The Sessions Mountain trails lie on the slope of Sessions Mountain just above Bountiful. The system was designed specifically for biking, with highly-engineered one-way bike-only DH trails. The trails vary from easy to intermediate. Top elevation is 6900 feet, for an expected riding season of late May through October.
Original review by Bruce on May 19, 2024 with update for new trails October 28, 2026.
There are seven trails (plus the Bonneville Shoreline Trail) in the system in 2026. The trails can be done either as a continuous climb then full downhill, or as loops of either lower, middle, or upper trails.
The climbing trails include (bottom to top) Kinglet, Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST) in Holbrook Canyon, Bellevue, then Higher Ground. Descending trails (top to bottom) include Twist, Shout or Shoot to Thrill, then Fools Gold and the bottom of Kinglet.
The Sessions Mountain trails are organized into three connected loops. There's a lower loop of Kinglet/BST and Fools Gold, middle loop of Bellevue and Shout or Shoot to Thrill (two DH options) and a higher loop of Higher Ground and Twist. The system has around 12 miles total, plus the Sessions Mountain segment of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST) that passes through the bottom of the middle loop.
The lower loop of Kinglet/BST and Fools Gold is 6 miles with 800 feet of climbing. The riding is appropriate for early-intermediates but there are some difficult turns (uphill and downhill). Strong beginners can manage this ride but will walk occasionally.
The middle loop, consisting of the Bellevue trail as an uphill plus Shoot To Thrill as the downhill, is 4 miles with around 500 vertical feet of climbing. This loop is also appropriate for early-intermediates. Most beginners could easily handle this ride, but the total climbing from the trailhead may be a problem.
The upper loop of Higher Ground plus the Twist DH is for solid intermediates. It will be 2.5 miles with 450 feet of climbing. At the bottom of Twist, you can continue directly down the upper-intermediate Shout trail to the BST.
Most riders will park at the Holbrook Canyon trailhead. If it's full, there's plenty of roadside parking along Bountiful Boulevard right outside the trailhead. To get there, exit I-15 at Bountiful 400 North. Keep going east until the road turns and becomes Bountiful Blvd. Just after you pass the Bountiful Temple, turn left into the parking lot. There's a bathroom with running water at the entry to parking.
The Kinglet trail starts at the far end of the parking lot. It's your route uphill. (The Holbrook Canyon trail, at the bottom of the canyon, is now a hike-and-horse trail only.)
From I-15, take the Bountiful 400 North Exit and head east towards the mountains. Turn on left on 1300 East, which will curve around east to become paved Skyline Drive. This road will turn R to become Eagle Ridge Drive. About 0.1 mile after the road turns to dirt (directly under the big "B" on the mountain) and turns sharply left. At the apex of the turn is the entry to the Skyline Drive staging area. Park here. Find the path heading straight east toward Stone Creek. Go 1.2 miles uphill along Stone Creek (CAUTION: primitive and gnarly) to reach the BST.
Via BST from the south
At the time of this review, the connection of the BST to the Mueller Park
area is not complete. Adventurous local riders can find an unofficial
connector to the BST south of Holbrook Canyon, but my understanding is
that you're "somewhat unwelcome" to access this.
The old access to the upper trails was via a steep doubletrack. You can still use this route if you want to test the power on your e-bike, or to descend back to the trailhead quickly. My advice: leave it for the hikers!
From the parking lot, go back to the entry and go around the gate on the doubletrack. (Do not go down the steep slope to the bottom of Holbrook Canyon. It was never a nice cycling route, and it's now restricted to hikers and horses.) At the gate just north of the parking entrance, go to the step-over entry marked "Holbrook North" and start up the steep rocky doubletrack.
As miserable as the climb up North Holbrook is, most bikers can safely ride it down to their cars. But it may depend on how much the trail has been torn up. Kinda fun in the downhill direction, but over too quickly!
Eggett Park lies in the gully west of the Holbrook Canyon trailhead. There's parking and picnic facilities. The By The Way trail links Eggett Park to Bountiful Blvd just across from the entrance to the Holbrook parking lot. It's 0.5 miles long with 100 feet of climbing. The main users of this access route will be local residents heading uphill to the trail via city streets.
Kinglet trail - two-way access to the system
The Kinglet trail is a two-way trail that connects you to the rest of the system. Kinglet is 1.8 miles long, running from the Holbrook Trailhead up to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail at mile 1.7, then to the middle of the Fools Gold DH at 1.8 miles.
When using Kinglet as part of your way to the top, you'll keep straight at mile 1.7 to switch onto the BST and pedal another 1.1 miles to reach Bellevue (the climbing trail for the middle part of the trail system).
From the trailhead up to the 5-way trail fork of the BST with the upper trails is a climb of 750 vertical feet over 2.8 miles.
Kinglet is a broad bench-cut on steep side-slopes. The route consists of multiple gently-sloping traverses separated by sharp turns. The steepness of the side-slope limits how "mellow" the turns can be, raising the ride's overall difficulty.
The terrain varies from shaded maple and tall oak forest to wide-open grass and sage. Almost all of the ride is on a steep south-facing slope, so expect significant sun exposure.
