Bodily Harm and Three Falls Fort Canyon

Bruce descends a series of turns on Bodily Harm with Lone Peak looming above. Original photos and trail notes April 28, 2018 by Bruce, with latest update for new trails and realignments April 18, 2022.

Bodily Harm and Three Falls

This long-sought dirt route from Draper's Corner Canyon to Alpine was opened in 2018. Officially, Bodily Harm itself is 1.7 miles long with around 600 vertical feet of climbing, with the final mile to upper Fort Canyon renamed as the Three Falls (Fort Canyon section) trail. The surface is easy, but there's some relatively stiff climbing when done in the uphill direction. I recommended Bodily Harm for intermediates or very strong beginners. See the area overview page for links to other area trail pages.

Bodily Harm

The Bodily Harm trail from Alpine Cove starts just off the Three Falls Way road at 5400 feet elevation. To get there, take Grove Drive to Alpine Cove Drive. Turn north on Aspen Drive. After the road turns to the left uphill and crosses a creek, the Bodily Harm trail is on the left. It will traverse the hillside heading south before starting a climb up the hill.

There's no official parking here. Alpine residents pedal up through city streets to this spot. If you arrive by car, you can use the Lone Peak trailhead and coast back downhill to Three Falls Way.

We're heading uphill, around 0.4 miles. Switchbacks go back and forth across the hill as far up as the eye can see.

Looking northeast as we continue to climb. This is a quick series of short switchbacks, just uphill from the alternate Valley View trail. There are great views in both directions!

Just 1/10th mile from the Alpine Cove trailhead, the Stoney Way trail forks away to the left. This trail connects to the Heritage Hills and Vista Ridge trails.

Keep right and uphill on Bodily Harm.

The trail then begins a sustained climb. Bodily Harm zigs and zags around the edge of the hill through switchbacks. At one-half mile up the hill, turn hard left at the trail fork with Forbidden (old More Effort) to stay on Bodily Harm.

Hitting a grove of maple and tall gambel oak during the climb.

Approaching a grove of maple on Bodily Harm during a summer ride.

At mile 0.7 (one set of turns later) Bodily Harm will cross a ridge on the edge of the Three Falls Lane road and descend a bit before resuming the climb.

At mile 0.8 as you make a left turn in a small canyon, the alternate Valley View trail is on the left, while the original Bodily Harm is uphill on the right. Valley View is a more gentle climb with awesome views all around. It will rejoin after 0.2 miles.
Next you'll hit the series of switchbacks that climb the ridge. Plenty of turns, most of which have a just-enough turning radius. Nicely built. There will be fabulous views of Lone Peak, Box Elder, and the Utah Valley.

View south with Utah Lake in the distance.

Looking over a group of arrowleaf balsamroot at Lone Peak.

At mile 1.3, the entry to EZ Breezy forks off on your left. (This is a one-way downhill-only trail that descends into Big Hollow. It continues as the climbing trail Last Chance, taking you up to the ridge to join the Fort Canyon section of the Three Falls Trail just downhill from the upper end of Bodily Harm.)

Just 1/10th mile further uphill from EZ Breezy, a second DH flow trail forks away on the left. This is the expert-level Alpine Slide. It will join the bottom of EZ Breezy at Last Chance. From there, you can climb uphill to Three Falls. (An uphill right turn here will take you to the top of Bodily Harm.)

At mile 1.8 of Bodily Harm, you'll join the Three Falls trail from the Fort Canyon Ranch trailhead. A hard left turn takes you downhill to the trailhead, or to the Vista Ridge trail.
Keep right now and pedal to the ride's highest point at 5900 feet elevation. Note that the trail signs now designate the combined trail as the Three Falls trail. (Prior to the construction of the Three Falls Fort Canyon trail, the entire route up to the falls was considered the Bodily Harm -- aka Neph's Lake -- trail.)

Rolling the Rocky Mountain through forest of maple.

Approaching the top of Bodily Harm where it meets the Three Falls trail.

From the Peak View trailhead on Traverse Ridge to Lambert Park, the route is 1.6 miles on Peak View, 2.9 on Three Falls, then 2.7 on Three Falls Fort Canyon and Bodily Harm to Alpine Cove. This is a total of just over 7 miles, then 1/2 mile of pavement over to Lambert Park. Now additional trails have created loop options to make this a fun riding area in its own right.

Three Falls Trail (Fort Canyon Section)

Fort Canyon trailhead. Bathroom, huge paved parking lot. The outbound trail is just to the left of the bathroom in this photo.

