View southeast on the Bring It Home trail. Exploration ride May 17, 2024 by Bruce.
View southeast on the Bring It Home trail. Exploration ride May 17, 2024 by Bruce.
North Mueller Trails

As of 2024, the trails just north of Mueller Park are a work in progress. Bountiful is in the middle an aggressive trail-building program, with miles of new trail added each year. This is a report of the current status. Note that trail closures may occur when finish work is being done or new connecting trails are being added. At this time, Hornet, Maple Syrup, Bring It Home (now part of Hornet), Peregrine, and a new (not named as of October 2024) DH trail are open for riding.

The trails that are complete at the time of my ride (May 2024) are Hornet, Maple Syrup, and the Peregrine route around Mill Creek Canyon that ties the top of Maple Syrup to the Mueller Park trail near the top.

All these trails can be reached via Hornet on the BST Connector. (See the Bountiful BST page.)

Typical trail view. We happen to be climbing Hornet in this photo.
Typical trail view. We happen to be climbing Hornet in this photo.
Rolling into a banked turn on the Maple Syrup trail.
Rolling into a banked turn on the Maple Syrup trail.
The new trails are sustainable bench cut in a forest of maple and fir. Views are only occasional, in rare spots where the forest thins enough to let you see through the trees.

Turns are usually banked with a generous turning radius. Overall, the riding is rated easier intermediate.

Trailheads and access
Descending the BST toward the Mill Creek Canyon road.
Descending the BST toward the Mill Creek Canyon road.
Via the northbound BST from North Canyon or the Mueller Park trail
See the Bountiful BST page. The BST drops one mile after crossing the Mueller Park trail. It will then cross the gravel Mill Creek Canyon road to climb slightly up the north wall of the canyon. After 0.2 miles, make a hard right turn uphill onto Hornet, which is your route to Bring It Home and Maple Syrup.
Winding uphill from the Mill Creek road.
Winding uphill from the Mill Creek road.
Via the BST connector from Mueller Park
From the Mueller Park trailhead, pedal up the paved road 1/10th mile. About 50 feet after you pass the Kenny Creek trail, turn left onto singletrack and climb 250 vertical feet through a series of turns. At mile 0.4 from the road, fork left uphill on Hornet. See the driving directions for the Mueller Park trailhead at page bottom.
Bruce descends Mueller Park in the year 2000.
Bruce descends Mueller Park in the year 2000.
From the upper Mueller Park trail
The trail descending into Mill Creek Canyon is found at mile 4.2 from the Mueller Park trailhead, about 0.8 miles uphill from Elephant Rock. If you're coming down from Rudy's Flat, it's 2.2 miles to the trail fork. See the driving directions for the North Canyon trailhead at page bottom.
Hornet Trail
Facing southeast, we've arrived at the Hornet trail (left) on the BST connector.
Facing southeast, we've arrived at the Hornet trail (left) on the BST connector.

The Hornet trail is 0.9 miles long, but most riders will do only one half of it. The Hornet trail forks away from the Bonneville Shoreline Connector trail on the slope north of the Mill Creek Canyon road. (This trail fork is 0.4 miles from the downhill end of the BST connector on the Mill Creek Canyon road, and is 0.2 miles away from the uphill end of the trail.)

The starting elevation for Hornet is 5550 feet, with 150 feet of elevation gain over 0.5 miles. The climbing goes at a gentle steady pitch, with no significant challenges.

The Hornet trail is a bench-cut with banked turns. Almost all of the trail surface is smooth dirt. On the downhill, most turns are banked for a speedy whoosh.

Climbing northbound through ferns, fir, and maple.
>Climbing northbound through ferns, fir, and maple.
On a hairpin turn, we stop to get a look across Mill Creek Canyon.
On a hairpin turn, we stop to get a look across Mill Creek Canyon.
The trail runs through cool maple forest with occasional fir trees.

Views are rare on this trail because of the tall maple forest. On a couple of turns you may briefly see across Mill Creek Canyon to the Mueller Park trail area.

When riding in the uphill direction, riders will turn off of the Hornet trail at the trail fork with Maple Syrup. But this eastern side of Hornet is a two-way trail, so feel free to explore down to the creek and return back to this trail fork.

Trail fork where Hornet becomes either Maple Syrup or the return route from the DH.
Trail fork where Hornet becomes either Maple Syrup or the return route from the DH.
Hornet -- connector to DH
Gently rolling southeast toward Mill Creek on the Bring It Home portion of Hornet.
Gently rolling southeast toward Mill Creek on the Bring It Home portion of Hornet.

This 0.4-mile stretch of Hornet was formerly known as "Bring It Home." It connects the highest point of Hornet (and the bottom of Maple Syrup) to a bridge over Mill Creek.

The primary use for this piece of Hornet is as a return path for riders who've just done the 304-305 downhill trail. At this time, two-way traffic on Hornet ends at the bridge, as one-way DH riders from the 304 DH will be entering the trail.

