Forebay system upper trail details

Photos from rides by Bruce from 2015 through 2021.

Forebay upper trail details

This page provides photos and details for specific trails in the upper Forebay trail system. Trails are listed in alphabetic order. For trailheads and general information, see the Forebay main page . See also the Forebay Lower Trails info page.
The upper trails are those above the Overlook trail and the reservoir access road (which goes 0.8 miles from the Nebo Loop Road to the reservoir).

Broken Collar Bone

At this gate, Rattlesnake Tree ends and BCB continues straight north.

Broken Collar Bone (BCB), together with the Rattlesnake Tree trail, connects Salem Hills Drive in Elk Ridge to Kaya in the Forebay system. The combined route is 2.4 miles, with the northern 1.4 miles being BCB.

Broken Collar Bone winds back and forth to climb up and over a ridgeline as it passes from lower Payson Canyon to Elk Ridge. The climbing pitch is gradual, and the trail is narrow but smooth.
The total climbing will be just over 200 feet to get from Forebay's Kaya trail to the ridgeline above Elk Ridge, after which you'll descend 100 vertical to end in a neighborhood without a formal trailhead. (You can park on the shoulder along Salem Hills Drive. At some future time, the gravel road at the Elk Ridge end of BCB will become subdivision.)

Climbing through dry scrub on the south side of BCB.

There will be some maple and oak forest.

BCB is an intermediate-level trail, similar to the other Forebay trails. There will be the occasional pedal-catching stump and handlebar bang. For a trail that goes nowhere except to homes, the trail seems well-maintained and there's evidence of a a surprising amount of bike traffic. Broken Collar Bone is worth riding as an out-and-back from Forebay.

Some very friendly horses that wanted to say hello and investigate the delicious smell from my Gatorade bottle.

A lookout bench within the radius of a turn. At this spot, I'm on my way down to the Elk Ridge neighborhood.

To get to BCB from Forebay, you'll need to get uphill on Kaya. From the south, you'll take Jax to climb up to the top of Kaya and descend to Rattlesnake Tree. After a mile, Rattlesnake Tree turns into BCB at a property border. Go through the gate. Ignore the ATV track along the fence and find the singletrack heading north straight away from the gate. (Note that this access goes into an area slated for subdivision construction, and may be not be open for passage. If you're unsure, visit a local bike shop, buy something and ask.)

View northeast at Elk Ridge as we wind down from the ridgeline.

Canal Trail

Heading back to the parking lot on the Canal Trail.

The Canal Trail runs from the east Maple Dell parking lot to the reservoir. It's 1.3 miles long and is pretty flat. At Maple Dell parking, you'll see the canal curving around the east side. On the north side, there's a gate on gravel road just west (left) of the canal. Step around the gate and start riding. The trail will rapidly turn to dirt and become narrow.

Note: the Pine Forest trail (uphill and across the road from the main Forebay parking) can be used to loop back to Maple Dell.

The Canal Trail ends at a small divided reservoir. The easiest way to find the trail system is to fork 90 degrees left, just as you reach the ponds. As you get to the second pond (which may be empty), fork hard left downhill to go southbound on gravel road. This is the Access Road. The Overlook trail will be on your right about 300 feet downhill.
You can connect to Jax at the pond by forking to the right and dropping down the canal bank to doubletrack. About 200 feet later, just before another doubletrack joins, the Jax trail will be on your right.

Looking north as the Canal Trail reaches the reservoir. Two ways to get to the Overlook Trail: after first going left, you can go north to reach the north end of Overlook, or you can go south to catch the south end.

Jax

Looking north.

The Jax trail connects doubletrack on the uphill side of the reservoir to Taze (a short alternative route off Ray Gun). The main purpose for Jax is to reach the south side of the Kaya trail. Jax is 0.4 miles long. Jax starts on the east (uphill) side of the reservoir with ATV trail, then the Jax singletrack forks right to climb to the Kaya trail fork before descending to Taze.

Karl's Loop

On Karl's Loop, heading south.

Karl's Loop lies at the northern end of the upper trail system. It's 1.8 miles around the loop. Karl's is reached via Ray Gun and Lariat. After riding the Lariat loop, take the connector at the northern end 0.1 mile to rejoin the ATV track as it goes through a gate.

Now again find the singletrack just beyond the gate. You're now entering the stem of Karl's loop. A short distance later, the trail will split. There were no trail signs here as of June 2015. Forking right feels most natural, so keep right and continue uphill. You'll do the loop counterclockwise.
There are game and stock trails through this area. On my check-out ride, Karl's was the least-defined trail of the system. The loop will very briefly join ATV track in three spots. But I didn't have any trouble navigating. "Competing trails" had a branch dropped across them to indicate the proper path.

View over the golf course from Karl's Loop.

