector, and Luna's trail.
When riding
from Nunn's Park on the BST, you'll notice a small trail heading uphill at
mile 2.1 of the singletrack. This is the Pole Canyon Trail. It can get you to the
circles. (This route has some steeper climbing.) Climb uphill 0.3 miles in
the shallow ravine then fork right on the Pole Canyon Connector trail. In 0.2 miles it will
deliver you to the eastern end of the main circle.
We've turned westbound on the Bonneville Shoreline.
Just 200 feet to the connecting trail.
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The Lacey's Connector is at mile 2.6 from where you turned
onto the BST from the paved Provo Canyon Parkway. It's easy to overlook.
Turn left uphill and pedal 0.4 miles to the lower side of the loops.
Luna's trail at mile 2.9 of the BST can also get you to Lacey's. Turn
left uphill and climb 0.9 miles. Fork left on a narrow connector trail
just before Lacey's ends on the Kyhv Peak road.This connector will take
you 1/10th mile to the west side of the upper loop.
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| Kyhv Peak Road entries Access to the trail system can be directly from the
Kyhv Peak Road, but there's only space for a couple of cars at the "wide
spots" where the trail connects to the road. There are a few spots where you can
quickly connect to the trails
from the Kyhv Peak Road.
The first is at the top of Luna's Trail. 2.7
miles up the road is a gravel shoulder on the left. A trail drops off here
and quickly splits. Luna's is straight ahead. If you make a right turn on
the narrower trail, it will take you over to the western side of the main
circle.
Looking up Provo Canyon. The limestone cliffs formed
in an ocean trough around 350 million years ago.
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The next corner of the paved road (mile 2.9) has a trail entry.
As the road turns to the right, there's a wide spot for parking on the
left. A trail passes between two boulders. After just 100 feet, it hits
the lower Erindell trail just uphill from the big circle. Go left downhill
to arrive at Lacey's Loops.
This is a connector from the paved road, headed for
the Erindell trail above the upper circle. |
| You can also reach the loops from the spot where Erindell
crosses the Kyhv Peak Road. At mile 3.6, you'll see what appears to be a
dirt road on the right. There's room for one car here. At the end of this
short spur are a couple of large boulders, and a singletrack trail going
uphill between them (upper Erindell).
From the mouth of that doubletrack, if you go down the pavement about
100 feet you'll find singletrack on the opposite side of the road. Descend
lower Erindell 0.8 miles to the loops.
Passing through stands of fir while descending
Erindell to Lacey's. |
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Navigating Lacey's Loops... |
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My ride starts at the large parking area one mile up
the Kyhv Peak road. Keep straight at
mile 0.2 as a trail crosses. Turn right
on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST) at mile 0.5. Now watch carefully for a trail on your left 200 feet later.
Going
uphill from the BST, there were some formerly-damp spots where sedges had overgrown the
trail. But just keep riding straight and generally uphill, and the trail
quickly returns. You'll arrive at the bottom of the main circle about 1/2 mile from the BST.
There aren't any tricky spots, but the winding narrow
tread and encroaching trees make this a ride for very experienced
intermediates or advanced riders. |
| The trails are unmarked, both at the entries and at trail
forks. It's easy to encounter a trail fork and not realize you've already
been there as you blow through in the opposite direction. You may exit the
system without intending to.
Looking northeast. The lower part of the main circle
falls on a natural shoulder of the hillside.
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Many of the side trails are hard to spot as they fork away. This often
depends on the direction you're riding. If you're confused, stop thinking
and just cruise around until you've been everywhere.
The trail is narrow and twisty. Handlebar clearance
is occasionally tight. |
| The first trail fork is -- the way I saw things -- the
bottom of the big circle. I'm going to recommend you go right at the first
trail fork for a counterclockwise trip around the circle. The west side of
the circle will be your climbing route.
You'll quickly
encounter a second trail fork. Go right again. (Turning left here just
takes you a short distance to the opposite side of the circle. Kind of a
short-circuit creating a baby loop at the bottom of the big circle.)
On the east side of the big circle.
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The trail will continue uphill. At the next trail fork, at
mile 1.3 from parking, a smaller trail goes right. Go left. (The right
fork takes you over to the top of Luna's Trail.)
Your next fork is the top of the big circle at mile 1.7. This fork was
quite indistinct on the day of my ride, so watch for it! To complete
the circle, go left. If you're heading on up -- saving the eastern side of
the circle for your downhill -- go to the right uphill on the Erindell
trail.
