Mountain bike trails that take your breath away
Have you ever ridden a mountain bike over 50 miles at an altitude of nearly 10,000 feet?
Skyline Drive from Fairview to Mayfield has breathtaking views that will expand your outlook on life. The Skyline Drive area offers single or multi-day adventures.
Be prepared for all types of weather. High elevation; to over 11,000 feet. Vehicle support is recommended. Rating: easy to difficult. Mostly a good dirt road, but there are sections that are worn and rutted from weather and use.
Skyline Drive Mountain Bike Trail
Skyline Drive Mountain Bike Trail begins 13 miles east of Fairview on Hwy 31, south of the Sanpete Valley overlook, (N39.61756 W111.31082, elevation 9,786). It traces the central backbone of the plateau south all the way to Twelve Mile (Mayfield) Canyon.
National Forest Campgrounds can be found all throughout the area. You can access the Skyline Drive from Fairview, Mt. Pleasant, Spring City, Ephraim, Manti, Sterling and Mayfield Canyons.
Primitive backcountry camping is allowed along Skyline Drive which allows you to camp along the trail.
Pioneer Mountain Bike Trail
To access the Pioneer Mountain Bike Trail, drive or ride up Ephraim Canyon road approximately 5.4 miles past the end of the pavement (about 1/2 mile past Lake Hill Campground) and you will see a dirt road on the left-hand side of the canyon road, (N39.32633 W111.49604, elevation 8,392). This is a great place to unload if you have chosen to drive.
From here it is approximately 3/4 mile decent on a primitive road. At this point you will see a small sign on the left that says “Pioneer Trail”. Turning left here will put you on approximately 3 miles of singletrack.
Eventually the trail intersects the main canyon road at either GPS N39.33947 W111.51664 or N39.33698 W111.52119 (parking at the National Forest Boundary).
If you ride down the canyon road approximately 1/2 mile, you can cut off and ride another 3 1/2 miles of singletrack on the famous “Flume” trail. (N39.33766 W111.52684, elevation 6,637).
Flume Mountain Bike Trail
To access the Flume Moutain Bike Trail, drive or ride up Ephraim Canyon road approximately 1.2 miles past the end of the pavement. Turn right off of the canyon road by an A-Frame cabin, (N39.33766 W111.52684, elevation 6,637). This is a good place to unload if you drive.
Ride the road for about 250 yards until you come to an intersection. Here you will see a large pipe sticking vertically out of the ground next to an old canal.
Ride off into the old canal “flume” and follow the single track several miles until it eventually emerges from the junipers in the valley and intersects with Bald Mountain road. From this point it is just a 1/2 mile ride back to the paved Ephraim canyon road. The Flume Trail is fairly steep so make sure your brakes work well.