Photos from rides by Bruce from 2015 through 2021. This banked turn is on Noah.
Forebay System, lower trails
(Official Payson City trail system)
(Official Payson City trail system)
This page provides photos and details for specific trails in the lower Forebay trail system. Trails are listed in alphabetic order. For trailheads and general information, see the Forebay main page. See also the Forebay Upper Trails info page. Information about the Pine Forest trails across the Nebo Loop road is found on a separate page.
Even Flow Trail
View north as the trail leaves the old road-cut.
Even Flow, like other Forebay trails, is a hand-cut singletrack that follows natural lines. The southern end is on Little Shawny, just 100 yards north of the Trotter trail fork. It's 0.6 miles in length, climbing around Round Top to reach the western side of the Wakara Loop.
Even Flow begins by following an old dirt-road cut for around 100 yards. This is the steepest section of the trail but is not too tough. It then settles into a winding gradual climb. In general the trail works north through oak brush terrain, gradually gaining elevation as it curves around Round Top.
On an area of climbing turns heading southeast as we gain elevation.
Eastbound on the northern end of Even Flow, approaching Wakara.
After traversing around the slope of Round Top, Even Flow turns to the east and joins Wakara's western side. If you keep left, you'll go all the way around. By heading right uphill, you'll join the stem of Round Top near the loop fork.
This intersection is a bit complicated, and it's spread out over about 50 feet. Hard right is Round Top. Left is the eastern side of Wakara. About 30 feet later comes another trail split. From here, keeping straight and left will take you to Overlook, where you can connect to the upper (eastern) trails or to Favorite. Forking to the right takes you down Trotter.
Ezra
Entry to the Ezra loop from JMC.
Ezra is an easy 0.5 mile loop off JMC in the lower canyon. The entry to the loop is 1/10th
mile up JMC from the gate (old trailhead). From the new trailhead, there's
1/10th mile on the
connector, then a right turn onto Little Shawny for 1/4 mile, then a left
turn to go around
50 yards on JMC before turning left into Ezra. See the map.
Ezra winds through groves of oak on a fairly flat area. The trail surface is almost 100% smooth
dirt. There is only trivial elevation change along the loop.
Typical trail surface. Dirt ribbon winding through tall grass among small oak groves.
View from Ezra looking north toward the mouth of the canyon.
Because it's so easy and close to the trailhead, a loop around Ezra is an excellent ride for
young children or true beginners. Also attractive for this ride is the
picnic table you passed
on Little Shawny, which is just downhill from Ezra when the kids are ready
for a break from
looping around.
Favorite
More Mules Ear blossoms on the Favorite Trail.
Favorite is an easy smooth trail in the upper shoulder area, starting at the 4-way where Noah,
JMC, and Orange Gate end. It extends from that 4-way trail intersection
north through grass
and oak to end on the reservoir access road. (From there, it's around
100 yards on the road
to the Overlook Trail, which is your connection to the upper mountain.)
Favorite is very easy riding. It's 0.4 miles long with very little elevation change. When climbing
up Favorite, a trail fork to JR Devo comes at 0.2 miles on your right.
Bruce heads through the tall oak of Favorite in 2017.
JMC
JMC in early June 2015.
JMC is considered the main, and most direct, climbing or descending trail of the lower trail
area. It extends 0.8 miles from the old entry on the Nebo Loop road to
end at a 4-way with
Favorite, Noah, and Orange Gate. About half-way up, it temporarily merges
with Noah for a short
distance. There will be 300 vertical feet of elevation change on JMC,
for an average grade
of just under 8%.
From the new trailhead, riders will reach JMC by taking the lower side of Little Shawny (a
right turn 1/10th mile from the trailhead). You'll turn left uphill onto
JMC at mile 0.3 from
the trailhead (1/10th mile from the bottom of JMC).
JMC starts with grass and groves of oak, then reaches a slightly rockier and steeper slope as it climbs.
Drone view as Bruce climbs JMC. We're looking south.
JMC makes connections to many trails. As you head uphill, you'll pass the exit from K-Launi
to your right just a few feet away from the fork with Little Shawny. Just
uphill on the left
is Ezra. At mile 0.3, the upper end of Little Shawny forks left. Then
in 1/10th mile, Noah
joins on your left. In another 1/10th mile, Noah forks away to your left.
About 100 feet later,
the top end of K-Launi forks to your right.
The next intersection is the 4-way with Noah and Orange Gate where JMC ends and Favorite continues on.
The next intersection is the 4-way with Noah and Orange Gate where JMC ends and Favorite continues on.
