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, and Bring It Home are open for riding.

The trails that are complete at the time of my ride (May 2024) are Hornet, Bring It Home, Maple Syrup, and a route around Mill Creek Canyon that ties the top of Maple Syrup to the Mueller Park trail near the top. (Note May 2024: The Mill Creek Canyon route will be closed for a few weeks for finish work. Please respect any posted signs.)

All these trails can be reached via Hornet on the BST Connector.

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 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.

In the upper direction, the Hornet trail ends at the trail fork of Maple Syrup and Bring It Home.
Trail fork where Hornet becomes either Maple Syrup or Bring It Home.
Trail fork where Hornet becomes either Maple Syrup or Bring It Home.
Bring It Home Trail
Gently rolling southeast toward Mill Creek on Bring It Home.
Gently rolling southeast toward Mill Creek on Bring It Home.
Bring It Home connects the top of Hornet (and the bottom of Maple Syrup) to a bridge over Mill Creek. From there, a trail still under construction will climb to Mueller Park somewhere below Elephant Rock.
Bring It Home offers some breakout views that you won't see on the other trails, so it's worth a look. Like the other trails in the area, Bring It Home 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.
End of the trail for now.
End of the trail for now.
Bring It Home 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.
Burro Mine Trail (Mill Creek Canyon)
Standing on the Kenny Creek connector, with Maple Syrup to the right and the Mill Creek Canyon route on the left.
Standing on the Kenny Creek connector, with Maple Syrup to the right and the Mill Creek Canyon route on the left.
Above the Kenny Creek connector trail, there's another 2.8 miles. This stretch of trail consists of a long undulating traverse up Mill Creek Canyon ending in a drop to the creek, then a 1.1 mile climb up to the Mueller Park trail.

My understanding is that this trail will be named the Burro Mine Trail. It will be undergoing finish work in June 2024 and will be closed.

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.
A creek crossing in the downhill direction.
A creek crossing in the downhill direction.
This segment of 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.
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.

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.

Climbing gently through maple forest.
Climbing gently through maple forest.
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.