Looking north as we climb the switchbacks of Rattlesnake BST. Review and photos by Bruce on July 5, 2022.
Bonneville Shoreline Trail
Rattlesnake to Grandeur Peak Section
(includes Rattlesnake Gulch expert trail)
This section of the
Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST) extends from the Rattlesnake Gulch
trailhead in lower Mill Creek Canyon to the Grandeur Peak
trailhead on Wasatch Blvd at the mouth of Parley's Canyon. The route from Parley's to Mill Creek includes a short section of the
Mill Creek Pipeline trail.
In fall 2023, the Grandeur
Peak section of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail was finished. The Grandeur
section is the combination of 1/2 mile of the Old Quarry Road (aka Parley's Bench trail)
and a new singletrack trailcut up to the western end of the Mill Creek
Pipeline trail. The BST connection is now complete from the
mouth of Parley's Canyon up to the Pipeline then down to the Rattlesnake
Gulch trailhead in Mill Creek Canyon.
Looking south as we climb the Grandeur section of the BST.
Rattlesnake Gulch trailhead, looking north. The trail starts at the sign.
Rattlesnake GulchThe Rattlesnake trailhead is 1.5 miles up the Mill Creek Canyon road
from Wasatch Blvd. There are bathrooms. The trailhead is located about 3/4
mile uphill from the fee station. (Mill Creek Canyon is a US Forest
Service fee area for vehicles. Bikes are free.) There's room for around 20
cars here, but it will fill up quickly on weekends. The combined
Rattlesnake Gulch and Rattlesnake BST start on the west side of the
parking lot, but separate within 100 yards with the BST forking left from
the larger Rattlesnake Gulch trail.
Grandeur Peak trailhead, looking north.
Grandeur PeakThe Grandeur Peak trailhead is at the far north end of Wasatch
Boulevard. The Old Quarry Road trail heads east uphill and will link to
the new BST in around a mile. There are no services at this trailhead. The Grandeur Peak BST begins uphill to the east.
This trailhead also lets you take the paved lower BST
(Bonneville Shoreline Trail) from the southern side of Parley's Canyon
mouth. You'll cross the I-80 on-ramp road and I-80 itself on bridges, then
connect to the Old Parley's Road trail which takes you to the southern end
of the Parley's Pointe BST section. The trailhead has room for around 15 cars including
roadside parking.
View up the BST shortly after splitting away from Rattlesnake Gulch.
The Rattlesnake BST was completed in fall 2021. It's an intermediate-level ride, 1.4 miles
in length with 600 vertical feet of climbing.
At Mill Creek Canyon's Rattlesnake Gulch trailhead, the combined Rattlesnake Gulch and Rattlesnake
BST trails leave the western side of the paved parking area, just north
of the bathrooms. After
around 100 feet, the BST forks away to the left at a break in the log
fencing. (In July 2022,
signs have not yet been installed.)
The trail begins climbing through a forest of oak, box elder, and maple. The forest gives way
to open grass with groves of oak on a south-facing hillside. It will get
quite warm on a summer's
afternoon. The trail surface is smooth dirt with areas of loose limestone
chunk.
Looking northeast toward the top of Grandeur Peak.
View west toward the mouth of Mill Creek Canyon as we climb up the switchbacks.
The Rattlesnake BST will gain 600 vertical feet, from 5350 to 5940 feet elevation. This occurs
over 1.4 miles. I recommend this trail for intermediates or better, but
strong beginners can
make the trip if they walk their bikes around the switchback turns.
The rate of climb will be tough for many intermediates, especially with the tight switchback
turns that often have a bed of loose limestone chunks in the turning path.
There will be views down into Rattlesnake Gulch, but there aren't open sight-lines out to the
valley or to upper Mill Creek Canyon. These will have to wait until you
reach the Mill Creek
Pipeline trail.
Looking down to the bottom of Mill Creek Canyon in the bowl of Rattlesnake Gulch.
On the Pipeline trail at the top of the Rattlesnake BST.
At mile 1.4 from the trailhead, the Rattlesnake BST joins the
Pipeline trail
If you keep straight, it's 0.7 miles to the viewpoint over the valley. The Grandeur Peak segment
will tie into the trail here once it's completed.
If your destination is uphill, a hard right will take you northbound on
Pipeline. The expert-level descent down Rattlesnake Gulch is 0.3 miles
away (see below). It's 3.9 miles to the Burch Hollow trailhead, and 6.5
miles to Elbow Fork. At Elbow Fork 100 yards uphill on pavement connects
you to the
Upper Pipeline
, which takes you to
Big
Water
.
Mill Creek Pipeline to viewpoint
Heading west on the Pipeline with Mount Olympus coming into view.
If you keep straight and left at the top of Rattlesnake BST, you'll head west toward the Salt
Lake Valley on the Pipeline trail. It's 0.7 miles to the viewpoint.
The Pipeline is flat because it follows the path of an old water pipe. There's almost no elevation
change as you ride west.
For now, you'll need to turn around at the viewpoint. The Grandeur Peak section down to the
Old Quarry Road trail is not yet complete.
Almost to the viewpoint.
