View south on Rock Notes. Review by Bruce on March 17, 2026.
View south on Rock Notes. Review by Bruce on March 17, 2026.
Eagle Mountain Trailhead DH Loops
Old Town Road, Stairway to Heaven, Headup, Rock Notes, The Alchemy

New at Eagle Mountain are a set of riding loops above the main trailhead. In spring 2026 the trails aren't marked, but if you understand the layout -- which is what this page is for -- the riding is straight-forward.

Note that a quick description of major Eagle Mountain trails can be found on the Eagle Mountain Overview Page. Full descriptions of area trails are found on pages for the northern Eagle Mountain trails, the Eagle Mountain Race Loop, the Mountain Ranch Bike Park, the Lake Mountain East Ridgeline route, the Hidden Valley Trailhead loops, the Hickman Hill Practice loops, the Treadstone-area (Prayer Flag hill) trails, and the south Eagle Mountain trails.

The "collecting" trail at the bottom is Old Town Road, found just behind the trailhead. From Old Town Road there are two climbing options: Stairway to Heaven at the northern end, and a combo of Rock-a-Billy Access and The Alchemy on the southern end.

There are two DH-only trails that fork off Stairway to Heaven: Headup (easy) and Rock Notes (intermediate). The Alchemy is two-way, so it can double as a third DH route. And because Stairway to Heaven is also two-way, that's a fourth option for descending.

Looking at a climbing meander on Stairway to Heaven.
Looking at a climbing meander on Stairway to Heaven.
Trailhead
Parking lot, looking south. The trail you see behind the bathroom is Old Town Road. The trail at the far corner is the connector to Old Town and Rock-a-Billy.
Parking lot, looking south. The trail you see behind the bathroom is Old Town Road. The trail at the far corner is the connector to Old Town and Rock-a-Billy.
Hidden Hollow

The paved Hidden Hollow trailhead has a bathroom, water, and room for over 40 vehicles. Westbound on SR-73 from Redwood Road (11600 West) in Lehi or from the Mountain View Corridor, turn left at the stop light onto The Ranches Parkway. At Pony Express Parkway, turn right. The road will veer a bit south (left), then back west (right) as you get one mile from Ranches Parkway. At the traffic light before Hidden Hollow Elementary, turn left and drive uphill 0.3 miles. Turn left into the parking lot.

To begin riding loops, pedal to the southeast corner of parking (note the trash can at right in photo) and link up to either Old Town Road (behind the bathroom in photo) or Rock-a-Billy, reached via a short connector.

The route uphill! Traversing trails:
 
Old Town Road
Old Town Road, looking south.
Old Town Road, looking south.
Old Town Road should be your main traversing trail. That is, you take Old Town Road from the bottom of your downhill trail to reach a climbing trail to get back uphill. You can climb on either Stairway to Heaven on the northern end, or via the Rock-a-Billy Connector plus The Alchemy at the southern end of the loops area.
Use only the northern half of the Old Town Road trail, from the parking northbound. The southern side simply ends on a steep doubletrack. Yes you can use that doubletrack to grunt uphill to the ridgeline ATV doubletrack (and connecting to the top of The Alchemy on the north or to Ridgeline or Big Thunder further south). But few people will want to do that. Especially the beginners that will be the primary users of these short loops.
A climbing turn on the southern half of Old Town Road, which you probably won't see if you're just doing laps.
A climbing turn on the southern half of Old Town Road, which you probably won't see if you're just doing laps.
Old Town Road is smooth and easy.
Old Town Road is smooth and easy.
Old Town Road is an easy smooth trail with very gradual elevation change. On the way north, you'll pass a connector trail to the Pony Express Parkway area and paved trail. Keep right uphill. (Note: this trail is still under construction in spring 2026, so I'm just guessing about where it will go!)
Old Town Road will now join the northern end of Rock-a-Billy, 0.2 miles from the parking lot. After another 100 yards you'll come to a 5-way trail intersection (unmarked in spring 2026). Turn hard right onto Stairway to Heaven.

