This is a gorgeous trail just west of Utah Lake. You gain elevation quickly and get rewarded with great views. It is a relatively mild trail allowing SUV's of all sorts to reach the mines and enjoy a day away from the city. This trail also serves as a quick emergency exit to the more challenging trails in the network in case you have any breakages, injuries, or other emergencies. Although there are no major obstacles, it is a nice trail to cruise up or down if you are in the area.
Trail Difficulty and Assessment
Exclusive for our All-Access Members
Easily identify whether the trail is stock friendly
or not.
View 14 specific concerns along the trail such as
height and width restrictions.
Upgrade from free to our All-Access Membership and get
every detail, waypoint, photo, and more on every single
trail guide.
When you are an All-Access member, our trail guides
come with a short video of the author running the trail
to give you a visual understanding of what to expect.
Begin heading west on 2100 N. Follow until you run into Utah 68. Turn south on 68 and follow a short distance until you intersect Utah 73 (Main St.). Turn west on Utah 73 and drive just under a mile, where you will veer right to continue on Utah 73. Continue for 22.4 miles until the turnoff for the air down lot on the right.
From the Provo Valley, take I15 north until exit 279 for Utah 73 (Sunshine Canyon Road) and follow 27.4 miles until the turnoff for the air down lot on the right.
I feel like the trail reviews up to this point are a little harsh on this fun little trail. I took the family up this in my mostly-stock Tacoma and we had a lot of fun. For someone who is not a very experienced offroader this provides a fun way to experience various types of trail conditions. While it does start out as a mostly flat dirt road it quickly turns into a somewhat-tight winding trail that puts you mildly off-camber at various times. There are some 6-8" rocks all throughout the trail and a few steep shelves which won't pose a challenge to a 4x4 (especially in 4lo--which admittedly probably isn't required) but that I bet would be pretty tough in 2wd (I wouldn't recommend this to any 2wd vehicle even though the rating says it should be fine). The "fun little hill" was a lot of fun; for my unlifted truck we definitely scraped during breakover, though not enough that I would have been concerned about high-centering. A longer truck might be an issue.
We did encounter quite a few others on this trail; mostly 4 wheelers and dirt bikes, but we did see a few other full sized vehicles. Most of them were going down as it was the exit to some of the harder trails, but we did also hit a train of Toyotas going up. There aren't always a ton of great places to pass, but overall not too difficult to work it out.
My family had a lot of fun. The kids really enjoyed the small whoops and mild off-camber parts. The views at the top were nice and scenic. It might not be too exciting for experienced off roaders, but it's a great way to dip your toe into something more difficult than dirt roads. I agree with the rating of 2 on this.
This basically a bypass for rattlesnake. It'll end at the same mine tailings as rattlesnake does. From here you can explore as much or as little as you want of 5 mile pass. There's a few spots to have a little fun but it's basically a dirt road with some 6 inch rocks in spots.
This trail remains the same with all of the traffic. Basically just used as the easy way out, nothing special. Hot and dusty in the summer and usually too busy. Only hit one other group today so that was a nice change.
From the Community
Exclusive for our All-Access Members
Ask the author of a trail guide any questions you may have and
get a direct answer from the author and the community! One of
the many perks that come with an All-Access Membership.
Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, he's only been off-roading since he was 16 but fell in love immediately. He attended college in Denver for Culinary Arts and Restaurant Management and wheeled in Colorado for 4 years, but ended up moving back home to Salt Lake City. He currently works in an off-road shop and spends his free time doing anything he can to stay busy, which is usually working on his jeep or playing music. Outside of off-roading, he is an avid whitewater rafter and outdoor cook. Camping at least every other weekend in any season is a normal year. The further from civilization, the better. Bring on the memories!
By clicking "ACCEPT", you agree to be the terms and conditions of each
policy linked to above. You also agree to the storing of cookies on
your device to facilitate the operation and functionality of our site,
enhance and customize your user experience, and to analyze how our
site is used.