The lower area of the mountain is a mix of oak,
maple, and occasional box elder. There are small meadows. |
| Assuming you kept right to climb uphill, you'll reach
another fork at mile 1.9 where you should keep left. (This trail fork is a
popular "party spot" with fire circles and trampled vegetation.
The course of the trails may be indistinct here. The right fork goes
about 200 feet to the paved road.)
Heading on uphill, you'll reach the paved road at mile 2.5. Go left
about 100 feet on pavement, then leave the road to the right on what looks like doubletrack. It
quickly turns to the singletrack upper Erindell trail at the boulders.
And here's the entry to the upper Erindell trail. There's room
for a car to park here.
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1/10th mile from the road,
keep straight as a fainter trail crosses. You'll make a 1/3-mile loop to
the west, then return to this spot. Then you cross
over your original route on this fainter trail. My ride track below takes
a loop around this alternate line on upper Erindell. It turns downhill when the loop is
complete. It does not climb to the viewpoint road.
The upper trail area is loaded with Mules Ear in
meadows between maples and stands of gambel oak. |
| On the way downhill, turn to the right 0.8 miles after
crossing the road. This will put you on the eastern half of the loop. Go
another 0.8 miles and fork left. The trail to the right is the Pole Canyon
Connector.
At the next trail fork, both routes will take you over to the western
side of the loop. Left is that first "short circuit" trail, and
right is the direct route to the bottom of the circle. Now retrace your
route back downhill.
Although there's an occasional "smoothing
dig" the trail was created by "wearing down" from bike
tires.
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Riding notes from lower parking:
0.0 Trail far east uphill end
N40 19.393 W111 37.957
0.2 Cross trail, keep uphill
N40 19.276 W111 37.886
0.5 R on BST N40 19.116 W111 37.815
0.55 L on connector trail
N40 19.124 W111 37.868
0.9 L to enter big circle N40 18.902 W111 37.682
1.1 Fork L (R = short circuit)
N40 18.852 W111 37.696
1.3 Fork R (L = over to Luna's)
N40 18.751 W111 37.756
1.7 Keep R uphill (top of circle!)
N40 18.687 W111 37.609
1.9 Fork L (R = over to road)
N40 18.604 W111 37.617
2.5 L on paved road N40 18.478 W111 37.641 |
2.55 R on DT to ST N40 18.476 W111 37.617
2.6 Keep straight N40 18.441 W111 37.644
3.0 Back at crossing from 2.6, fork L
N40 18.441 W111 37.644
3.1 L on road 100 ft, then R on ST (retracing)
N40 18.478 W111 37.641
3.9 Fork R for east side of circle
N40 18.687 W111 37.609
4.6 Fork L (R = Pole Canyon connector)
N40 18.891 W111 37.460
5.0 Keep R (L = short circuit)
N40 18.897 W111 37.590
5.1 End circle, go R N40 18.902 W111 37.682
5.5 Back at BST, go R N40 19.124 W111 37.868
200 feet, then L off BST N40 19.116 W111 37.815
5.8 Keep straight N40 19.276 W111 37.886
6.0 Back at parking |
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Getting there...
Kyhv Peak Trailhead: On US-189 eastbound about a mile up the
canyon, turn right on the Kyhv Peak Road. Drive one mile uphill and turn
left into the large parking area. Return to the road for a pavement climb,
or find the singletrack BST Access trail at the uphill east end. N40 19.393 W111 37.956
Kyhv
Peak Overlook: Drive up the Kyhv Peak road to the fork
at mile 4.5 and turn right to drive up to the overlook parking. Coast back
downhill to the trail fork. On the downhill corner of the fork is the
Erindell trail. About 60 feet from the fork on the overlook road, the
Ellendell trail heads uphill. |
Luna's entry: 2.7 miles up the Kyhv Peak Road, spot a gravel
shoulder on the left. Luna's drops down there. The connector trail forks
immediately to the right.
Middle (lower Erindell) entry: At 2.9 uphill, the road turns right with gravel
shoulder on the left. The trail enters between the boulders. About 100
yards later, you'll reach the Erindell trail. Go downhill (left) to reach
Lacey's Loops.
Upper (upper Erindell) entry: At mile 3.6 there's a doubletrack on the right.
It's blocked by large boulders, with the trail entry between them. This is
upper Erindell. The
downhill trail (lower Erindell) is across the road 100 feet back down the pavement.
BST Nunn's Park TH: Eastbound in Provo Canyon on US-189, go two miles up Provo Canyon
to the Nunns
Park exit and turn right into the parking lot. Pedal uphill on paved trail,
then turn right on the BST singletrack N40 20.280 W111 36.475. |
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