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Robs Trail Robs Trail is an
important entry point to northern Park City riding. It's a beautiful and
popular trail that sees plenty of riders. While only 2.6 miles long with
800 feet of climbing, it's the starting point for many loop rides via
connections to Ambush, Hunter, and Mid Mountain -- and via Mid
Mountain to Crest Connector, Holly's and
trails of The Canyons Resort. Note that the portion of Robs between the
Rosebud and Ambush trails is one-way uphill-only for bikes.
View up Robs Trail as we begin our
climb. Photos by
Bruce, September 29, 2010. |
Some popular riding options from Robs trailhead are:
Robs to Mid Mountain out-and-back: 5.2 miles, 800 vertical.
Robs up, Ambush down, Rosebud back: 6.3 miles, 1200 vertical.
Robs up, Hollys down, Rosebud return: 12 miles,1600 vertical.
Robs-Hollys, pavement, Collins up: 13.8 miles, 2200 vertical.
Just getting started. We're about a
half mile up Robs Trail, looking northeast over Bear Hollow. |
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The featured ride below is the big loop
that includes a mile of pavement. (If you hate pavement, take Rosebud back
from The Canyons' base.) I include track files for all three loop rides
above. Starting at Robs trailhead puts
600 vertical into two miles of climbing right at the end. I like one
last grunt to finish off a ride, but many don't. So if you want
to finish on a downhill, start at The Canyons and put the pavement first. View
uphill on Robs as we near the fork with the return singletrack. |
| From Robs trailhead, climb a couple of switchbacks,
then pass Collin's Trail, which is the return route for the big loop.
About 1/3 mile later, turn right to continue on Robs westbound. (To the
left is Rosebud's Heaven, your return route for the not-touching-pavement
loops.) From this point to the Ambush trail fork, Robs is now one-way
uphill for bikes.
At mile 2, the forest will open up on a ridge, with views to the south
as you head west. At 2.2, you'll reach the junction with Ambush. (For the
shortest loop, fork left here.) To continue on to Mid Mountain and
Holly's, keep left and
climb uphill.
View to the south as we approach the
junction with the Ambush Trail. |
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For the shorter Ambush loop option, turn left. Keep left at the
next trail fork as the trail joins Holly's. Not too far down the trail,
make a hard left to take lower Ambush to Rosebuds. Cross the doubletrack
and head east along the south-facing slope. Fork left (uphill) when you
hit Rosebud's. Go over the hill back to Robs.
On to Holly's. From the Ambush junction, it's about 1/2 mile to the
Mid Mountain Trail. Fork left. (The Hunter Trail, on your right, can be
ridden as an out-and-back. The trail goes to Pinebrook, but there's no public easement,
so don't use this as a return from Mid Mountain unless you're riding with a Pinebrook
resident.)
View through the fall colors between
the Ambush junction and the Midmountain Trail. |
| The Mid Mountain Trail will give you a couple of switchbacks
worth of climbing at first. After a short traverse in gambel oak and
maple, you'll be in deep fir and aspen forest, breaking out onto an
occasional ski slope.
At mile 3.7 of your ride, pass the Crest Connector. If you want, it's
1.3 miles (and 450 vertical) from here to the junction at upper Mill
Creek.
We'll be climbing through the dense
fir forest in mid-right of this photo. |
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The Mid Mountain Trail is pretty smooth here. The climbing is
sustained, but not hard. You'll spend three miles and gain 500 feet on the
Mid Mountain.
Typical view on the Midmountain Trail. |
| At mile 4.4, the Mid Mountain trail breaks onto a gravel road on a
ridgeline. Instead of crossing, go left -- eastbound -- on the gravel
road. After 100 yards, go left on a broad bench-cut that turns into
singletrack. This is Holly's Trail.
It you want to add some miles, you can keep
going south on Mid Mountain, then return later. It will be mildly uphill
coming back. Red Pine Lodge is about a mile south.
View of the Midmountain after the
junction with Hollys. |
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A short distance down Holly's, you'll hit the alternate
downhill (one-way) trails. If you're up for some more-technical riding,
take Double Down, Insurgent, or Ricochet. My
mileage assumes you continued down Holly's.
