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Mountain Ranch Bike Park
The Mountain Ranch Bike Park in Eagle Mountain offers the best stunt
biking in Utah County -- and rivals the best in all of Utah. There's a skills
park, a pump track, a jump line, and several technical trails featuring
man-made stunts. The park can be your entry to other rides such as the Race
Loop or Flintstone.
Just one of the many ramps in the
skills park. Photos and review December 1, 2009 by Bruce.
Updated map information August 2015. |
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The riding ranges from beginner on 110 Trail to
double-black diamond on the Ridgeline Flow. Most climbs are broken
up and not too tough. The climb up Ridgeline Trail at the top of the trail
system is quite strenuous. You can pick the type of riding you're up for.
A banked turn on Ridgeline Flow. |
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The park is located on the south end of The Ranches in east
Eagle Mountain, where the power line corridor hits the mountain. The
skills park, pump track, and jump lines lie under the power lines on a
very gentle slope. The XC and DH trails are on the juniper-covered
hillside to the south.
Ramp route incorporates a rock
tabletop. Ride over it, or take a wheelie-drop. Or do rock-to-rock
hopping, hop onto a rock, and other trials stuff. |
| The skills area offers a dozen ramps of varying difficulty,
from beginner to expert. It includes some drop-offs. There's an area with
large flat-top rocks for trials hops.
There are three picnic tables
in the area.
The 220 and Juniper trails end at the
skills park. We're looking southwest over the last jump of the DH trail,
with a corner of the skills area in the background. |
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Just south of the skills area is the pump track. It's a
large track with multiple riding lines through bumps and semi-circle
banks. If you don't know what a pump track is for, show up on a Saturday
and ask somebody to teach you.
Looking south, we're seeing about 1/4
of the pump track area. |
| Depending on the snow situation, you can ride this area much of the
winter. Ride only when the ground is dry or frozen. Please don't rut the
dirt when the surface is muddy!
The jump line, seen in the upper
right, connects to the pump track. Note the temporary bathroom facility
behind the jumps. |
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South of the pump track along the power-line corridor is a
jump line. You can pedal directly to the top of the jump line, or hit it
by forking off the 220 Trail during your descent.
Alex Rodriguez (age 13) launches on
the jump line. Photo courtesy of Randy Klein, April 2011. |
| The DH trails cover the mountainside south of the stunt
areas. The area is designed to be ridden counter-clockwise. Access to the
DH trails is via a broad cindered path that goes gently uphill along the
west border of the park. (This trail is a continuation of the trail you
rode from the kiosk to the stunt area.)
Typical view of the hillside trails.
The routes twist through the juniper with occasional rock outcrops.
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The hillside trails were built with the idea that riders
will be doing small loops -- uphill to the far south end, then pick a
route that will put you back at the bottom.
Alex Rodriguez takes one of the
jumping ramps on the many trails. Photo Randy Klein 2011. |
| The trails tend to be a combination of relatively long
traverse sections with up and down riding, then downhill plunges with
banked turns built for speed. I lost count of the number of jumps and
technical features. For the intermediate rider, there are ride-arounds
past most of the tech stuff on the lower mountain. Some wooden features,
such as those on the Ridgeline Flow trail, have no ride-arounds and are
do-or-die.
Higher on the mountain, we're heading
north on the Golden Eagle Trail. |
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New trails have created tougher and longer ride options. It can be
confusing for the first-timer, with multiple unmarked trail forks. Expect
to put in a few miles getting aquainted. The trails immediately above the
park connect on the west to the Pony Express Parkway via the Hidden Canyon
trail (see the Eagle Mountain Race Loop
page). You can also connect to the trails on Lake
Mountain and the Treadstone area. To the south, the Cow Tracks trail connects to the Race Loop and on
to the Flintstone Trail.
View of Timpanogos and Cascade
Mountain to the east, from Golden Eagle. |
110 Loop
110, 220, under the power lines. Voltage. Get it? 110
is an easy cruiser for beginners. Offers practice at bermed turns and
little dirt hops for intermediates.
0.0 From the west side of the skills area,
ride uphill southwest on the cinder
path
0.3 Fork L on gravel DT
50 feet later, fork L on ST downhill
0.7 Back to skills area
Jackie trots behind the bike. We put
in 8 miles to catch all the mountainside trails in 2009. There are many
more miles of trail now. |
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220 Loop
220 has a spooky drop-in, then flies down to dirt jumps.
The drop-in has no obvious ride-around, and is designed to keep people
like me off this trail so we're not in the way of the big-air guys.
0.0 Uphill on cinder path as above
0.3 Fork L on gravel DT, keep straight past 110 entry
0.4 As DT turns R and west, find ST on your L
50 feet later, fork L, climb 100 feet
north
At 220/Juniper fork, go L over drop
0.7 R to join Juniper (L for jump line)
0.8 Join Juniper
0.9 Drop into Skills Park
At the trail fork, this is the ramp to
the drop-in on 220. |
Juniper Loop
Good stuff. Stunts and drops.
0.0 Uphill on cinder path as above
0.3 Fork L on gravel DT, keep straight past 110 entry
0.4 As DT turns R and west, find ST on your L
50 feet later, fork L, climb
100 feet north
At 220/Juniper fork, keep
straight
0.45 Either way (L=easier)
0.5 Keep R uphill (L=cruiser)
0.6 L downhill
0.7 Trails rejoin
0.85 220 joins on L
1.0 Drop into Skills Park
Stunt on the Juniper Trail. This one
spooked me. Wood-o-phobia. |
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Golden Eagle Loop
Ridgeline. More of an XC flavor. Some unfinished business
here. Connections and forks will likely change in the future.
0.0 Uphill on cinder path as above
0.3 Fork L on gravel DT, keep straight past 110 entry
0.4 As DT turns R and west, find ST on your L
50 feet later, fork R and climb
up the hill
0.6 Fork L
(R=to unfinished trail SW and DT
to Flintstone trail)
0.8 Keep straight (uphill) at 2 forks
1.0 Trail turns 180 -- foot trail forks off on R
1.2 R downhill to join Juniper
1.6 At skills park
Teeter on the Juniper Trail. |
| Note that the above trail directions will become outdated as the
trail system evolves.
Bottom line:
Nice bike park, still one of the best in the state. Very nice trail system
with its own rugged beauty. Good option for early- or late-season
riding!
View of the jump line. |
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Getting there: Take the I-15 Lehi Main Street
exit and turn west. Continue west on SR-73, crossing Redwood Road (11600
West). Just after climbing the hill, turn left at the stop light onto The
Ranches Parkway. Stay on that road as it narrows and begins to wind
around. When you come to a T intersection at the end of The Ranches
Parkway, turn right on Golden Eagle Road. Drive about 1/3 mile and watch
for the trail kiosk on your left. Park by the trail kiosk and begin your
ride by climbing up the trail heading south.
Bathrooms: port-a-potty near jump line, BR in city
park west of trail head
Picnic tables and trash cans in skills and pump track areas. |
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