FYI: The trail forking left downhill is the end of Hidden Canyon. The trail straight across is the dead-end Lookout Connector. The trail in between Lookout Connector and Stairway to Heaven is Hidden Canyon, running over to the trails above the bike park.

Looking south as Old Town Road joins Rock-a-Billy. Behind my back is the 5-way trail fork where you'll find Stairway to Heaven for the climb to the top of the DH lines.
Looking south as Old Town Road joins Rock-a-Billy. Behind my back is the 5-way trail fork where you'll find Stairway to Heaven for the climb to the top of the DH lines.
Rock-a-Billy
Looking north on Rock-a-Billy after Old Town Road has merged.
Looking north on Rock-a-Billy after Old Town Road has merged.
By all means, ride Rock-a-Billy while you're there, but it shouldn't be your main "return" route because it cuts across the middle of ALL the downhill trails.

The exception could be when you descend The Alchemy. If you don't want to stop for the mob of riders climbing the Rock-a-Billy Access trail, just stay on Rock-a-Billy after the end of The Alchemy -- instead of veering left downhill on the Access trail to parking.

From the bottom of The Alchemy, Rock-a-Billy will take you straight and level north to the 5-way intersection where you can hook hard right onto Stairway to Heaven for the climb.
Bruce cruises Rock-a-Billy on a warm spring day.
Bruce cruises Rock-a-Billy on a warm spring day.
Climbing trail:
 
Stairway to Heaven
Bruce's bike marks the spot where you turn from Rock-a-Billy onto Stairway to Heaven.
Bruce's bike marks the spot where you turn from Rock-a-Billy onto Stairway to Heaven.
At the northern end of Rock-a-Billy (and you remember that Old Town Road has merged onto Rock-a-Billy at this point) there's a 5-way trail fork. Turn hard right uphill at this spot. You're now on Stairway to Heaven, which will take you to the top of the DH trails.
Stairway to Heaven has a gentle but steady rate of climb. You'll wind through a few turns as you gain elevation. You'll gain 150 vertical feet over 0.4 miles.
Stairway to Heaven starts in juniper forest, then exits onto grassy slopes.
Stairway to Heaven starts in juniper forest, then exits onto grassy slopes.
Stairway to Heaven meanders uphill.
Stairway to Heaven meanders uphill.
The first DH trail on Stairway to Heaven comes at 0.2 miles. As you enter an uphill turn to the left, Headup forks downhill to your right.

The second DH trail, Rock Notes, is just around another set of turns at mile 0.3 from the 5-way intersection.

The final trail is actually a two-way, The Alchemy. It's at mile 0.4, just before Stairway to Heaven ends on an ATV path.

If you're an "explorer" then the end of Stairway to Heaven on the ATV path doesn't need to be a turn-around spot. Turning left uphill takes you to the top of a hill for a view over Eagle Mountain.

Staying right and downhill takes you to join the main ridgeline doubletrack road, where you can continue on to the Ridgeline trail and Big Thunder.

Standing on the ATV path, looking back at Stairway to Heaven.
Standing on the ATV path, looking back at Stairway to Heaven.
Climbing trail:
 
Rock-a-Billy Access plus The Alchemy
Climbing uphill toward Rock-a-Billy. This is an older photo, so most of the dead trees are gone now.
Climbing uphill toward Rock-a-Billy. This is an older photo, so most of the dead trees are gone now.
Rock-a-Billy Access

The Rock-a-Billy Access trail from parking will split into a northbound limb and a southern limb. Unless you're heading for Stairway to Heaven, keep to the right and climb southbound.

Once you reach Rock-a-Billy, keep southbound then in around 30 feet fork left uphill on The Alchemy.

The Alchemy (up or down), UP

To begin a climb of The Alchemy, veer to the left uphill off Rock-a-Billy. The trail fork is just 30 feet from the top of the Rock-a-Billy southern Access Trail.  This is 0.3 miles from the northern end of Rock-a-Billy.