JR Devo
From the orange gate, JR Devo is on the right and the Orange Gate trail is on the left. We're looking west.
JR Devo is 0.5 miles long. On the upper end, it forks west from the reservoir access road just
past the orange gate, sharing a common origin with the Orange Gate singletrack
trail. On the
bottom, it forks away from the middle of the Favorite trail.
JR Devo is a meandering dirt trail through oak and grass, similar to the other trails in the
area. There's almost no elevation change over its course.
Meandering through oak near JR Devo's end on the Favorite trail.
K-Launi
A tight turn around a cedar on K-Launi.
K-Launi is a narrow and twisty route that offers some ridge views. I'd consider it a downhill
trail and rank it upper-intermediate or easier-expert in skill requirement.
K-Launi forks away from JMC at around mile 0.5 uphill. After descending 0.4 miles and 130 vertical
feet, it ends on JMC near the Little Shawny trail fork.
Not all trails here are pure dirt. K-Launi has a bit of exposed rock.
Little Shawny
This is the connector trail from the trailhead to Little Shawny. It heads north along the creek. At the intersection, straight takes you to the upper side of Little Shawny (and a connection to Trotter and Noah) while right takes you over to the bottom of JMC near Ezra.
Little Shawny is 0.8 miles long. It forms a semi-circle as it gains 150 feet of elevation.
It begins and ends on JMC, but has a mellower pitch and more meanders.
It's fun for climbing
or descending and can substitute for the (shorter and steeper) bottom
half of JMC. (Compared
to JMC, the combination of Little Shawny plus Noah makes the same 300
feet of climbing over
twice the distance.)
Most of Little Shawny will be in the trees, with a fair amount of rambling around. At the upper
end, the Even Flow trail forks away northbound before Little Shawny passes
a swampy catch basin before reaching a trail fork with Trotter. (If you're planning to
climb Noah, turn left uphill here and you'll find the bottom of Noah 100
yards uphill.)
Bruce winds through the trees.
There's a picnic table with bike stand at the bottom of Little Shawny, just before it ends on JMC.
Meadow with a bit of swamp off the upper end of Little Shawny. We're looking west here.
Noah
Entry to Noah from Trotter.
Noah makes a nice climbing or descending trail that can substitute for the upper half of JMC.
It actually joins JMC in the middle for about 1/10th mile (watch the trail
signs here). Noah
is 0.7 miles long and has 150 vertical feet of elevation gain.
The bottom of Noah forks away from lower Trotter, just 100 yards uphill from where Trotter ends on Little Shawny.
The bottom of Noah forks away from lower Trotter, just 100 yards uphill from where Trotter ends on Little Shawny.
Noah winds back and forth, with some fairly tight turns. Almost all of the trail is in cool
maple and oak forest. Noah has had some "engineering" done, consisting
of man-made bench-cuts
and banked switchback turns. But the majority of the trail is the same
natural narrow meandering
singletrack you ride elsewhere in Forebay.
Typical trail on Noah.
In the middle, Noah hugs a side-slope with a narrow hand-made bench-cut through a couple of traverses.
The banked turns on this stretch are one of the few places in the entire system where the terrain has been altered.
A meadow of Mules Ear near the top of Noah.
At the top, Noah ends in a 4-way with the top of JMC, the beginning of Favorite, and the Orange
Gate trail.
Orange Gate
Orange Gate isn't that interesting unless you're using it to connect -- for example, if you followed JR Devo out to the access road and want to take Orange Gate back to Favorite.
Orange Gate is a short singletrack that extends from the reservoir access road to the 4-way
intersection with JMC, Noah, and Favorite. It's only 0.2 miles long, climbing
over a small
rise from the orange gate. For most riders, it's use will be as part of
a little loop from
Favorite around JR Devo. See the map.
Overlook Trail
View north from Overlook as we cross the ridge near the origin of Round Top.
Overlook originates on the reservoir access road, around 100 feet uphill from the end of Favorite. The fork to Round Top, (which also takes you to upper Trotter and Wakara) comes after 0.3 miles.
Overlook originates on the reservoir access road, around 100 feet uphill from the end of Favorite. The fork to Round Top (which is your route to upper Trotter and the Wakara loop) comes after 0.3 miles. Keep right to stay on Overlook if you're headed for the upper trails.
Overlook Trail from the reservoir access road. The sage-covered slope above is the fill for the reservoir.
In the grass flat north of the reservoir. We'll veer to the right and head for the trees to reach Ray Gun.
Overlook heads east after it passes around the reservoir, running through a large grass meadow. It will hit ATV trail as it goes through a sharp dip. On the east side of the dip, the Ray Gun trail forks to the left. At this point, you are leaving the official Payson City system, entering the upper (eastern) trails.
