ATV Adventures: How to complete the Young Powersports Utah Ride Challenge
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- The Grassy Mountain is a fun place to ride when the high mountain trails are closed.
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- There are beautiful places to ride close to the Wasatch Front. This was taken on the trail to Cascade Springs in American Fork Canyon.
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- The author at Old Epraim’s Grave located in the Shoshone Trail System, one of Utah’s great OHV trail systems.
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- Chicken Creek Trail out of Levan takes you out of the city and into the peace and tranquility of the mountains.
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- Lynn Blamires
Last year, Young Powersports sponsored the Utah Ride Challenge — a series of five specific rides with instructions to reach the trailheads and GPS to follow. The purpose was to help people with information on places to ride and to introduce riders to trails they may not have known about.
To complete the challenge, a rider would need to ride all five trails and show some evidence that they had. Only six people completed the challenge, but interest in a new list of trails for the 2024 riding season is growing.
The 2024 Utah Ride Challenge is ready for your review and participation. Booklets will be at all Young Powersports locations with details about each ride. Those who complete the challenge will be awarded a “SWAG” pack full of prizes to build incentives into the program.
Traditionally, SWAG stands for “Stuff We All Get,” aka promotional products for marketing and giveaways. When you have completed the challenge, present your evidence and get yours.
These are the five trails that make up the Second Annual Utah Ride Challenge:
The Grassy Mountain Trails
- The trailhead — Exit 56 west of Salt Lake City on Interstate 80. Take the exit and turn right; there is a gravel pit that is good for staging.
- The trail — A great place for fall and spring riding, Grassy Mountain features a nice mix of easy and challenging trails to ride when your favorite mountain trails are deep in snow. The trails that take you through the canyons in these mountains are worth the trip and there are plenty of fast trails to enjoy. These trails are well-suited for side-by-side UTV machines.
- The proof — Grassy Mountain is home to several structures called “guzzlers” designed to provide water for wildlife. A guzzler consists of a large sheet of corrugated metal with a slope to direct rainwater and melted snow to a storage tank to distribute the water. Take a picture of one of these to show.
Cascade Springs
- The trailhead — Tibble Fork Reservoir up American Fork Canyon.
- The trail — From Tibble Fork, a track goes over the mountain to Cascade Springs. This is a destination trail that will have you enjoying the beauty and magnitude of Cascade Springs. These springs are huge and water gushes from a variety of places. Enjoy the boardwalk that allows for exploration of this beautiful and serene scene. I particularly enjoy the sounds of these cascading waters.
- The proof — A picture of your friends at these amazing springs.
Old Ephraim’s Grave
- The trailhead — Old Ephraim’s Grave is found in the Shoshone Trail System. This trail system has several trailheads and any one of them allows access to the site — Hardware Ranch, Curtis Creek, Left Hand Fork of Black Smith’s Fork, Woodruff, Randolph, Temple Fork and Peter Sinks. The GPS track given starts at Curtis Creek.
- The trail — The legend of Old Ephraim is one you will enjoy learning about when you visit this site. Ephraim was an enormous grizzly bear that menaced the local farmer’s stock. You will see how big he was when you see the marker because it stands as tall as he did when he stood on his hind legs. The story is told on the marker.
- The proof — A group picture at the marker.
Chicken Creek
- The trailhead — Go east on 1st Street South out of Levan. Turn right at the T and follow the road for several miles. There are several places to stage past the rock quarry.
- The trail — A beautiful mountain trail that goes up a canyon beside Chicken Creek. It goes over the mountain, into Wales, and turns north on Westside Road to Maple Canyon. Ride west up Maple Canyon through the campground. You can follow my GPS track on the two branch trails — one goes through Log Hollow to Highway 132 and the other is supposed to go into Nephi. The trail makes a loop following a ridge back to Chicken Creek.
- The proof — Take a group picture in Chicken Creek Campground.
The White River Loop
- The trailhead — The Tie Fork Rest Area in Spanish Fork Canyon.
- The trail — Go north over the railroad tracks and follow the pole line road. Turn right at the T to Soldier’s Summit then east beside the White River. This trail makes a loop on the beautiful Strawberry Trails with a stop on Strawberry Peak.
- The proof — Take a group picture from Strawberry Peak.
When you go, take plenty of water, keep the rubber side down and take the Utah Ride Challenge.
Contact Lynn R. Blamires at quadmanone@gmail.com.