Looking south just after Rock-a-Billy Access joins.
Looking south just after Rock-a-Billy Access joins.
The Alchemy makes a turn, then gets back to almost-flat riding.
The Alchemy makes a turn, then gets back to almost-flat riding.
The Alchemy makes fairly long gentle traversing climbs between four turns. After 0.2 miles, it will join Stairway to Heaven near its southern end, having gained only 50 vertical feet of elevation.

Keep right on Stairway to Heaven if you're heading for the ATV connectors. If you're riding DH laps, make a hard left onto Stairway to Heaven and coast down to a DH trail.

In fact, the preponderance of tire tracks suggest that The Alchemy is being used to climb to the ATV trail on the ridge, thereby bypassing a steep stretch of the doubletrack. At the end of Stairway to Heaven (which The Alchemy joins) you can hop on ATV trail to head for other fun DH stuff. For example, Poon Panther.

Downhill trails:
 
Headup Trail
Here's the top of Headup in spring 2026, brand new.
Here's the top of Headup in spring 2026, brand new.
Headup is a downhill-only trail that starts on Stairway to Heaven and descends to Old Town Road. (It appears that many riders just blow across Old Town and wind up in the parking lot. I don't think this was the trail-builders intention.) The entry is on your right, eight turns up Stairway to Heaven, just as the trail begins another climbing turn.
Headup is only 0.1 miles long. There will be just under 100 vertical feet of descent. Headup winds through a couple of gentle turns as it flows downhill. High speeds are possible, but it's not a high-voltage ride. I'd rank it "easy" on the tech scale, assuming that stunts are not added to the route as time goes by.

Just after the midpoint of the descent, you'll cross Rock-a-Billy. Look both ways, please.

At the bottom, turn right onto Old Town Road for another climb uphill.

Looking down toward parking as Headup makes a gentle turn.
Looking down toward parking as Headup makes a gentle turn.
Rock Notes
Looking down Rock Notes toward the first jump.
Looking down Rock Notes toward the first jump.
Rock Notes is a downhill-only trail that forks away from Stairway to Heaven at mile 0.3 from the 5-way trail fork. Rock Notes is located just two turns uphill from Headup. You'll drop just over 100 vertical feet in 0.1 miles. The trail will cross Rock-a-Billy on the way down.
Rock Notes has several technical features, including rock roll-overs and jumps. If you're going to hit the features, it's an upper-intermediate ride.

This is the trail you want to hit for "sessions" that improve your tech skills.

At the bottom of Rock Notes, veer onto Old Town Road for another climb to the top.

Onward toward the parking area.
Onward toward the parking area.
The Alchemy (up or down), DOWN
The entry to The Alchemy from Stairway to Heaven.
The entry to The Alchemy from Stairway to Heaven.
The Alchemy is a two-way trail that can also be used as a downhill for laps. The Alchemy is 0.2 miles long, using that distance to drop only 50 vertical feet. So most riders would consider it to be a climbing route.

But you're free to descend it.

The Alchemy meanders back and forth across the hill. I'd rank it "Very Easy" as a downhill. Yield to climbers.
Mellow enough that you'll need to pedal.
Mellow enough that you'll need to pedal.
Reaching the bottom of The Alchemy, where we can cross over to connect to the trailhead or Old Town Road.
Reaching the bottom of The Alchemy, where we can cross over to connect to the trailhead or Old Town Road.
The bottom of The Alchemy hits Rock-a-Billy with a direct aim at the Rock-a-Billy south Access Trail back to the parking lot.
Bottom Line!
Closeup of trailhead area.
Closeup of trailhead area.
This is a nice addition for kids and teens. Or anyone who wants to go around in circles while improving their skills. When combined with the Hickman Hill loops on the opposite side, it creates more quickie opportunities. But there's nothing here that's especially compelling -- so you wouldn't drive an hour just to hit these trails.