Rojo Rolling, Bench Climb, Bench Connector. Trail extends from Mahogany Mountain through Mahogany Bench Connector to the BST above Pleasant Grove. Popular descending route. Season May through October.
Photos and ride description by Bruce on April 17, 2022.
Mahogany Bench Area Bench Climb, Rojo Rolling, Bench Connector
These trails link the
Bonneville
Shoreline Trail
(BST) north of Grove Creek to the
Mahogany
Mountain
trail. This page will discuss Bench Climb as an uphill route
and Rojo Rolling as a downhill (although it's two-directional). Note
that
Sneaky Shiz
is the most popular climbing route
up to the Mahogany Mountain trail.
All of the riding options discussed here require that you navigate the Bonneville Shoreline Trail for the lower portion of the ride. As of April 2022, trail markers are still pending. (The
Forest Service has applied for funding to mark the official trails in
the area.) See the Grove
Creek to Cedar Hills section on the
northern Utah Valley
BST
trail page.
That's the BST across the valley, as seen from low on the Mahogany Bench Climb trail.
Heading uphill on the Bench Climb, with the limestone cliffs of Grove Creek Canyon above me.
The Mahogany Bench Climb route begins on the BST 0.6
miles north of the Grove Creek trailhead. It climbs around 275 vertical
feet over 0.7 miles, following a zigzag course. It's early intermediate in
technical requirement.
Rojo Rolling and Bench Connector combine for a 0.7
mile route between Mahogany Mountain and the BST. The elevation change is
around 250 feet. Most riders use this route as a descender, but my
understanding is that these are both two-way trails.
Rolling a turn on Rojo Rolling.
Rolling a turn on Rojo Rolling.
Bonneville Shoreline Climb - getting started
A trail fork that might confuse you. The smaller trail here on the left is the BST.
I'll assume here that you're coming from the Grove Creek
area. If you're on the BST southbound in Cedar Hills, you'd want to use
Sneaky Shiz
as your climbing route. The BST in Utah County is often signed as Forest Service
trail 219.
From the Grove Creek trailhead, find the BST along the hillside and head north. At a trail
fork 0.2 miles uphill, the left fork is the lower BST; the larger trail
on the right is an
unofficial route that's often used as a downhill. This trail is sometimes
referred to as the
upper BST or Dropout. If you climb it, it will join and leave the Mahogany
Bench Climb trail
higher up, then the last bit will be hike-a-bike until it ends in a multi-trail
jumble just
above the highest point of the BST.
The entry to Mahogany Bench Climb is at mile 0.6, where you turn 150 degrees to the right at
the trail fork.
If you're planning to climb up Mahogany Bench Connector to Rojo Rolling, continue on the BST
as it drops into a valley and begins climbing east. At mile 0.8, take
the trail fork to your
left, cross over where the BST turns left downhill and go straight up
the Connector.
Getting a little higher on the BST, headed for the Bench Connector.
Mahogany Bench Climb
My bike is sitting alongside the Bench Climb trail where it forks away from the BST. The trail isn't prominent, so until signs are in place it won't see heavy use. Across the valley, you can see the continuing BST.
At mile 0.6 from Grove Creek trailhead, the BST crosses a ridge. From that vantage point, you'll
see the BST plunge into a shallow valley, then turn and climb the opposite
side of that valley.
Here on the ridge is where the Mahogany Bench Climb starts, with a 150-degree
turn uphill on
your right.
The terrain is mostly grass, with occasional low sage. There will be a few tiny stands of Gambel
oak as you get higher on the hill.
Climbing the Bench with the Oquirrh Mountains in the background and Utah Valley to the left.
View up the trail towards the cliffs above Grove Creek Canyon.
The first turn is at mile 0.2 from the BST, where the trail turns hard left to join an unofficial
trail. Keep heading uphill. When signage is in place the climbing route
will be more obvious.
The Bench Climb will be Trail #304.
At mile 0.3, the trail turns away from the larger combined trail by forking to the right. (Again,
the other trail is unofficial, so it may be closed and rehabbed by the
Forest Service in the
future. If you don't find a trail fork, that may be why.)
View south as the foothills hit Utah Valley.
Getting closer to the top as the trail wiggles around the hillside. Most of the climbing is mellow but there are occasional steeper spots that my challenge your legs and your ability to keep the front wheel planted on the ground.
The trail now winds around the upper hillside with frequent 180 degree views of the valley.
There will be occasional steeper spots where you'll need to drop your
body forward onto the
bike frame and grunt it out.
At mile 0.7, after 275 vertical feet of climbing, Mahogany Bench Climb joins the Mahogany Mountain
(or Mahogany Bench) #301 trail. Keep northbound and continue the ride
to your destination (
Thunderdome
and/or the Rojo Rolling downhill).
Junction of the Bench Climb with Mahogany Mountain.
Rojo Rolling and Bench Connector
Top of Rojo Rolling, looking south from the Mahogany Mountain trail.
Rojo Rolling and the Mahogany Bench Connector trail are most commonly used as a downhill route,
usually after climbing up to the
Mahogany
Mountain
trail via
Sneaky Shiz
.
When southbound on the Mahogany Mountain trail, Rojo Rolling starts as a turn to the right,
a bit over 1/10th of a mile from the bottom of the Thunderdome trail.
Rojo Rolling is a fun descent as it winds around through the stands of oak brush. It frequently
goes out to the shoulder of the bench area for wide views over Utah Valley.