Round Top
Westbound on Round Top, where the terrain changes to add a bit of rock, bitterbrush, sage, and oak.
Round Top is a 0.6 mile lariat loop off of the Overlook trail. It's a nice little ride with
terrific views. But it's also important for its connections to the Wakara
loop and to the top
of the Trotter trail.
This loop is dryer and more open than most Forebay trails, with some rough granite rocks.
View south up Payson Canyon from Round Top.
Heading into the turn of the loop on Round Top.
Just before Round Top splits into a loop, the Trotter trail forks south (left) and the two
limbs of the Wakara loop fork away on your right. If you're headed for
Even Flow, take the left-hand (western) side of the Wakara loop for 0.2 miles.
Trotter
Entry to Trotter at the bottom.
Trotter is an alternative route for descending from, or climbing to, the upper trails. It's
0.5 miles long with 150 feet of elevation change (most of that vertical
comes in the upper
half).
The lower end of Trotter is on Little Shawny. As the Little Shawny trail hits a dike structure at an old retention pond, Trotter goes uphill (you may see two parallel trails here, but they merge after 100 feet).
The lower end of Trotter is on Little Shawny. As the Little Shawny trail hits a dike structure at an old retention pond, Trotter goes uphill (you may see two parallel trails here, but they merge after 100 feet).
The bottom half of Trotter is a meandering dirt trail through tall trees with a very gradual
slope.
The top half clings to a side-slope as it heads over to Round Top and has a fairly good pitch. For about 1/10th mile it will be a bit of a tough climb for most beginners.
The top half clings to a side-slope as it heads over to Round Top and has a fairly good pitch. For about 1/10th mile it will be a bit of a tough climb for most beginners.
Trotter meanders through tall oak and maple.
Trotter forks away from Round Top in a meadow just before Round Top forms a loop.
If you're using Trotter to descend from the top, Trotter forks to the south from the Round
Top lariat trail just before it splits into the loop. Across from Trotter
on Round Top are
the entry and exit from the Wakara loop.
Wakara
Entry to Wakara, if riding the loop counterclockwise.
Wakara is a 2.3 mile loop that drops through a shallow valley and climbs to the ridgeline to
the north. It starts on the Round Top lariat loop. The trail is narrow
dirt singletrack and
easy to ride.
Wakara can be done either direction. The ride first descends off the ridgeline of Round Top
into a broad flat valley. There it winds back and forth between stands
of gambel oak. This
area will be wet and sticky in springtime.
In both directions, the trail passes over a broad flat valley between low ridgelines. Looking north.
View north on the ridge, just before turning back to the south.
At the far north end, the trail climbs up to a ridgeline where you can see views of Utah Valley
to the north. For a short distance there's a bit more rock in the trail,
but overall the trail
is still very easy.
Total climbing over the course of the loop is only around
150 vertical feet. There's 50 at the northern end, then 100 to climb back
up to Round Top on the ridgeline.
On the western side of Wakara, the Even Flow trail joins as Wakara makes a turn. This intersection is 0.2 miles from the origin of Wakara on Round Top.
On the way back, with views of Payson Canyon to the south.
Map of the lower (official Payson City) Forebay trails
Lower trails (official Payson City trails, west of the reservoir Access Road)
Even Flow: 0.6 miles from upper Little Shawny north to the west side of
the Wakara loop.
Ezra: 0.5 mile loop off JMC in lower canyon
Favorite: 0.4 miles from JMC and Noah to Access Road near reservoir,
connection to JR Devo
JMC: 0.8 miles main route from Nebo Loop road to 4-way with Favorite,
Noah, and Orange Gate. Connections to Little Shawny, Ezra, Little Shawny,
Noah, K-Launi
JR Devo: 0.5 mile loop off Favorite extending to Access Road at Orange
Gate
K-Launi: 0.4 mile downhill route from JMC, ends on JMC
Little Shawny: 0.8 miles begins and ends on JMC
Noah: 0.7 miles from lower Trotter to top of JMC (joins JMC briefly)
Orange Gate: 0.2 miles from the orange gate on Access Road to top of JMC
and Noah
Overlook: 0.5 miles from upper Access Road around reservoir to Ray Gun,
connection to Round Top
Parking access trail: 0.1 mile to Little Shawny
Round Top: 0.6 mile lariat loop from Overlook, with connections to Wakara
loop and top of Trotter
Trotter: 0.5 miles from Little Shawny to Round Top
Wakara: 2.3 mile loop off Round Top