The Fort Canyon section of Three Falls trail connects the Three Falls Ranch trailhead in Fort Canyon to the Bodily Harm trail on the ridgeline, then continues through Fort Canyon. To the Bodily Harm junction, it's 1.4 miles with 500 vertical feet of elevation change. At mile 2.3, the Three Falls trail reaches the Forbidden trail junction then continues westbound toward Draper.

As you drive or pedal up Fort Canyon, turn right at mile 0.9, just as you're approaching the entry to Three Falls. Take the first left into the public trailhead parking. The trail begins to the left of the bathroom building.

View to the southwest, with Utah Lake and Lake Mountain in the distance. To the right is the Fort Canyon road.

You'll enjoy frequent views of Lone Peak, Little Matterhorn, and Chipman Peak ahead of your handlebars as you climb. (Far left, Lone Peak. Left, Little Matterhorn. Middle, Chipman.)

After flirting with the fences of adjacent private property, the Fort Canyon trail climbs uphill. The terrain is sage with small stands of gambel oak and occasional maple.

There are two trail forks off the Three Falls trail before you reach the Bodily Harm trail at mile 1.4. The first is the Vista Ridge trail at mile 0.8, on your right as you climb. This trail crosses the ridge and descends to Heritage Hills and Stoney Way.
The next trail fork is at mile 1.1 as you climb. To the right is the Last Chance trail, the one-way return route from the downhills EZ Breezy and Alpine Slide. Do not enter.
At mile 1.4, fork right to head downhill on Bodily Harm to Alpine Cove, or keep left for Three Falls or to connect to Forbidden.

Arrowleaf balsamroot blooms in the April sunshine. On the far right, Box Elder Peak appears as we climb higher.

Crossing the ridge between Utah Valley and Fort Canyon, with Lone Peak forming a picturesque background.

The Three Falls trail will now begin to drop into upper Fort Canyon. It descends through a series of turns before approaching the homes of Three Falls and the Fort Canyon road. You'll be losing almost 200 vertical feet of your climbing.

Across the valley, you'll see a ribbon of pine trees in a ravine descending the slope of Lone Peak. That's the main creek. After you get through the subdivision, you'll climb to the bridge across that creek.

Looking across upper Fort Canyon. I've noted the location of the continuing trail. The brown smudge through the middle of the photo is the construction area.

Riding through maple groves as we approach the Three Falls road in Fort Canyon.

At mile 0.9 from the junction with Bodily Harm, the trail starts to climb uphill again through in a forest of mixed maple and pine. You'll go around a couple of switchbacks.

When you reach the Fort Canyon road, go straight across to the trail on the opposite side and begin climbing.
Climb through a couple of turns. As the trail straightens and heads toward the big ravine, you'll see a trail on your right. This is the Forbidden trail, which can take you back to the Alpine Cove trailhead in a loop ride. (There's a second connector from Forbidden that joins just uphill. Keep straight if you're heading for Draper.)

Riding through the balsam root near the ridgeline above Fort Canyon.

The bridge over the creek. Take a minute to enjoy the spot.

To ride Three Falls to Peak View, keep straight and ride across the bridge over Fort Canyon Creek. And you're on the way to Draper.

Three Falls in Draper to Lambert Park via Bodily Harm

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Map of northern Alpine foothill riding area.

Getting there, 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 top of Bodily Harm is 0.9 miles uphill on the Three Falls Fort Canyon trail from the end of Vista Ridge.
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 Heritage Hills to Vista Ridge. Continue uphill on Three Falls to reach the top of Bodily Harm.
The Ridge TH (Stoney Way and Big Hollow): At the T intersection of Grove Drive, turn left and follow the road as it then veers left and approaches the mountain. Take Stoney Way 0.5 miles northeast, turning uphill on the bottom of Bodily Harm at the trail fork.

Schoolhouse Spring (Hammagog) Trailhead: On Alpine's Grove Drive, head north to the second T intersection (where a right turn would take you across the bridge into Lambert Park). Instead, turn left on Alpine Cove Drive. At the 4-way intersection, turn left. As Alpine Cove Drive turns downhill, turn uphill on Aspen Drive. It will turn to the Three Falls Lane road. As the paved road veers left to cross the creek, keep straight onto a smaller dirt road and drive about 0.2 miles uphill until you hit the Lehi gate that prevents further travel. Park, then coast back downhill to the paved road, pedal 150 feet uphill and fork onto the singletrack heading south on the left side of the road.

Facilities: bathroom at Fort Canyon trailhead, bathrooms at Lambert Park trailheads. (No services at Schoolhouse Springs, Big Hollow, or Heritage Hills trailheads.)