Okay, by now a lot of you have been asking me about the stuff I'm using to document my rides. I'm tracking my rides with a Garmin 520hcx then uploading the trail into GoogleEarth and "printing" a PDF and converting it to JPEG in Photoshop. This helps me figure out where I'm going and what else is around me--I hope it helps you too.

The pictures are taken with my iPhone 4. Recently I've been experimenting with the HDR in the new update, but my hands are usually shaky 'cause I'm breathing hard and the photos get all blurry. That being said, they're still pretty good. Ansel Adams would be proud, but I can't take all of the credit. It's a pretty good camera.

Hope this helps answer your questions. Now you can stop emailing me and filling up my inbox with your queries. It's taking up all my bandwidth and Google's getting ticked 'cause my blog is getting more traffic than their little site.

Sorry it's been so long. I've been meaning to post this up sooner, but the servers have been overloaded with all of the traffic. I expect I'll have to upgrade to some commercial servers soon. As you can see from all my followers, this site is getting a lot of traffic.


This is one of my favorite rides in the area. In fact, it might be my favorite. It's perfect for a quick ride after work or something, and it's really easy enough for anyone. When my wife started riding, I took her here. That being said, it's plenty of fun if you're fast, and there's a lot of other branches that lead to some fun places. To start, head up Provo Canyon about five or six miles (maybe more) until you see Vivian Park on the right. Turn in there, then follow the road up a couple miles until you a turn off for a park on your right. It's actually the second park you'll see. Go to the last parking lot and get out. Trail starts at the top of the lot through a hole in the little fence.


Ride up and into an open meadow. Just after this meadow, the trail forks--this is the start of the loop, so you can go any way. I go right. Keep riding up until you get to a dirt road--here, you can follow the road up to the campground (which I usually do 'cause there's a drinking fountain up there) or you can keep going straight and up some fun single track. If you go up the camp ground you will cross the stream over the little bridge, go up a little, over another little bridge, and back down 'till you meet up with the left-hand trail that you passed before. This is the trail on the right, so you want to go straight and down some really really fun single track. It's fast, hard, and usually empty.


You'll get to another fork after a mile or so. Go right, up a tiny hill, then back down some more turns and stuff. This is fun--go fast. After a couple hard switchbacks, you'll have the chance to go straight or a hard right. Go right, but be careful 'cause it's easy to miss. Up a steep, loose, rocky hill. If you make it up this, you're a good rider. It goes without saying that I can make it up it. Here's a tip--don't go into your lowest gear. I'm always tempted to, but I either end up spinning my tire in the dust or popping wheelies. It's steep, did I mention that?


Now this is the best part. It might be the best stretch of single track in the world. Especially in the spring when the grass is short and the trail is smoother. But in the fall, it's beautiful with the leaves and colors in the mountains, and the temperature is just perfect. And it's always so quiet. Head through the meadow and take a left at the fork. Heading right takes you on a "Great Western" trail or something. I've never done it, but I might try it for a future ride. It is long. Keep going down 'till the dirt road, take a hard right to meet back with the fork where the loop starts. Go back to the car, and avoid riding off the bridges into the water.

This is probably my favorite ride in the world. I'm not sure if it was the first place I rode in Utah, but it's certainly what I've ridden the most. It's close (just past Nunn's Park), it's easy, and it's fast. This is where I took my wife when she started riding. And, in the fall, the colors are incredible. In fact, I think it's the prettiest place in Utah (that I've seen, anyway). Anyway, the ride starts at Big Springs Park. To get here, go about five or six miles up the canyon and take a right into Vivian Park. Now follow the road up another small canyon until you see a turn off on your right for another park. Park in the last parking lot.

This is a fun, fast ride. It's also really close to BYU, so it's great after work or in the morning. And, like most trails in this area, it connects to a whole lot more. The trail starts next to Bridal Veil Falls and winds up and along the side of the mountain 'till it meets up with Squaw Peak Rd. For some reason it always seems like there's a lot more uphill than there really is, but it's consistent and manageable the whole way. It's also not a loop. I usually don't like riding straight up and back down on the same trail, but the views from this ride make up for any lack of change.

To start, drive north up Provo Canyon until you see signs for "Nunn's Park" and "Bridal Veil Falls." Turn off here and park in the parking lot off to your right. It's about three or four miles from the mouth of the canyon. Ride through the gate, along the campsites and BBQ's until the trail heads up and right. Here it intersects another paved trail, and you'll go right. Go for about an eight of a mile until you see a trail on the left. This is the real start of the trail.

There's not much to say about this section. It's a long, sustained uphill with lots of rocks and loose dirt. In a couple places, there are some short, steep climbs, but a strong rider should make it to the top without stopping. It took me a long time to get to that point on this ride, but it really helps your technical skills if you can make it some of the switchbacks. This trail just runs along the side of the mountain and rises above the road. The views are incredible in some spots.

You reach the top after a couple tight, steep switchbacks. Luckily, the trail flattens out here so you can catch your breath for about half a mile until you reach the road. I have no idea which road this is, or how to get here. If you go left at the road, you end up at an archery range. If you go right, you probably end up at Squaw Peak Road. I have no idea. At the road, take a right and follow the road right for a little bit. Immediately, you'll see a turn off on your left. This is a mostly flat, fast section that leads to Squaw Peak Road. You can just rail the corners along here-it's really fun. It ends at some short of crappy shooting range with tons of shell casings and broken glass. So if you like roads, you can dink around on Squaw Peak Rd and go up or something, or you can walk your bike up the steep trail at the shooting range place and ride further up the mountain. I took it up once a mile or two, and it was pretty nice. I have no idea where it goes.

Like I said, a pretty easy ride. Careful on the downhill so you don't fall off the trail and roll down the side of the mountain. You'll probably end up on the canyon road. And watch out for hikers--luckily, I've never seen a horse on the trail. I doubt they're allowed; it would be terrifying.

The idea to write about this came to me as I looked on the internet for good trails in Utah County. I'm a student at BYU and am always looking for good trails that aren't too far away. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a lot of good information--it was either outdated or lacking in any information. Through friends and on my own I've discovered a lot of incredible rides in this area, and I hope to be able to share these places with anyone looking to get out and ride. The majority of these will be pretty close to the Provo/Orem area, but a few might extend further up the canyons. We have some of the world's best mountain biking here, and I hope you'll have an easier time finding it thanks to these posts.