Fort Canyon DH

Bruce rockets around a highly banked turn before shooting to the top of the foreground table.

Fort Canyon DH

The Fort Canyon DH jump line trail starts on the ridgeline south of upper Fort Canyon, where it forks away from the Bodily Harm portion of the Three Falls trail. It ends on the lower Three Falls Fort Canyon trail at 0.3 miles above the Fort Canyon Ranch trailhead. The trail is new in 2026.

The DH trail is 1.1 miles in length with an elevation loss of 450 feet. This makes the trail blazingly fast. The upper end of the trail is at 5850 feet of elevation. With a base of pure dirt and some north-facing forested areas, the trail usually won't be dry enough to ride without causing trail damage until around mid-May.

The most direct access to the trail is from the Fort Canyon Ranch trailhead in Alpine. After passing the bottom end of the DH trail, keep to the left at every intersection, and you'll easily navigate to the top of the DH trail. The climb on the Three Falls Fort Canyon trail is 1.6 miles with 550 feet of vertical to arrive at the top. From there, the descent puts you back on the Three Falls Fort Canyon trail aiming uphill. From the DH trail's bottom, each additional loop will be 2.4 miles with 450 feet of climbing.

You can also arrive at the top of the DH from northeast Alpine by climbing the Forbidden or Bodily Harm trails. Another nice option is to climb Vista Ridge and connect to the Three Falls Fort Canyon trail just after you cross the ridgeline. Draper riders will have a somewhat long ride from the Peak View trailhead via the Peak View trail and Three Falls. The trail can also be reached from Hog Hollow by climbing Longview to Three Falls.

Approaching a table. There's quite a variety of features. Not boring.

On a "traversing" section, the trail undulates with sloping sidewalls.

I'd rank the trail as upper-intermediate because of the speeds and the jumping features. (Although the tables can be rolled, this eventually degrades the lip of the jump, making your expert friends unhappy.) A solid intermediate rider can do OK here, but the steeply banked tight turns are not friendly to a slow unskilled rider.

The upper ridge area is one of the more beautiful spots in the Wasatch Foothills. The spring flowers are impressive. Lone Peak, Hogsback, and Chipman Peak are nearby, begging to be your background for a photo. The DH trail lies in an almost-constant forest of mature gambel oak. This trail is very much worth doing!

Trailheads and Access

Looking north in the trailhead. The entry is between my car and the bathroom.

Fort Canyon Ranch Trailhead

As you drive into Alpine on Main Street, keep straight at all intersections until you reach 800 North. Then, just as Main Street turns to the right and becomes Heritage Hills Drive, fork left on Fort Canyon Road to continue north. 0.9 miles later, turn right just before the Three Falls gate. Quickly turn left into the parking lot for the Three Falls Farm trailhead. The Three Falls Fort Canyon trail is at the far northern corner of the parking area, just to the left of the bathroom.

Cranking through the oak on the way to the riding area. It's all good!

Connecting from more-distant trailheads

Heritage Hills (North Point): Shortly after you veer to the northeast from Main onto Heritage Hills Drive as above, spot the small parking lot on your left and turn in. Climb the Heritage Hills Trail to Vista Ridge and continue uphill to the Three Falls Fort Canyon trail.
The Ridge TH (aka Stoney Way or Big Hollow TH): At the T intersection of upper Grove Drive, turn left. Turn left again. Turn right on Savannah Circle, then right into the parking lot. Take Stoney Way southwest to Vista Ridge and climb to Three Falls. Alternatively, you can go northeast on Stoney Way to Bodily Harm and climb. This is a fairly direct route. For the "scenic route" consider forking off onto Forbidden and dipping through upper Fort Canyon before you reach the DH.
Peak View TH: Exit the south side of the TH to the Peak View trail. Keep heading east when it becomes Three Falls. Drop through upper Fort Canyon and climb the Bodily Harm section of Three Falls to the ridgeline, where the DH awaits.

Trail notes!

With Chipman Peak behind him, Bruce approaches the Bodily Harm trail fork.

From the Ranch trailhead in Fort Canyon, follow the singletrack around the fenced area. In summer, this area has sprinklers that can turn the trail muddy. But it's over within 100 yards.

At 0.3 miles uphill, you'll pass the exit from the DH on your left. Note that it naturally points you back uphill for another lap.

The next trail fork will be at mile 0.8, as Vista Ridge comes in on your right. Keep straight and left.

At mile 1.1, the Last Chance trail joins on your right. This trail returns DH riders from the trails in upper Big Hollow. Keep left.

At 1.4, the Bodily Harm trails merges with Three Falls Fort Canyon, coming from the right. Again, keep left. You're pretty much through climbing now. At the ridgeline, the trail will veer to the left and descend 100 yards. The DH trail forks off into the trees on your left at mile 1.6 from the trailhead.

Take a minute to recover from the climb.

In the foreground is the Three Falls/Bodily Harm trail, with curved entrances to the DH from both uphill and downhill.

Approaching a highly-banked high-speed 180. Beginners would struggle here, as they'd fall into the rubble below the turning slope.

The Fort Canyon DH trail is machine-constructed with a wide dirt base. At the time of this review, there are no rock features, outcrops, or even incidental pebbles. There are no wooden features or artificial reinforcements. The trail is 100% hard-pack dirt. Turns have huge banks that can handle high speed. Between turns, the trail wiggles around with side-hits, rollers, and tables of varying height and steepness.

The average slope is just under 10%, which makes the Fort Canyon DH a bit steeper than the average Wasatch DH run. It's a fast trip.

The DH rockets back and forth across the steep hillside through several down-sloping traverses.

If you can look up for a second, there are lots of fabulous views. We're blazing southeast toward East Mountain and Mahogany Mountain.

Looking back to the north at the exit from the DH (on the right).

At the bottom of the DH trail, you'll hit the Three Falls Fort Canyon trail aiming in the uphill direction. A second lap will add 2.4 miles and 450 vertical feet.

If you turn hard left to descend back to the trailhead, your ride will end at 3 miles with 550 feet of climbing.