Reaching the top of the mountain, we're about to drop down into Blind Hollow for an absolutely awesome technical singletrack. Review by Bruce on October 1, 2008 - Thanks, Neil, for your guide services!
Blind Hollow
Blind Hollow is a 6.2-mile singletrack near Tony Grove in Logan Canyon. After a short climb, it seems to descend forever on narrow twisting singletrack with frequent technical features. This ride is for advanced bikers with good technical skills and aggressive confidence. There's 500 feet of climbing, then 2500 feet of gnarly downhill.
Most prefer to do this ride with a shuttle vehicle to drive between the trail's end and Tony Grove Lake. Or you can suck up and crank 12 miles and 2000 vertical on the road for an 18-mile loop.
Blind Hollow is a 6.2-mile singletrack near Tony Grove in Logan Canyon. After a short climb, it seems to descend forever on narrow twisting singletrack with frequent technical features. This ride is for advanced bikers with good technical skills and aggressive confidence. There's 500 feet of climbing, then 2500 feet of gnarly downhill.
Most prefer to do this ride with a shuttle vehicle to drive between the trail's end and Tony Grove Lake. Or you can suck up and crank 12 miles and 2000 vertical on the road for an 18-mile loop.
The ride starts with a climb out of the Tony Grove basin to the south. Switchbacks take you
through thick forest of huge firs with spots of fern understory where
the light penetrates.
As you reach the first ridge, aspens predominate. You'll do 500 vertical,
to a top altitude
of about 8500 feet, over 2.2 miles. So far, the trail is smooth and mellow.
The climb uphill is at a reasonable pace on nicely buff trail. Yeah, it's getting dark.
Climbing away from Tony Grove through dark forest.
Go left at the first two trail forks. The first fork at 0.4 connects to the campground. The
second, at 1.2 miles, goes to Coldwater Spring and the wilderness border.
At 2.3 miles, there's a critical fork. It's easy to go the wrong way. As you roll out of the aspens at the top of a meadow, you need to fork right downhill through the meadow. If you stay straight, it takes you down a log-infested (as of 2008) singletrack, and a mile later my topo map shows it connecting to a dirt road that takes you back to US-89 about a mile down-canyon from the Tony Grove turnoff.
At 2.3 miles, there's a critical fork. It's easy to go the wrong way. As you roll out of the aspens at the top of a meadow, you need to fork right downhill through the meadow. If you stay straight, it takes you down a log-infested (as of 2008) singletrack, and a mile later my topo map shows it connecting to a dirt road that takes you back to US-89 about a mile down-canyon from the Tony Grove turnoff.
As you reach the bottom of the valley, veer left as the trail from the wilderness area rejoins.
From here, you have four miles of technical descending. The rate isn't
too steep, but there
are periodic rock-garden challenges on narrow trail. The trail twists
quickly back and forth
through the trees as encroaching brush touches your legs. Dodge logs and
derailleur-eating
tombstone rocks. The trail will deliver you, again and again, to another
group of boulders
that invite you to endo.
Heading across the ridgetop from Tony Grove to Blind Hollow.
Straight sections are a rarity on the descent. Most of the trail is narrow and twists like an epileptic snake. Brush, willows, and trees fly past, inches from the handlebars.
Pick your line, get your butt back, and keep enough speed to bang through. They're all rideable.
But I don't recommend hitting this section at dusk as we did. The gray skies didn't allow enough light to penetrate the dense firs to show the contours of the embedded dust-covered boulders. If you slow down enough to really see the rocks in 3-D, your tires hang up on the boulder instead of rolling over.
This section of the trail is one of the more technical little singletracks in the state, and it's great fun to ride. Very narrow, constantly turning, frequent small challenges. But definitely not for the casual mountain biker.
But I don't recommend hitting this section at dusk as we did. The gray skies didn't allow enough light to penetrate the dense firs to show the contours of the embedded dust-covered boulders. If you slow down enough to really see the rocks in 3-D, your tires hang up on the boulder instead of rolling over.