Early on Holly's Trail. |
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As Holly's drops off the ski slope to a doubletrack nears The Canyons'
base, find your return route: (1) downhill right, to pavement to Collins for the bigger loop, or
(2) uphill left if you're returning via Rosebud.
For the ST loop option, go left uphill on the
broad trail about 1/3 mile. Find Rosebud's Heaven on your right
(northbound). Climb Rosebud across the hill to Robs, then
descend.
View on Holly's as the afternoon
shadows deepen. |
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For the big loop, take the paved path past the gondola
and then between the buildings. Coast out to a road and turn left, then
left again at the bigger road. Coast east and downhill on Summit Drive to
the traffic circle. Take Cooper Lane, then Sunpeak Drive. (Consider a cell
with a Google map, or my GPS track.)
Find the Sunpeak (Collins) trail on the left about 50 yards before the end of
Sunpeak Drive. (2010: no trailhead parking, not even a sign!) Alternate: The DuBois trail starts at the north end of the parking for the
recreation center on Bear Hollow Drive 1/3 mile away. For either trail,
just keep heading uphill. When you hit Robs, head R downhill 0.6 miles to parking.
View through the Aspens as we climb
Collins back toward Robs Trail. |
Robs to Holly's, pavement, Collins, counterclockwise loop:
0.0 Begin climb on Robs N40 41.952 W111 33.963
0.6 Keep R and uphill on Robs
N40 41.824 W111 34.005
0.9 R on Robs (L= Rosebud's Heaven, return)
N40 41.810 W111 33.693
Robs is now one-way uphill for
bikes
2.2 Keep R (L=Ambush, short loop)
N40 41.857 W111 35.050
Robs is now again 2-way traffic
2.6 L on Midmountain N40 41.729 W111 35.345
3.7 Keep straight (hard R = to Wasatch Crest)
N40 41.483 W111 35.135
5.5 L on DT, sharp L downhill, find ST on L
Hollys N40 40.969 W111 34.721
5.8 5-way, Holly's is rightmost
N40 41.014 W111 34.995
7.7 R on Holly's (L = Ambush)
N40 41.481 W111 34.574
7.9 Straight (L = Ambush to Rosebud's)
N40 41.324 W111 34.502 |
9.4 R on DT (L = up to
Rosebud's)
N40 41.222 W111 33.579
Head for pavement east of
gondola
9.6 South between buildings
9.9 L on road N40 40.992 W111 33.334
10.0 L on Summit Drive
N40 41.042 W111 33.210
Road veers back east.
10.5 L (northeast) at traffic circle on Cooper Lane
N40 41.398 W111 33.009
11.0 L at stop sign. N40 41.640 W111 32.863
Sunpeak Drive. Follow
road northwest.
11.3 L uphill to Sunpeak Trail
N40 41.719 W111 32.956
(Alternate turn R on
Bear Hollow Drive
Recreation ctr parking, trail north end.
N40 41.781 W111 32.826
DuBois Trail)
13.3 R and downhill as you reach Robs
13.8 Back at parking. |
| Getting there, Robs trailhead: Take I-80 eastbound out of Salt
Lake City and cross Parley's Summit. Take the Park City exit and turn
right. For Robs Trailhead, drive 2 miles on 224 toward Park City. Turn
right on Bear Hollow Drive. Head uphill 1.2 miles. The trailhead parking
is on the left, just before a hairpin turn in the road.
Bathroom: At The Canyons. None at Robs
trailhead.
Water: The Canyons, plus convenience stores 1/2 mile away from
trailheads.
Camping: None in immediate area. Nearby at Rockport, Echo, or
Jordanelle Reservoirs.
Bike Services: Multiple shops in Park
City. |
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| Canyons trailhead: Exit I-80 onto 224 as above. Pass
Bear Hollow drive, then turn R into The Canyons at mile 2.8 from the
freeway. Follow the main resort drive uphill. Go straight at the
roundabout. As the road splits in front of the big hotel, veer left (south).
Now turn R uphill just past the big buildings. Look for a gravel parking area
on your right, just before the road turns north again. Park here. Exit the
far end of the parking lot to a paved path that goes north between
commercial buildings. Keep going until you pass the gondola. Ignore the
smaller trails crossing the lawn (those are downhill routes). Drop
slightly to the left onto a broad path in the canyon bottom and begin
going uphill to reach Holly's and Rosebud's Heaven. |
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