Across the road from the Wasatch Mountain State Park Visitor's Center in Midway lie 10 miles of singletrack trail. The trails range from very easy (Huber Grove, a broad cindered path with minimal climbing) to very hard (Visitor Center Loop). The favorite ride here is Crows Nest, a moderately strenuous loop that climbs to a viewpoint in Snake Creek Canyon. As of 2015, there's was no fee to park at the visitor center and use these trails -- but expect this to change! (The usual state park fee for Wasatch Mountain is $10 per car, $5 senior -- 2021 rate.)

Looking northeast on the Epperson Trail on the lower mountain. Photos and trail review on August 18, 2015 by Bruce.

The jump-off for the trails is the Wasatch Mountain State Park visitor's center, at the fork between Pine Canyon Road (Highway 222) and Snake Creek Road (220). There are bathrooms, picnic tables, a fishing pond, and a little store, all surrounded by the golf course.

Looking north from the parking lot towards the fishing pond. The visitor center store is just to the right.

From the south end of the parking lot, the cindered Huber Grove trail crosses the Snake Creek road. This is your connection to the singletrack trails. Note that (as of August 2015) the maps at the trailhead do not correspond to the markers on the trails themselves. Hopefully my description will help you make sense of the trail system.

Ready to get started. The wide cindered Huber Grove trail takes you across Snake Creek Road, then connects to the narrow singletracks.

Huber Grove connects uphill to the singletrack system via the Epperson Trail at mile 0.2, 0.5, and 0.7 from parking. Epperson is your connection to the upper mountain.

We've reached the first trail fork on Huber Grove. To the right, the Epperson Trail climbs up the mountain.

The southeast end of Epperson climbs up from Huber Grove through a couple of turns, then has a trail fork extending to a neighborhood road. Turn right uphill to head for the main trail system. The trail is narrow but suitable for suitable for experienced beginners.

The Epperson Trail climbs gently northwest parallel to Huber Grove to reach a 5-way trail intersection which is the entry portal to the upper mountain.  Here at the 5-way the northern limb of Epperson heads downhill to rejoin Huber Grove just before Snake Creek Road. Linking the two limbs of Epperson to Huber Grove creates a 1.7-mile beginner lariat loop ride.

Eastbound on Epperson. Smooth and easy pedaling.

Once you reach the 5-way, whether via the southern limb of Epperson (easier) or the northern limb (steeper), your next available ride is Spring Pond. This is a fairly easy little loop that's also suitable for experienced beginners or early intermediates. The loop is just under a mile in length, returning you back to the 5-way.

Looking uphill on Spring Pond at the 5-way. This route would give you a clockwise ride around the loop.

Too late!!!  The mules ear flowers have shriveled to crunchy brown bacon strips by August. This meadow on the upper half of the Spring Pond loop would have been a riot of blossoms in June.

Looking north from the trail toward Spring Pond. Now re-christened August Not-a-pond.

From the 5-way, the Turnberry Woods trail heads southeast, absolutely flat, along a pipeline corridor. (As you look around the five-way, it's the flat trail between the southern limb of the Epperson Trail heading east downhill and the eastern end of the Spring Pond loop trail climbing south uphill.)

All of the connectors to Links Drive (there are three) are apparently called the Turnberry Woods Trail. This includes the lower trail connecting the bottom of Epperson to Links Drive. To avoid confusion, I've labeled the upper trail with "(pipeline)" on the map.

All the Turnberry Woods trails head southeast before dropping down to pavement on Links Drive.

Looking southeast from near the water tank. The Crater is a travertine dome over a deep hot springs. Inside you'll find scuba diving and snorkeling. (Smoke-choked view courtesy of forest fires in Oregon.)

The official Crows Nest Loop is at the highest point of the trail system. When riding the Spring Pond loop counterclockwise, you can get to the Crows Nest Loop via the twisty Wild Turkey trail, 0.4 miles from the 5-way. Or you can continue another 0.2 miles to a straighter trail that I'm guessing is called the Crows Nest Trail. Either way, it's 0.7 miles with 350 vertical feet of climbing to reach the upper loop. At this point, a 0.3 mile trail rolls across the mountain between the Crows Nest Trail and Wild Turkey to form the bottom of the Crows Nest Loop.

Heading through maple forest on the northern side of the Crows Nest Loop.

Looking down from the Crows Nest toward a pond on the golf course.

View northeast toward the Pioneer Peak and Lake Mary area. On the other side of these granite ridges are the Cottonwood canyons.

The riding surface is fairly smooth. The track is narrow, but not painfully so. On the southern limb, thick tall grass occasionally caught in the rear drivetrain. But 2015 saw extremely tall vegetation so this may not be an issue during other years.

Descending eastbound through maple forest, on a rare flat stretch.

In 2015, this loop is overgrown and in serious need of some TLC. The tread is very narrow and often littered with loose rock. Oak brush is encroaching on the trail, making it impossible to get through some areas without scratches. Until it sees some pruning, consider it an adventure ride.

The Visitor Center Loop also starts and ends at the 5-way, sharing a short bit of trail at the bottom with the Spring Pond Loop. The loop is 1.6 miles in length, with around 500 feet of climbing.

The north side of the loop lies in maple forest with grass understory.

The southern piece of the loop runs to the ridgeline. It's very narrow with occasional chunky rock. Encroaching oak brush will scratch your arms and shins. This forces you to creep along, messing up what could otherwise be a satisfying ride. (Please let me know when the trail receives maintenance, so I can edit this less-than-stellar review.)

Descending on the south side of the Visitor Center Loop, I sucked my elbows against my stomach to minimize the interaction with scratchy oak branches. 

Wasatch Mountain State Park fee:  $10 per vehicle, $5 for seniors (2021 rate). This was NOT being collected for parking at the visitor's center during my ride in 2015, but self-service fee stations were installed in 2016 for all of Wasatch Mountain State Park's Pine Canyon (WOW trail) and Dutch Hollow. So come prepared to pay a fee and consider yourself lucky if you don't.

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