This stretch of Hornet offers some breakout views that you won't see on the other part of the trail, so it's worth a look. Like the other trails in the area, the "Bring It Home" section of Hornet lies in maple forest with occasional fir trees, but also has a bit of gambel oak.
View south across Mill Creek Canyon.
View south across Mill Creek Canyon.
On the bridge across Mill Creek.
On the bridge across Mill Creek.
This is a bench cut that traverses the side slope, angling very slightly downhill as you approach the creek. It is 0.4 miles long, with about 50 feet of elevation loss from Hornet to the bridge over the creek.

For now, the end of this trail is at the bridge over Mill Creek.

Maple Syrup Trail
Riding the side-slope on Maple Syrup as climb.
Riding the side-slope on Maple Syrup as climb.
On the downhill end, the Maple Syrup trail begins at the top of Hornet at an elevation of 5700 feet. It climbs 1.4 miles, with the end of this segment at the trail fork for the Kenny Creek connector at 6150 feet.
Maple Syrup is a machined bench cut in a forest of maple and fir. It's mostly smooth dirt, but often becomes rocky on the side-slopes above Mill Creek.
The pitch varies but is never brutal.
The pitch varies but is never brutal.
Approaching a ravine with a flowing creek.
Approaching a ravine with a flowing creek.
There are a couple of creek crossings. These may be seasonal, running in the spring and drying in summer. On my ride, the water was usually less than 6 inches, and the rockwork offered a reasonable riding surface.
Like the other trails in the area, the riding is mostly in the shade of the forest. There will be only an occasional breakout view.
Looking east toward Grandview Peak.
Looking east toward Grandview Peak.
Beautiful!
Beautiful!
As a downhill, Maple Syrup is a lot like Hornet -- banked turns and smooth fast riding.
Kenny Creek
View west from the Kenny Creek connector.
View west from the Kenny Creek connector.
At this time, Kenny Creek is a steep hiking trail. The connector trail runs 100 feet to end at a line of rocks surrounding the existing trail. The plan is to retire the old Kenny Creek and create a new route that's bike-friendly and sustainable.
Peregrine Trail
The northern side of the circuit around Mill Creek is mostly maple and oak.
The northern side of the circuit around Mill Creek is mostly maple and oak.
Above the Kenny Creek connector trail, there's another 2.8 miles circling around the canyon and up to the Mueller Park trail. This stretch of trail consists of a long undulating eastbound traverse up Mill Creek Canyon ending in a drop to the creek, then a westbound 1.1 mile climb up to the Mueller Park trail.

The trail has has been named Peregrine. It provides a longer, and some would say more interesting, route to upper Mueller Park and connects directly to the top of the 304 DH trail.

The Mill Creek route starts at 6150 feet elevation. It crosses the creek mile 1.6 at 6250 feet, and arrives at the Mueller Park trail at mile 2.8 with an elevation of 6500.

While most of the trail is dirt, there will be some rock outcrops to deal with. What appears to be endless shards of broken glass on the trail surface are bits of crystalline metamorphic rock.

Approaching a rock outcrop while heading west.
Approaching a rock outcrop while heading west.
Many riders prefer to ride counter-clockwise. Descending the southern side of Peregrine, there are a couple of alternate lines for tech features.
Many riders prefer to ride counter-clockwise. Descending the southern side of Peregrine, there are a couple of alternate lines for tech features.
The northern side of the trail will have several small creek crossings. Most of these have a fairly sharp turn as you cross. The amount of flow will depend on the season. Walk across them if you need to.

After descending through several turns to the bridge across Mill Creek, you'll begin a steeper and more-technical climb west toward the Mueller Park trail.

The trail joins the Mueller Park trail at mile 2.2 from Rudy's Flat, 0.8 miles above Elephant Rock, and 4.2 miles from the trailhead. Across from the top of Peregrine is the 304 DH trail. Go left to climb Mueller, straight to descend the DH, or hard hard right to descend Mueller.

Bruce breaks out of conifer forest to oak and mules ear as he approaches the intersection with Mueller Park and the 304 DH.
Bruce breaks out of conifer forest to oak and mules ear as he approaches the intersection with Mueller Park and the 304 DH.
Looking toward Grandview Peak in Mill Canyon.
Looking toward Grandview Peak in Mill Canyon.
Bottom Line!

Great addition to the trails available in Bountiful. Opens up additional riding options for Mueller Park, decreasing the traffic on that over-loved route.

Getting there:

Mueller Park: On I-15, take the 2600 south Bountiful/Woods Cross exit. Go east towards the mountains. The road will turn north and be renamed Orchard Drive. While heading north, turn right (east) on 1800 south. This street takes you to the trailhead about 2 miles later, where you'll see parking places on the right side of the road. Go across the stream on the bridge to begin the ride.

North Canyon: On I-15, take the 2600 south Bountiful/Woods Cross exit. Go east towards the mountains. The road will turn north and be renamed Orchard Drive. While heading north, turn right (east) on 1800 south. Just as you reach the bottom of a steep hill, turn right at the intersection. (This is about 0.6 miles before the Mueller Park trailhead. If you arrive there, backtrack.) After 1.7 miles, turn left on Canyon Creek and go uphill 0.7 miles to the end of the pavement. Start your ride by heading east (uphill) on the dirt road.