Meandering through scrub oak on Rojo.
Enjoying the views with Utah Lake in the background.
While the descent can be speedy, it's narrow singletrack without berms or shoulders. The trail
surface has a bit of loose rock that doesn't give much grip if you're
cornering hard. This
is an XC downhill, not a DH bomber flow trail.
While I'm discussing Rojo Rolling as a descending trail, it's a two-way with a modest rate
of climb. So it's also a reasonable way to climb to Mahogany Mountain.
But if you're climbing
on a busy weekend, be aware that you'll be facing a lot of downhill traffic.
One of the other
routes (Bench Climb, Sneaky Shiz) might be a better choice for the trip
uphill.
What it looks like to climb Rojo Rolling.
View south down the Mahogany Bench Connector trail.
At mile 0.5 of descending Rojo Rolling, there's a trail fork. The trail to the left goes a
short distance up to the Mahogany Mountain trail. Straight ahead is the
Mahogany Bench Connector.
The Bench Connector will carry the designation #305.
After an initial descent straight south, the Bench Connector joins an older DT route to descend
southwest. When you hit a trail crossover at mile 0.7 from Mahogany Mountain,
that's the BST.
Turn 90 degrees right to descend towards Cedar Hills, or go straight up
to the little ridge
ahead for the BST southbound.
Getting closer to the intersection with the BST, as the views make it hard to stay on a straight line.
Heading southwest downhill on the BST. Views everywhere!
We'll assume that you've just come down the Mahogany Bench Connector. If you're doing north,
make a right turn at the crossover (just before the trail goes uphill).
The BST will be heading
northwest.
For a northbound descent, keep straight and coast up the little hill after the crossover. Turn
to the right (downhill) on the northbound BST on the ridgeline about 50
feet later. You're
now heading southwest.
The southbound BST trail will now make a descent on the ridge before dropping down the south-facing slope
of a valley. In the valley, go to the left and climb up to the ridge (where
you'll pass the
entry to Mahogany Bench Climb). Now follow the trail north to Grove Creek.
Descending on the BST northbound, headed back to the Cedar Hills or Valley Vista area.
Based on the tire tracks, it appears that most riders are descending the
BST toward Cedar Hills at this time. It's certainly fast and has
very little climbing when compared to the southbound BST.
When the BST joins the old bench road 0.6 miles after
turning from Bench Connector, you can turn sharply left and descend to the
main Bench Road for the trip back to Grove Creek. Or, you can go north and
drop down the connector 1/10th mile later to the Bench Road above the
Valley
Vista
trail system.
The Bench Road can be your failsafe connector to all the other options on the mountain. It
links to several descending options that take you to the bottom of
Valley Vista
(and the
Murdock Canal Trail
), or it can get you back to the Grove Creek trailhead.
Looking south on the Bench Road. Right where the road disappears is the top of Cowley's Curse of Valley Vista.
Descending Sneaky Shiz
Descending Sneaky Shiz.
Sneaky Shiz
is used by most riders as a
climbing trail. But it's two-way. It's found 0.7 miles from the
viewpoint via the Mahogany Mountain trail, or 50 yards north of the bottom
of Thunderdome if you took that way down. It's 2.1 miles down to the BST,
where you can connect north or south down to the Bench Road. From there,
you take your favorite way back to the trailhead.
Bottom Line!
Exciting possibilities for this area, which in 2022 has just become official through the US
Forest Service. At this time most riders are climbing Sneaky Shiz (plus
or minus the up-and-back
on Thunderdome to the viewpoint) then descending Rojo Rolling and Bench
Connector to the BST
for their return.
Northbound on Mahogany Mountain, the trail to the left connects to the intersection of Rojo Rolling and the Mahogany Bench Connector trail.
Note about the map! There are other singletrack trails that are not are shown
here, and some that are shown will be "retired" by the Forest Service as they develop the trails in this area.
Getting there:
Canyon Road TH Murdock Canal Trail (Cedar Hills): The Canyon Road trailhead
is located on the uphill
side of Canyon Road where the Murdock
Canal Trail passes
under Highway 146. The connector to The Pit trail of Valley
Vista is about 1/4 mile south
of the trailhead, on the left side of the Murdock Canal trail.
Wade Springs TH Murdock Canal Trail (Pleasant Grove): The Wade
Spring trailhead is located on 1100
North at approximately 650 East. The Valley
Vista trail system is reached by pedaling
0.2 miles north on the Murdock
Canal Trail. Veer right and gently uphill
on a gravel doubletrack.
Grove Creek TH: From the south, get off I-15 at the Pleasant Grove exit and head east
toward the mountains. As the street curves north, you'll reach State
Street. Turn right. As State begins to curve southward past a big shopping
complex, turn left at the traffic light to Main Street. Go through the
4-way stop at Center, then turn left at the light on 100 East (Canyon
Highway). Proceed north to 500 North and turn right. From the north, exit I-15 at the Alpine (American Fork Canyon) exit. Take
Timpanogos Highway all the way to the mouth of the canyon, then turn right
on the Canyon Highway, which will become 100 East. Drive south to 500
North (opposite the cemetery) and turn left. Drive uphill on 500 North, continuing toward the mountains as it becomes
Grove Creek Drive. Follow it up to the paved parking area. (Bathroom at
trailhead.) The ride starts on the east (mountain) side of the parking
area, heading straight up the canyon. N 40° 22.483 W 111°
42.721