Kaya

Looking towards Timpanogos and Cascade Mountain on Kaya, near the ride's highest point at 5800 feet.

Kaya forms a one-mile arc on the upper mountain, reaching the highest elevation within the system at 5800 feet. The north end of Kaya is just across the ATV path from Ray Gun, with the south end on Jax.
When starting from the north end of Ray Run, the average rate of climb on Kaya is around 400 feet per mile, but only 1/3 mile is sustained climbing. On this northern side, just below the peak elevation, the Rattlesnake Tree trail forks away.

Kaya will twist and undulate through the forest, traverse south, then descend. Kaya will hit Jax near the Jax trail's south end. You can fork right uphill, as you'd only be missing about 200 feet of Jax singletrack (which just goes down to ATV track). Northbound, Jax will end on Taze. See the map.

Wild turkey along the trail.

Lariat

View to the north on the Lariat trail loop.

When Ray Gun hits an ATV track, keep left and find the continuing singletrack around 100 feet later on your left. This is the entry to Lariat. Lariat is a loop with a stem on each end. The loop itself is 1.2 miles. The southern stem comes from Ray Gun, and the northern stem goes to Karl's. After leaving the ATV track to enter the Lariat singletrack, the next trail fork is the loop.
Consider whether you want to do a loop-de-loop, or pick up the connecting piece on your way back from Karl's.

For a loop-de-loop (repeating about 1/3 mile in the middle) keep right, then take the next left. You'll come back to your original trail fork, where you'll turn left to repeat a section of trail. Then you'll keep right and northbound at the next fork to go on to Karl's.
To hit only the lower longer part of the loop and skip the upper portion, fork left. At the end of the loop (the next trail fork), turn left and head north to Karl's. You can hit the upper connector on the way back by keeping left at the loop trail fork.

Note the shoulder-high grass. Much of Utah was like this before overgrazing damaged the hillsides.

Overlook

View north from Overlook as we cross the ridge near the origin of Round Top.

Overlook is 0.5 miles long. It's the usual route for connecting between the lower Forebay trails and the upper ones. It arcs to the west around the reservoir. When climbing Overlook, the Round Top trail forks away to the left west of the reservoir.

The Overlook trail is the usual route to the upper (eastern, unofficial) Forebay trails. It's an official trail of the Payson City system, but it's included here because it's probably the trail you'll take to and from the upper system.

Overlook originates on the reservoir access road, around 100 feet uphill from the end of Favorite. The fork to Round Top comes after 0.3 miles.

Round Top 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.

Rattlesnake Tree

Riding north on Rattlesnake Tree shortly after leaving Kaya.

Rattlesnake Tree forks away from Kaya on the northern side, just downhill from the highest elevation. It traverses one mile north before becoming the Broken Collar Bone (BCB) trail.

When the trail hits a gravel road, keep uphill to the right and find the continuing singletrack on the other side of the road.

The Rattlesnake Tree. No snakes today.

Rattlesnake is more dry terrain than the rest of Forebay.

When Rattlesnake hits a metal gate, it continues as BCB on the other side, heading straight away from the gate.

Ray Gun

View back to the south.

Ray Gun is 0.5 miles long, heading north between the Overlook Trail and the ATV track on which Lariat starts. In the middle, the short Taze trail forks away and rejoins. (Get onto Taze if you're want to connect to Jax.)

At the northern end of Ray Gun, you can cross the ATV track to Kaya, or turn left onto the doubletrack and find Lariat on your left around 100 feet down the ATV path.

Ray Gun is fairly straight and mostly forested.

Taze

Taze is mostly tree-lined.

Taze is a 0.1-mile alternate off Ray Gun. Toward the northern end, there's an uphill connection to Jax.

Upper Trails (above reservoir Access Road)

Orange Gate access road: 0.8 miles from Nebo Loop Road to reservoir.
Canal Trail: From Maple Dell parking to reservoir, 1.3 miles
Broken Collar Bone: 1.4 miles from Salem Hills drive to property line gate, continues as Rattlesnake Tree to Kaya
JAX: 0.4 miles arc from Taze to reservoir DT, connection uphill to Kaya
Karl's Loop: 1.8 mile loop at northern end of system, reached via Lariat
Kaya: 1-mile arc on hillside from Taze to JAX, connection to Rattlesnake Tree, makes loop with Ray Gun
Lariat: 1.2 mile loop ride from top of Ray Gun, with connection north to Karl's Loop
Overlook: 0.5 miles from upper Access Road around reservoir to Ray Gun, connection to Round Top
Rattlesnake Tree: 1 mile starting on northern Kaya, continues as Broken Collar Bone
Ray Gun: from Overlook above reservoir to Lariat and northern end of Kaya, connections to Taze
Taze: 0.1-mile alternate off Ray Gun with connection to Jax

See the main Forebay page for trailhead details and other resources!