Bench Creek Trail
Includes Camp Hollow and lower Little South Fork trails
The Bench Creek Loop is a pretty ride on the southwest corner of the Uintah Mountains. The loop climbs Bench Creek, descends a combination of Camp Hollow and Little South Fork, then catches Highway 35 back to complete the loop of 17.5 miles.
Most of the ride is intermediate in technical requirement, but the trail is narrow with some tricky spots. The length, remoteness, and altitude limit this ride to well-prepared advanced mountain bikers. Lowest altitude is 6800 feet; peak altitude 8950; total climbing 2500 vertical.

The season for this trail is July through September. You'll be riding in mixed fir and aspen forest. There will be a few creek-crossings. Creek depth gets less as the summer goes on. In mid-August, one creek was still axle-deep. On the top, plant life gets thicker in late summer, hiding the roots and rocks you'll be hitting with your pedals.

Most of the trail is fairly narrow. In some spots brush and wildflower undergrowth makes it hard to spot your lines on the downhills, and you may get a few brush-bleeders on your arms on Camp Hollow and Little South Fork. One very short section near the top of Bench Creek (when crossing the doubletrack) was so overgrown we weren't able to see the trail. Know where you're going.

The ride starts with a steady climb up the Bench Creek singletrack. The overall pitch is only 6% (300 vertical per mile), but it will feel a lot steeper. The trail narrows after the first mile or so. At 3.1 miles, the trail forks steeply down through the creek, then you'll scramble up over some steep rough sandstone outcrops for a short hike-a-bike. A bit later, the old trail up the draw is closed off, and you'll turn sharply left uphill on a loose stiff climb.

When you arrive at doubletrack on top of the hill, cross it. If you're following old trail descriptions (as we were) you'll be suckered into thinking this DT connects to the top of the Camp Hollow trail. The ST on the other side of the DT was overgrown with black-eyed susans, so at first glance it won't look like the right way. Cross the meadow and find the continuing trail. A short ride after re-entering the trees, you'll drop through a dip and hit the connection to the Camp Hollow trail. Turn left and head downhill.

When you arrive at Camp Hollow (dirt road with some primitive camping spots), you have two return options (see map). The traditional ride takes you left up the dirt road, where you'll climb another 700 vertical then drop steeply back to the trailhead over 4.3 not-particularly-fun miles. I recommend instead that you catch the Little South Fork singletrack: fork left on the dirt road, then catch the singletrack on your right about 100 yards later. This route is a few road-miles longer, but almost as fast and definitely more fun.

Little South Fork has some rough spots and one small hill to climb over near the bottom. Still, it's a fairly fast and fun downhill. At the Little South Fork trailhead, head left on the dirt road. Turn left again when you hit 35. Four miles later, catch the eastern end of Bench Creek Road, and a mile later you'll find the turn toward the National Forest.
This is a great ride for strong bikers who can tolerate a little altitude.

Getting there:  From I-80, take the US 40 exit south (toward Heber). A couple of miles later, exit and turn left (east) toward Kamas on US-189. In Kamas, turn right (south) at the stop sign, towards Francis. One mile later at the stop sign in Francis, turn left (east) and drive 4 miles to Woodland. In Woodland, watch for the Bench Creek Road on your right. Go 3.3 miles on Bench Creek Road, then turn right on a small broken-up semi-paved road between two houses. 0.9 miles later, there's a fence and cattleguard, which is the forest boundary. (If the road is muddy, park here.) Proceed another 0.3 miles on rougher dirt road to a meadow in a dip. Park here. As the road heads uphill at the meadow's end, there's a metal gate. Just past the gate, the singletrack forks off on your right (N40 32.309 W111 11.322).