View southwest over the Heber valley, with Deer Creek Reservoir below Cascade Mountain. Photos and trail review May 16, 2012 by Bruce.
The Riverview Trail is located on the mountainside northeast of Heber at an average altitude of 6200 feet. It's 5.2 miles in length and is best done as a 10.4 mile out-and-back. This ride will have a total 600 feet of gradual up-and-down climbing. The Riverview Trail can be done as part of the Coyote Canyon loop (minimum 20.2 miles), or as part of the Riverview Front-side Loop (see below).
A half-pavement loop ride is possible using US-40 and Highway 32. A loop descending Coyote
Lane to US-40 is 10.9 miles with 1000 vertical feet of climbing.
You can loop on dirt via Sheep Bones and Lower Riverview or the Riverview Doubletrack an old dirt road just above the irrigation canal. The loop returning via the doubletrack or singletrack is about the same distance (see map). When sheep are present, you may need to deal with a couple of fences and gates.
Looking back toward the parking spot 100 yards up the trail. Gentle turns such as these continue for the length of the trail.
Typical switchback turn -- actually a bermed climbing turn. Some turns are still a bit loose, especially those near granite outcrops where the soil doesn't pack well.
A shorter loop is possible by dropping down to the dirt road via a descending trail at mile
3.3, then turning right (north) on the DT. The descending trail is 1.2 miles to Lower Riverview.
Take Lower Riverview north. You can either climb uphill on Sheep Bones back to Riverview (harder!),
or continue Lower Riverview to Highway 32 and make a quick pavement connection to the parking
area.
Most riders prefer to start the Riverview Trail from the north end. There's a trailhead on
the south side of Highway 32, one mile uphill from the traffic light where 32 turns right off
US-40. Park in the gravel parking spot on the right side of the road, just opposite the upper
entry road into the Riverview condos. (There's also a trailhead behind the UVU Wasatch campus
and one on Coyote Lane on the south. These trailheads have connecting singletrack that climbs
uphill to Riverview.)
Trail view early in the ride, as we look past the brush at Mount Timpanogos.
Looking east from the trail, up the ridgeline past a granite outcrop festooned with moss and lichen.
Climb over the fence on the wooden stairs. The trail heads east uphill initially, then turns
southbound at mile 0.25. Fork right for the Riverview Trail, also signed as the Upper Riverview
trail. (Left takes you on the big Coyote Canyon loop.)Stay left on Riverview at the fork to Sheep Bones, a narrow more-technical trail that descends
to Lower Riverview.
The terrain is mostly brush with scattered clumps of Gambel Oak. Here and there you'll find
bitterbrush and juniper. Most of the trail surface is smooth dirt ribbon. Turns, including
the occasional switchback, are highly bermed and pretty easy to roll downhill.Two fences cross the trail, but they're easily stepped over.
Looking back at the Riverview condos across from the trailhead. That's US-40 above the homes.
View along the trail. Views are constant. That's Cascade Mountain on the left, Timpanogos on the right.
The trail occasionally crosses outcrops of weathered granite. This granite is a continuation
of the same magma plume that created the peaks above the Cottonwood canyons. (Intruding minerals
from the volcanic rock created the mineral deposits for the mines of Alta and Park City.)
The next trail fork is at mile 1.6, and is a short spur to a valley overlook.At mile 3.3 is a descending trail (1.5 miles) that winds downhill to the "Lower Riverview"
doubletrack, then further down across the canal to the UVU campus.(Note: On the north, the Lower Riverview DT ends on Highway 32. To the south, it joins the
bottom of Coyote Lane just above the subdivision. It can be used for a loop ride. See the ride
description below.)
Looking south as US-40 turns into Heber.
On the UVU Connector, a side-trail that descends to Lower Riverview and then further downhill to the UVU Wasatch campus.
As mentioned above, the UVU Connector trail can be a nice descent to do "half a loop" when
starting from the north end on Highway 32.
0.4 miles south of the UVU connector, you'll pass the entry to Chop'd Coyote , also known as Coyote Middle, a trail that links uphill to the backside of the Coyote Loop .
