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. Portions have been renamed and rerouted, with new connecting trails having also been added. 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 some relatively stiff climbing makes this a ride for strong intermediates. 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 trail is on the left. (The
trail has been affected by construction, but you should be able to spot it.)
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. Turn hard left at the trail fork with More Effort at mile 0.6 from the trailhead. (More Effort connects across the road to the Forbidden trail.)
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.
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, 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.)
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, the route was 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 return route from the downhills EZ Breezy and Alpine Slide.
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.
The next trail fork is at mile 1.1 as you climb. To the right is the Last Chance trail, the return route from the downhills EZ Breezy and Alpine Slide.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
Facilities: bathroom at Fort Canyon trailhead, bathrooms at Lambert Park trailheads. (No services at Schoolhouse Springs, Big Hollow, or Heritage Hills trailheads.)
See below for the Schoolhouse Springs trailhead area routing as of August 2021.
Getting there, Alpine Cove - Schoolhouse Springs: Instead of turning left
on Fort Canyon Road, stay on Heritage Hills Drive. Turn left uphill on
Grove Drive. At the T intersection (where a right turn would take you
across the bridge into Lambert Park), 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 larger road veers left, keep straight onto a smaller dirt road. Go 1/4
mile uphill and park at the Lone Peak trailhead. Go all the way up to the "Lehi"
gate and turn left to get on the singletrack that dips through the creek.
Keep left and descend on the trailhead connector. You'll find a connection
to Forbidden on the right. To reach Bodily Harm, you'll need to coast all
the way down to the raised Three Falls Lane road, then crawl up and over
it to find Bodily Harm on the opposite side.
Closeup, status as of 2022
GPS track files (right-click a file and select
"save as...")
Area GPX multi-track file
Map for printing: View
Lodging, camping, shops: Links to northern county resources
Area GPX multi-track file
Map for printing: View
Lodging, camping, shops: Links to northern county resources
