Area Trails including Birdie Shot
Pine Canyon above Midway is part of the Wasatch Mountain State Park. The state park includes popular rides such as WOW , Phosphate Loop , Dutch Hollow , and the Crows Nest loops . This page discusses the Pine Canyon Bike Park area trails and the Birdie Shot trail connecting lower WOW to Snake Creek Canyon behind the golf course.
The state park is a fee area ($7 per car in 2020). You'll need to deposit your entry fee in the receiver and post the receipt on your dash before pedaling away from the trailhead.
At its lower end, Happy Camper begins on the Pine Canyon Road just before it joins SR 222. It passes the bike park trailhead, the pump track, and the entry to the intermediate downhill flow trail. Happy Camper ends at a 4-way trail intersection of the WOW connector, Phosphate connector, and the entry to the expert Pine Canyon Flow trail.
The distance from the bike park trailhead to the intersection at the top the flow trail is 0.8 miles. The 0.4 miles below the parking area is used mostly by riders coming from town by bicycle. The section from Pine Canyon Road to just above the pump track has been hardened with gravel.
The pump track is 1/10th mile north (uphill) from the bike park trailhead. Go uphill from the parking lot (past the exit from the beginner Flow trail) to find a broad Happy Camper trail. Turn left uphill and pedal 450 feet. Drop to your left into the pump track area.
At the south (down-canyon) side of the Pump Track oval, the beginner Flow trail heads back to the parking area. It's only 400 feet in length, with gentle rollers to improve balance on the bike.
As you continue uphill on Happy Camper, you'll pass the exit from the expert Flow trail, then the Campground Connector (a short spur that goes to the road across from the campground entrance). Right next to the campground spur is the exit from the intermediate Flow trail. At mile 0.5 from the trailhead, you'll reach the top of the intermediate downhill Flow trail.
Beginners will have no problems here. But if you're taking little kids, be aware that high-speed riders may come flying down this trail. So I'd recommend having a rear-guard parent tailing behind.
This is the trail that brings riders to the Pine Canyon Bike Park. The entry to the trail is where Happy Camper reaches the Phosphate to WOW connector trail. As you reach the 4-way at mile 0.8 from the trailhead, keep right to enter the Flow trail. The straight and left uphill trail connects through switchbacks to the Phosphate Loop uphill. The 160 degree left turn is the connector trail to the WOW parking area.
The loop down and back up to the top is 1.2 miles, so doing multiple runs is not tough.
The Birdie Shot trail connects the back of the golf course in Snake Creek Canyon to the WOW trail. It's a two-way trail, although I expect that most riders will use it as a descending route. The trail is 1.4 miles long with a bit over 400 vertical feet of elevation change.
If you're doing a loop (with Birdie Shot as your downhill), pedal west on gravel from the trail's end. In 100 yards, turn left, then left again on the Snake Canyon road. It will take you down to the Wasatch Mountain State Park visitor center.
At mile 1.0 from the top of Birdie Shot, 0.4 miles from the bottom, the campground connector forks off on the left. After 100 yards of new singletrack it joins an old doubletrack road-cut as it descends to the east. It will cross a campground nature trail at mile 0.3, then hit the back of a paved camping loop at 0.5. To exit the campground and reconnect to Happy Camper, just keep heading east, then turn right downhill on the road that connects the two campgrounds and follow it to the main entrance.
FEE: In 2021, $10 per car ($5 seniors). Self-service fee deposit stations are located throughout the canyon, including the Bike Park trailhead, the WOW trailheads, and the campground. Bring exact cash or a checkbook. Plus, minor detail, a pencil or pen to fill out the fee envelope and dashboard ticket.
Camping: State park.
Bathrooms: WOW trailheads, campground
Water: campground
Birdie Shot trailhead: On SR 222, as you come to the intersection at the main state park building, keep straight. You'll be on Snake Creek Drive. Go 1.0 mile to the uphill end of the golf course and turn right on gravel road. Turn right again after 100 yards and go 1/10th mile to a small parking circle. There is no fee station at Birdie Shot at this time (June 2020), so you'll need to pay your day-use fee elsewhere and place the receipt on your dash before parking here.
Campground/Day-use trailhead: Just after SR 222 and the Pine Canyon Road join at the mouth of the canyon, drive uphill past the golf course entry. When you reach the campground entry (on the left), turn and go through the entry station (paying the day-use fee rather than the camping fee), then go to the right for the day-user parking lot. On your bike, exit the campground back to SR 222 and cross the road to the singletrack. A left turn uphill on Happy Camper takes you to the top of the intermediate or expert flow trails. Staying right downhill will take you to the pump track and beginner flow trail.
See also: WOW trail page , Phosphate , Dutch Hollow , Crows Nest GPS track files (right-click and "Save as..."):
Pine Canyon GPX multi-track area file
Tracks including Dutch Hollow
High-res aerial map for printing: View
Lodging, camping, shops: Links to area resources