The Riverview Trail hits dirt Coyote Lane in Coyote Canyon. A short jog uphill reveals a continuation
that heads south 1/4 mile to the
Coyote Canyon trail
You can drop down this trail to Lower Riverview if you're doing a loop ride.
Looking down Coyote Lane toward the valley. If you're southbound and don't know where to go from this point, go uphill a bit to find the continuing trail.
Connecting Trails!
View southwest while descending Sheep Bones.
See Coyote Canyon Loop page. Connects at north and south ends of Riverview.
See Chop'd Coyote page. Connects Upper Riverview to the back side of Coyote Loop on the ridge.
One-mile hand-cut trail from northern Riverview down to the Riverview DT and to Lower Riverview. Advanced technical. Used as part of the Front-side Loop, below.Very nice trail climbs the hill from behind the UVU Wasatch Campus. Intersects Lower Riverview and ends on Riverview.See
Lower
Riverview
page)Doubletrack contours the hillside from Highway 32 to Coyote Lane.Short up-and-over with options for loop lariat ride from Coyote trailhead.Descends from Sheep Pen to Lower Riverview.Singletrack from Coyote Loop trail on the south, extending north to the UVU Connector where
it crosses the canal, then on to the DT just south of Sheep Bones. South of UVU easier technical;
north of UVU is advanced.
At the termination of Free Fall on the Lower Riverview to Coyote singletrack.
Sample ride: Out and Back from Highway 32
Southbound, as Sheep Bones (lower trail descending right) forks away from Riverview.
This is a favorite of locals. Park on the south side of Highway 32, one mile uphill from US
40. Take the stairs over the fence. Fork right after 1/3 mile to stay on Riverview, then keep
left and uphill where Sheep Bones forks away a little bit later. Again keep uphill at the UVU
connector at mile 3.3. When you see that you're descending to Coyote Lane, that's a good spot
to turn around. Or, you can keep going to mile 5.3 where the trail ends on the Coyote Loop
singletrack (0.2 miles past Coyote Lane).
Riding notes, out-and-back:
0.0 Park south side of Highway 32
N40 34.398 W111 25.224
Eastbound uphill (straight away
from road)
0.3 R on Riverview (L = Coyote Loop)
N40 34.430 W111 25.060
0.4 Stay L uphill (R = Sheep Bones)
N40 34.327 W111 25.057
1.6 R to viewpoint (100 yards) N40 33.707 W111 25.003 3.3 Keep left N40 33.210 W111 24.237
(R = descend to Lower Riverview and UVU) 5.2 At Coyote Lane, turn around N40 32.537 W111 23.397
(R = descend to US-40) 10.4 Back at parking
Sample Ride: Riverview Front-side Loop
Loop with Lower Riverview and Sheep
Bones via UVU Connector
Descending Sheep Bones, with the handlebars aiming toward Mount Timpanogos.
This is a nice 13-mile ride with 1300 vertical feet of climbing. Start at the trailhead behind
the UVU campus. Cross Lower Riverview and climb all the way up to Riverview. (Yes, you could
have turned on Lower Riverview. But starting at the top of the loop gives you two climbs --
and it ends with a great descent down the UVU connector.) Fork left (north) and take Riverview
to Sheep Bones (just before the Coyote Loop fork). Turn hard left downhill. Compared to Riverview,
Sheep Bones (being hand-cut) is narrow, twisty, and much more technical.
Sheep Bones will dump onto Lower Riverview, an old dirt road. Follow Riverview south (passing
the UVU connector crossing) until you see singletrack forking to the right downhill. Keep right
as Free Fall joins, then left as the Coyote trailhead connector forks downhill. Follow the
wooden "Trail" signs. Cross Lower Riverview's DT.
Lower Riverview is the trail on the left. The bike is lying on the UVU connector as it continues uphill to Riverview.
Overview of the Front-side Loop. If you skip the climb up the UVU connector, your ride will be two miles shorter.
It can get a little confusing here, because the sea of sage brush and meandering trail removes
any frame of reference to where you're going.Within a few feet of crossing the Lower Riverview doubletrack, fork left uphill on the Coyote
Loop trail. Next cross the gravel Coyote Lane, staying on singletrack. Climb uphill just over
a mile until you reach the Riverview Trail fork. Fork left and descend to the gravel Coyote
Lane. Veer a bit downhill and cross the road to continue the Riverview Trail.When you reach the UVU connector, drop left downhill and descend to the trailhead.
