View of the Heber Valley from Chop'd Coyote on June 5, 2015. Latest update July 15, 2024.
Chop'd Coyote
with Stone GiantsThe Chop'd Coyote and Stone Giants trails are found on the
southwestern side of the Coyote riding area near Heber. Chop'd Coyote
connects Upper Riverview (just south of the
UVU Connector) to the Lonely
Mountain Traverse trail and the Stone Giants trail. Stone Giants links the southern Coyote Trail to Chop'd Coyote at 7000 feet elevation.
This creates some fun loop options on the
western side of the mountain. (In addition, Stone Giants offers an
alternative path for the Coyote Loop -- plus a
shortcut to the backside of the loop. See below.)
Chop'd Coyote was cut off by construction of a golf course
in 2022. (When first opened for riding in 2015, Chop'd Coyote was a simple
way of dividing the Coyote Loop into two smaller halves. It joined Upper
Riverview directly to the back side of Coyote.) Now Stone Giants will take
you from upper Chop'd Coyote to the southern side of Coyote for a loop
ride. But this version of the Coyote Loop is only slighter shorter than
the full classic loop.
I'm told you can still use Chop'd Coyote for a "half loop"
ride, but you need to divert onto Stone Giants, then onto the Coyote
Canyon doubletrack. This will take you to the old connection on the east
side of the Coyote Loop.
Riding through a grove of tall oak on the best part
of Chop'd Coyote -- which is now a golf course. RIP.
Climbing further uphill on Chop'd Coyote after passing the connections to Lonely Mountain and Stone Giants.
You can still ride to the top of the hill as an
out-and-back. There are nice views at the top. Done from the UVU
trailhead, the out-and-back is 9.8 miles
with 1700 vertical.
Most riders, however, will use Chop'd Coyote as part of a loop ride
with either Stone Giants or Lonely Mountain.
Chop'd Coyote connects to Lonely Mountain (northbound) then
Stone Giants (southbound) at mile 2.3 from Upper Riverview. Lonely
Mountain offers a nice loop ride on the front side of the hill.
From Chop'd Coyote, Stone Giants traverses the hillside for two miles, ending on the
southern side of the Coyote Loop. (See the map below.) If you go downhill from the intersection of Stone Giants with Coyote, it's 2.2 miles down to
the fork between Upper Riverview and the Coyote trail.
Heading northeast on Stone Giants, with Timpanogos
and Cascade Mountain across the Heber Valley.
View along Stone Giants heading south.
Stone Giants can also create a shortcut that divides the
Coyote Loop into two halves. At the midpoint of Stone
Giants, riders can turn uphill onto the Coyote Lane doubletrack. In 1.2
miles the doubletrack will connect to the Coyote Loop on the eastern side
of the golf course. (Obviously it's not as "clean" as the old half-loop route -- and I haven't personally checked out this portion of the Coyote Lane doubletrack since construction started -- but I was told it works.)
Bruce heads uphill from the UVU trailhead.
UVU Trailhead
Most riders get to the Riverview area west-side trails from the UVU
Wasatch Campus trailhead. This is found on the far north end of Heber on
Highway 40, one mile south of the Highway 32 junction. At the UVU campus
entry, turn
east (toward the mountain). Go to the uppermost level of
parking behind the UVU buildings. Look for the duck-under and kiosk.
The trail fork where Chop'd Coyote splits from Upper
Riverview, looking north from Riverview.
Chop'd Coyote is a 3.7-mile trail that climbs from Rivendell
(Upper
Riverview) at 6250 feet to a dead-end on the ridgeline at 7250 feet
elevation. While it can be done as an out-and-back, most riders will use
Chop'd Coyote as a climbing connection to Lonely Mountain or Stone Giants
for loop rides.
Chop'd Coyote begins on Upper Riverview. Climb 1.6 miles from the UVU trailhead on the UVU Connector trail. Turn right (south) onto Upper Riverview. Now pedal 0.4 miles south and find the bottom of Chop'd Coyote. Turn hard left onto Chop'd Coyote and begin climbing the hill.
Rolling off Rivendell onto Chop'd Coyote.
Terrain on the west side of the hill
-- mostly sage, a bit of oak, and cactus on the lower elevations.
The terrain is mostly sage brush with small stands of short
gambel oak. The slope is sun-exposed after early morning, and tends to get
hot in summer. As the trail zigzags cross the mountain face, there are
constant views of the Heber Valley.
The trail is machine excavated, so it's broad and climbs at a gentle rate. Most turns have been worked so they're smooth and flow well for climbing. But there are some tight switchback-style turns on the steeper slopes that are difficult to clean. Downhill, they don't allow speed, and sometimes lack a decent run-out. Chop'd Coyote is not a high-speed descender, so for loop rides most bikers would use it as the climbing side of their loop.
Handlebar view while descending, looking west toward Cascade Mountain and Timpanogos.
High on the mountain, with Timpanogos and the Heber
valley below.
In 2024, there are two connecting trails to upper Chop'd
Coyote. The top of Lonely Mountain forks away from Chop'd Coyote at 2.2 miles from Upper Riverview.
Lonely Mountain keeps straight while Chop'd Coyote turns 180 degrees to
the right.
Lonely Mountain can take you down to Mordor for an expert-level continued descent or further down to Riverview and Upper Potatoes for an intermediate downhill.
There's a bit of embedded rock in the riding line, but overall the climb is fairly smooth.
View from the top: looking across the Heber Valley toward Deer
Creek and Provo Canyon in October.
