ATV Adventures: The 2026 Ride Utah Challenge – a reason to ride the backcountry
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- Just below the cave on the east side of the Silver Island Mountains.
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- On the trail to Daniels Summit.
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- Riding in the rock canyon on the trail to Garden City.
Young Powersports dealers, in cooperation with My Local Utah (www.mylocalutah.com), are sponsoring the 2026 Ride Utah Challenge, giving you more reasons to ride. This is a series of 15 OHV trails that will give you a sample of Utah’s beautiful backcountry. The trails have been picked for Northern Utah, highlighting trails closer to home.
These trails are compiled in a pamphlet that will be available at all six Young Powersports dealers and at My Local Utah (80 E Antelope Drive) by the end of April. The Ride Utah Challenge pamphlet will provide instructions for getting to the trail, a map, coordinates for the staging area, and a brief trail description. There will be information online and a track you can download to follow on your GPS at https://www.youngpowersports.com and https://www.mylocalutah.com.
Choose any five of these trails to complete the challenge. Then go to any Young Powersports dealerships or My Local Utah, tell them which five you rode to claim your prize. The prize is a SWAG pack full of incentives to build into the program. SWAG stands for Stuff We All Get – an element of fun added to the Utah Ride Challenge. This year, there will be two SWAG bags – one from each sponsor to sweeten the pot.
These are descriptions of the five new trails added to make up the fifteen trails being offered in the 2026 Ride Utah Challenge –
Hardware Ranch to Garden City
The trailhead – Hardware Ranch can be reached from Hyrum or on Ant Flat Road from the snowmobile parking lot on Highway 39. There is a vault toilet and plenty of parking.
The trail – from Hardware Ranch, the trail goes north on the Laketown Road, passing over Curtis Creek and through the beautiful Wasatch Cache National Forest. Leaving the Laketown Road, follow Saddle Creek through Dip Hollow, then through a rock canyon with many interesting rock formations. The trail has a high point of about 8,500 feet, where we stopped for a break in the cool forest.
Reaching Highway 89, the trail goes under the highway and down into Garden City. There are several good places to have lunch and a raspberry shake. The round trip is 73 miles, and the riding time is 5½ hours.
Mill Hollow to Daniel’s Summit
The trailhead – from Kamas, go south to Francis. Take Highway 35 east through Woodland. Drive eight miles to a large staging area on the left side of the highway at Nobletts Trailhead. From there, ride the highway to Mill Hollow and turn right.
The trail – from the turn, the trail goes by Mill Hollow Reservoir, up to the 10,000-foot level, and on a great mountain trail down to Highway 40. Ride the highway for less than a mile to Daniels Summit for lunch at the grill. The ride is about 60 miles, and the scenery is great.
Silver Island Mountains
The trailhead – take exit 4 on I-80 just east of Wendover. Go north on the Pilot Peak Road to the base of the mountain. There is a large staging area there.
The trail – a perimeter road will take you on a loop around the mountain that makes a good orientation ride. Pick any trail through these mountains. There is a fun cave, big enough for a lunch break on the east side. These are fun trails to ride in the spring or fall.
Delle
The trailhead – take exit 70 on I-80 west toward Wendover. Go under the freeway, turn right past the gas station. There is a large parking area on the west side.
The Trail – a fast, easy trail around Cedar Mountain. You will pass the Wendover Range, where the B-29 practiced bombing runs, ride part of the Hastings Cut Off pioneer trail, and, on top of a hill at the Lakeside exit, see a concrete navigational arrow. The trail is 91 miles long, and the time is less than 5 hours.
The Parrish Loop
The trailhead – from Bountiful, take 400 N up to the Bountiful B to the parking lot.
The trail – ride the road out of the west side of the parking lot. When you come to a junction, turn left. The trail goes around the west side of the mountain. Watch for a sign marking the turnoff to the Parrish Loop. It will take on a fun loop down the mountain and back up.
When you go, take plenty of water, keep the rubber side down, ride any five, live to tell about it, and claim your prizes.
Lynn R. Blamires can be reached at quadmanone@gmail.com.