Riding Notes, Big Front-side Loop**:
0.0 Find the wooden stepover gate
Uphill on singletrack N40 32.792 W111 24.743
0.2 Merge w DT N40 32.828 W111 24.631
then L after canal on ST N40
32.837 W111 24.614
0.5 Cross Lower Riverview N40 32.927 W111 24.535
1.6 L on Riverview N40 33.207 W111 24.238
3.4 Keep R (L = to viewpoint)
N40 33.706 W111 25.004
4.5 Hard L onto Sheep Bones
N40 34.327 W111 25.057
(straight = to north TH and
Coyote)
5.4 Straight onto Lower Riverview
N40 33.615 W111 25.280
6.9 Straight as UVU connector crosses
N40 32.927 W111 24.535
7.2 Straight as DT joins steeply from downhill
N40 32.857 W111 24.304
7.9 L on singletrack (to Coyote TH)
N40 32.387 W111 23.919
8.2 Keep R (L=Free Fall) N40 32.162 W111 23.983 8.5 Fork L to Coyote (R = to TH) N40 32.126
W111 23.925 Cross doubletrack (Lower Riverview) 8.7 L uphill on Coyote (R = to TH) N40 32.124
W111 23.815 8.8 Cross Coyote Lane N40 32.188 W111 23.746 9.8 L on Riverview N40 32.365 W111
23.403 10.0 L and cross Coyote Lane to ST N40 32.541 W111 23.391 11.5 Keep L (R = Coyote Middle)
N40 33.053 W111 24.030 11.9 L downhill on UVU connector N40 33.207 W111 24.238 13.0 Cross Lower
Riverview N40 32.927 W111 24.535 13.3 R across canal on DT then R on ST N40 32.837 W111 24.614
13.5 Back at TH
**See the
Lower
Riverview
trails page for a loop version from the Coyote Trailhead
that includes the new lower singletrack.
From, take I-80 eastbound to Silver Creek Junction (just past Park City). Go south on US-40,
past the Jordanelle reservoir and descend past the dam. At the traffic light at mile 14.2 from
I-80, turn left on 32 and climb 1.1 miles. When you see the second entry into Riverview on
your left, note the gravel parking area on your right. That's your spot. From, drive up Provo
Canyon to Heber. At the traffic light on US-189/US-40, turn left and drive north through Heber.
4.7 miles from the intersection, turn right on Highway 32 and climb 1.1 miles to the parking
area as above.Bathrooms: None nearby. Water: Gas stations in Heber, campgrounds. Camping: Hailstone campground
at Jordanelle on US-40, about 6 miles away. Bike services: Slim and Knobby's bike shop, Heber
UVU Wasatch Campus trailhead:
One mile south
of the junction of Highway 40 and 32, turn east (toward the mountain) at
the UVU campus. Northbound from Utah County, it's a couple of miles past
the major business area. At the uppermost level of parking behind the UVU
buildings, look for the duck-under and kiosk N40 32.798 W111 24.735. A
singletrack trail climbs 1.5 miles to the Riverview Trail.
Coyote Lane trailhead:
On US-40 just north of Heber, turn east on Coyote Lane.
Just after the road crosses a canal, turn left into the parking lot. The
singletrack starts at the northeast corner at the step-over, where you'll
also find a repair stand and a kiosk with a trail map. The Coyote
singletrack takes you uphill, where you can connect to Riverview after
climbing 2.1 miles.
Riding resources:
Single-page printable guides
Riverview trail
guide
Frontside
Loop w DT return
Frontside
Loop with Lower singletrack
See also:
Coyote Canyon loop
Chop'd Coyote
Lower
Riverview
GPS track files (right-click and "Save as..."):
Multi-track area file:
GPX
GPX Riverview Trail only
Big Front-side Loop
(climb UVU connector)
Short
Front-side Loop
Frontside loop w Lower
Riverview ST from Coyote
Maps for printing:
Coyote Loop
topo map
2015
All-trails Topo Map
Lodging, camping, shops:
Links to area resources
Updated November 2013