At the next uphill turn of Chop'd Coyote (mile 2.3), you can
keep to the right on Stone Giants, while Chop'd Coyote turns hard left
here. Stone Giants takes you 0.8 miles to
the Coyote Lane road, or 1.9 miles to the Coyote trail on the southern
side of the Coyote Loop.
If you stay on Chop'd Coyote, you can climb another 1.3 miles and 350 vertical feet to end at the construction zone. (I have no information on whether the top of the trail will connect across or around the golf course at some time in the future.)
View from the top: looking across the Heber Valley toward Deer Creek and Provo Canyon in October.
Stone Giants generally contours the hillside, with
short ups and downs.
Stone Giants is a two-way trail that links Chop'd Coyote to
the Coyote trail on the upper west side of the mountain. It runs at around
7000 feet elevation. Stone Giants is 1.9 miles long and is essentially a
traversing trail. There are some quick up-and-downs, but it's mostly
fairly flat. The trail gains 100 vertical feet when riding north to south.
Southbound:
On the northern end, Stone Giants begins at mile 2.3 of Chop'd Coyote,
just one switchback turn uphill from the trail fork with Lonely Mountain.
Keep straight at this turn to start Stone Giants southbound at 6950 feet
elevation.
View to the west from Stone Giants.
Bruce passes a "stone giant" as he approaches Tom Bombadil.
At mile 0.6 from Chop'd Coyote, keep uphill and left as the DH trail Tom Bombadil forks downhill to the right. (Tom Bombadil is a popular destination for those who've climbed up to Stone Giants.)
At mile 0.6 from Chop'd Coyote, keep uphill and left as an
under-construction trail forks downhill to the right.
Arriving at the Coyote Lane cross-over when heading
south -- riding from Chop'd Coyote to the Coyote trail.
Looking up the doubletrack Coyote Lane from the
cross-over.
If you turn uphill on the doubletrack here, you can reach
the eastern side of the Coyote Loop in 1.2 miles. Or so I was told. Since
the construction of the golf course started, I haven't pedaled this
section of road to be sure you can still get through.
From the Coyote Lane crossing, Stone Giants continues south
for another mile. You'll pass a lot of Stone Giants.
Meandering past lichen-covered outcrops of igneous
rock.
Arriving at the Coyote trail.
You'll reach the Coyote trail as it makes a switchback turn.
Keep to the right and downhill if you're making a short front-side loop.
If you go uphill to the left, you're committed to the Coyote Loop ride,
with lots of miles and quite a bit more climbing.
Northbound:
To ride Stone Giants from the south, climb the Coyote trail uphill to mile
2.2 from the Upper Riverview trail fork, which is mile 3.2 from the Sheep
Pen fork. (See the map!) At an elevation of 7050, keep straight onto Stone
Giants as Coyote makes an uphill switchback to the right.
On the Coyote trail climbing uphill, we've reached
the trail fork for Stone Giants, which is straight ahead. Coyote turns
180
degrees to the right.
Rolling through the giant rocks northbound
When riding this direction, you'll cross Coyote Lane at mile
1.1 and reach Chop'd Coyote at mile 1.9. If you're making a big loop that
includes Lonely Mountain, head downhill at the intersection with Chop'd
Coyote, then keep straight at the next fork to leave Chop'd Coyote and
start the Lonely Mountain Traverse.
Getting there, Riverview Trailhead:From
Salt Lake, take I-80 eastbound to Silver Creek Junction (just
past Park City). Go south on US-40, past the Jordanelle reservoir and
descend past the dam. At the traffic light at mile 14.2 from I-80, turn
left on 32 and climb 1.1 miles. When you see the second entry into
Riverview on your left, note the gravel parking area on your right N40 34.403 W111 25.214. That's
your spot.
From
Utah County, drive up Provo Canyon to Heber. At the traffic
light on US-189/US-40, turn left and drive north through Heber. 4.7 miles
from the intersection, turn right on Highway 32 and climb 1.1 miles to the
parking area as above.
UVU Wasatch Campus Trailhead:
One mile south of the junction of
Highway 40 and 32 (a couple of miles north of Heber), turn east (toward the mountain) at the UVU campus.
Go to the uppermost level of parking behind the UVU buildings. Look for the
duck-under and kiosk N40 32.798 W111 24.735. A singletrack trail climbs 1.5 miles to the
Riverview Trail.
Isolated view of the front side of Coyote
Coyote Trailhead:
Two miles south of the junction of Highway 40
and 32, turn east (toward the mountain) on Coyote Lane. Just after the
road crosses a canal, turn left into the parking lot. The singletrack
starts at the northeast corner at the step-over, where you'll also find a
repair stand and a kiosk with a trail map. The Coyote singletrack takes
you uphill. After merging with the gravel road to cross the bridge, veer
left onto singletrack then keep generally right and uphill at the trail
forks.
Cutthroat (Highway 32) Trailhead:
Drive up
Highway 32 four miles. Look for a gravel road on the right side N40 35.430 W111 23.389. You can
park along the road and clamber over the fence near the (locked) gate.
Find the singletrack on your left and ride uphill, keeping to the right at
the Wile E Canyon fork about 100
yards uphill. You'll reach the fork that starts the Coyote loop 0.4 miles from the
highway.
Canal DT trailhead:
Just uphill from the light on highway 32, watch
for the canal crossing. Park along the road. Start riding south on the
doubletrack just uphill from the canal.
Riding resources:
Lodging, camping, shops:
Links to area resources
Bathrooms: No public restrooms nearby.
Water: Gas stations in Heber, campgrounds.
Camping: Hailstone campground at Jordanelle on US-40, about 6 miles away.
Bike services: Slim and Knobby's
bike shop, Heber 