This section of the trail is one of the more technical little singletracks in the state, and it's great fun to ride. Very narrow, constantly turning, frequent small challenges. But definitely not for the casual mountain biker.
If you're an expert rider, you should absolutely do this trail. It's best tackled while you're
fresh, with an aggressive attitude (and plenty of daylight left).
The last rays of sunshine peek under the storm clouds to hit the aspens ahead of Bruce. This is the location of the critical fork. Turn to the right here and head down along this row of aspens. Photo by Gene Poncelet.
The lower singletrack becomes narrow and twists constantly, with frequent rock outcrops for a technical challenge. Here Gene cruises a less-tech section.
Riding notes, Blind Hollow as shuttle:
0.0 ST at the far (west) end of the gravel loop
N41 53.401 W111 38.009
0.4 Fork L (R=trail from campground)
N41 53.210 W111 38.124
1.2 Fork L (R=to Coldwater Spring and wilderness)
N41 52.968 W111 38.285
2.3 Fork R downhill in meadow
N41 52.173 W111 38.079
Critical Fork! (Straight = Twin Creek)
2.7 Fork L (R uphill = to wilderness)
N41 51.859 W111 38.219
6.2 Cross road, downhill to shuttle parking
N41 49.949 W111 35.677
0.0 ST at the far (west) end of the gravel loop
N41 53.401 W111 38.009
0.4 Fork L (R=trail from campground)
N41 53.210 W111 38.124
1.2 Fork L (R=to Coldwater Spring and wilderness)
N41 52.968 W111 38.285
2.3 Fork R downhill in meadow
N41 52.173 W111 38.079
Critical Fork! (Straight = Twin Creek)
2.7 Fork L (R uphill = to wilderness)
N41 51.859 W111 38.219
6.2 Cross road, downhill to shuttle parking
N41 49.949 W111 35.677
Getting there:
In Logan, turn east at 400 North on US-89 towards Logan Canyon (about 2 miles). If you have a shuttle vehicle, park it in the gravel turnout at mile 15.5, just 0.2 miles down canyon from Temple Fork. (Drive to the Temple Fork turnoff and turn right. Now turn around and head back down US-89 0.1 mile and watch for a gravel turnout on the left. You'll spot a trail on the mountain above, across the road.) Drive your bikes uphill 4.5 miles (21 miles from the canyon mouth). At the sign for Tony Grove Lake, turn left, then immediately turn left again. (Right goes to a campground.) Now drive 7 miles uphill. Just before you arrive at Tony Grove Lake and campground, there's a gravel road on your left. If you miss the road, backtrack 0.2 miles from the end of the Tony Grove paved parking loop. Follow the gravel road to a parking loop and bathroom. The trailhead is at the far end of the loop. N41 53.401 W111 38.009
In Logan, turn east at 400 North on US-89 towards Logan Canyon (about 2 miles). If you have a shuttle vehicle, park it in the gravel turnout at mile 15.5, just 0.2 miles down canyon from Temple Fork. (Drive to the Temple Fork turnoff and turn right. Now turn around and head back down US-89 0.1 mile and watch for a gravel turnout on the left. You'll spot a trail on the mountain above, across the road.) Drive your bikes uphill 4.5 miles (21 miles from the canyon mouth). At the sign for Tony Grove Lake, turn left, then immediately turn left again. (Right goes to a campground.) Now drive 7 miles uphill. Just before you arrive at Tony Grove Lake and campground, there's a gravel road on your left. If you miss the road, backtrack 0.2 miles from the end of the Tony Grove paved parking loop. Follow the gravel road to a parking loop and bathroom. The trailhead is at the far end of the loop. N41 53.401 W111 38.009
Riding resources for this trail:
Single-page riding guide
GPS track files (right-click and "Save as..."):
GPX (includes Twin Creek option)
High-res topo map (1.2 MB): View
Lodging, camping, shops: Links to Logan resources
Single-page riding guide
GPS track files (right-click and "Save as..."):
GPX (includes Twin Creek option)
High-res topo map (1.2 MB): View
Lodging, camping, shops: Links to Logan resources