At this time (October 2026), a few of the turns are uncomfortably tight, both uphill and down. Beginners will likely need to stop, turn the bike, and start over. Some of these turns will get better over time -- and could benefit from a little tweaking. At the time of this review, two of the turns are so tight that they require trackstand hopping to change direction.
Until some turns are "fixed" I'm throwing out the "easy" rating for the Kinglet trail and calling it easier-intermediate. (My review criteria for "easy" says that a new-ish rider doesn't have to get off their bike or employ any special techniques.)
Shortly after leaving the trailhead, there will be several sets of traverses linked by tight turns as you gain elevation. At mile 0.9 from the trailhead you'll pass the exit from the Fools Gold DH on your uphill left. Keep right to continue on Kinglet.
At mile 1.7 from the trailhead, Kinglet will connect to the BST. Keep straight and uphill if you're climbing either to Bellevue or the top of Fools Gold.
If you're simply doing a short loop using the bottom half of Fools Gold as a DH, turn hard left uphill and connect to Fools Gold 0.1 miles later. Note that there are NO further climbing options if you stay on Kinglet all the way to Fools Gold.
The combination of Kinglet to mile 1.7, then BST to Bellevue, is 2.8 miles with just over 750 feet of climbing.
If you're doing a "lower loop" with Fools Gold, continue straight on the BST at the 5-way Bellevue trail fork. Go another 0.1 miles then drop left onto Fools Gold. (As the lowest DH trail in the system, Fools Gold is described near the bottom of this page.)
Note that many riders drop down North Holbrook, thinking that it's Fools Gold. It's not, but you can fix your error by turning left at the trail crossing in 100 yards.
At the 5-way trail fork on the BST, North Holbrook crosses. Ignore it. Look for the sign for Bellevue, which is to the right of North Holbrook and left of the descending BST as you face east looking uphill from the BST.
The third climbing trail of the system (counting from the trailhead) is the Bellevue trail. This is the route uphill for the middle section in the Sessions Mountain system, and your only path to the upper loop of Higher Ground and Twist. You'll start your climb on Bellevue at 5950 feet elevation.
Straight across is Shoot To Thrill, a one-way early-intermediate DH trail. If you're still learning, this is your way down.
90 degrees left is the Shout intermediate DH. It's only slightly more difficult than Shoot To Thrill. Do NOT enter the second trail to your right, which is bottom end of the one-way Twist DH trail.
At the bottom of Shoot to Thrill (or the Shout DH) you can continue on downhill. Cross the BST to Fools Gold, which will descend to Kinglet around a mile above the trailhead.
There will be some table-top jumps -- which can be rolled, and a lot of bumps and wiggles. Even though it's a little easier, it's not a boring way down. So if you've done Twist and Shout, it's worth the trip back up the hill to hit Shoot To Thrill.
At mile 1.3, Shoot To Thrill will join from your right. Watch for flying riders! After a set of turns, the BST will join on the right for the trip back to the bottom of Bellevue.
The Fools Gold DH trail is a bikes-only DH trail. It's just under two miles in length, with a descent of 550 vertical feet. Fools Gold is the lowest DH trail on the descending route from Twist down through Shout and on downhill toward the trailhead. (The final 0.9 miles of the descent is on the two-way Kinglet trail.)
When descending Shout or Shoot to Thrill, Fools Gold is to your right and downhill as you cross the BST.
If you climbed Kinglet and the BST specifically to ride Fools Gold, go 0.1 miles north on the BST from the 5-way trail fork with Bellevue, then drop left.
Fools Gold will pass two connectors as it descends. The first is at just under 0.2 miles, as you cross the old North Holbrook trail. Keep straight.
The second connection is at mile 1.0 from the BST, as the Kinglet trail joins on your left. If you want to loop back for a second trip down the upper half of Fools Gold, make a very sharp left turn to drop down 0.1 miles of Kinglet to the the BST.
(Fools Gold also offers a short-loop option through this second connector. If you stay on Kinglet at mile 1.7 -- turning left uphill at the fork with the BST -- you'll go 0.1 miles further uphill to merge into the middle of Fools Gold DH.)
Fools Gold is a machined bench-cut with tall berms and walls. Many of the turns are super-tight and often the run-outs are uncomfortably flat. When cruising at speed, you'll take major G-force into the bottom berm -- on a steep side-slope where there's no forgiveness if you overshoot. The turns raise the tech level of this DH to intermediate.
The turns ride better when you swing extra wide at the top. (Aim your front tire way up the slope above the current worn-in riding line before you drop downhill into the turn.) If you start high, the whole turn will feel smoother and you'll preserve speed.
Great trail system. Easy climbing on smooth trail in forest. Some nice views. The lower climbing trails are suitable for beginning riders -- with an occasional dismount on difficult turns. Very fun and well-built downhill trails.
Stone Creek (Skyline Drive staging area): From I-15, take the Bountiful 400 North Exit and head east towards the mountains. Turn on left on 1300 East, which will curve around east to become paved Skyline Drive. This road will turn R to become Eagle Ridge Drive. About 0.1 mile after the road turns to dirt (directly under the big "B" on the mountain) and turns sharply left. At the apex of the turn is the entry to the staging area. Find the path heading straight east toward Stone Creek. Go 1.2 miles uphill along Stone Creek to reach the BST, then pedal south for 2.2 miles.