View uphill as we climb. This area is not on Forest Service land, which is why the nice singletrack has not been extended fully down to the trailhead.
The Grandeur Peak section of the Bonneville Shoreline was opened in fall 2023. It includes the old Parley's Bench trail, with new bench-cut singletrack extending further up the hill. It's 2.7 miles from the Grandeur Peak trailhead to the viewpoint at the western end of the Mill Creek Pipeline trail, with 950 of elevation gain and 1050 vertical feet of overall climbing.
The Bench trail begins at the northeast corner of the parking area as a broad, well-trampled route. Some days it will seem more like a dog park than a trail. The route will be defined better with time -- assuming Salt Lake City takes the initiative to create a better access trail. As you begin to climb steeply uphill on a broad path, veer to the right on a narrower (singletrack) trail. Just after you pass a connector to a neighborhood road on your right at mile 0.2, turn to the right on doubletrack and keep heading south.
Looking south on the Bench Road as we approach the BST.
View up a small canyon as we ride on a red cinder soil.
There are alternate ways of arriving at the BST. As long as
you take the southbound options, you'll get there. Once you're on the
Bench Road, the next half-mile is fairly flat.
Follow the doubletrack Bench Road until you're 0.5 miles from the
trailhead. Turn to the left on the singletrack and begin a stiff climb.
Overall, your climbing will be 1100 vertical feet in 2.7 miles. Doesn't
sound bad, but there are flat stretches that concentrate the
climbing.
Around mile 0.7, you'll head into a series of switchbacks.
This is the toughest section of the ride. The pitch is 100 vertical in 0.1
mile (around 20% slope), and the switchbacks are very tight.
A second set of switchbacks, this time with a gentler pitch and
reasonable climbing turns, waits for you just uphill. Over the 2.2 miles
of the singletrack BST, you will gain 800 vertical feet at the government-approved maximum average climbing rate of 8%. As you gain elevation, take time to appreciate the views of the Salt Lake Valley.
Turning in a drainage as the trail winds back and
forth.
Bruce rolls a downhill turn -- these are the easier
series of turns. The lower switchbacks are so tight it wasn't possible
to
shoot a decent picture.
The trail surface varies between dark dirt (which will be
muddy well into spring) and a red cinder soil. Overall, the trail would
rate upper-intermediate or even expert because of the steepness of the
slope and the tight switchbacks.
I'd say it's easier to climb Rattlesnake and descend the Grandeur BST,
if you're planning to do the ride as a loop using city streets to connect.
At mile 2.7 from the trailhead, you'll arrive at the old Pipeline viewpoint. Turn to the left eastbound on the Mill Creek Pipeline Trail. In 0.7 miles, you'll reach the trail fork for the Rattlesnake portion of the
BST, downhill to your right. The combined distance from the Grandeur trailhead to the Rattlesnake trailhead is just under 5 miles. If you loop back via the Mill Creek Canyon Road and Wasatch Blvd, the ride is 7.7 miles with just over 1000 vertical feet of climbing.
Looking west over the Salt Lake Valley at the
viewpoint where the BST and the Pipeline trail meet.
Rattlesnake Gulch Trail (alternate descent)
There are two entries into Rattlesnake Gulch, one on each side of the ravine. This is the west entry.
The classic Rattlesnake Gulch trail forks away from the Mill Creek Pipeline 0.3 miles from
the top of the BST. This trail will drop the same 600 vertical feet as
the BST, but it does
so in only 0.7 miles.
This is an expert-level descent, with large embedded rocks, tight switchbacks, and log water-bars
on a slope that averages 15%. In the technical areas the trail tends to
be wide -- as hikers
and bikes have dodged the obstacles over the years -- so you've got a
few choices in picking
your line.
Photos don't do justice to the boulders and slope of the descent.
Coming into a switchback.
In the old days, we used to climb up Rattlesnake Gulch with a bit of grunting and a lot of
hike-a-bike. But with the completion of the BST, there's absolutely no
reason to pedal up this
trail.
Remember that hikers will be strolling up this trail. Keep your speed in check. Dust and loose
pebbles make stopping difficult if you're riding fast. The log water-bars
are one of the few
spots where there's enough sight-line and mild enough slope to hop up
in the air and safely
recover.
On the lower slope, we're approaching two water-bars. The closer one is around 18 inches in height, suitable for a quick huck or even a fast roll-over.
Rolling into the trailhead.
As you approach the trailhead, the trail mellows. When you're looking uphill as you first start
your ride up the BST, it might sucker you. Rattlesnake Gulch gets nastier
the higher you go.
So don't climb it.
Map of the BST from Parley's Canyon to Mill Creek Canyon
Bottom Line: Good climbing option to get up to
the Pipeline, for intermediate riders or experienced conditioned
beginners.
Getting there: Get to Foothill Blvd on the east bench of
Salt Lake City via I-215. Exit at 39th South. Take 3800 South (Mill Creek
Canyon Road) eastbound into the Canyon. In 1.5 miles, turn left into the
Rattlesnake Gulch trailhead.
Note: Mill Creek Canyon is a fee area for vehicles. On
exiting the canyon, you'll need to pay $5 (2022 fee) by credit or debit
card.
