Bench Creek Loop
(Includes Camp Hollow, Little South Fork) The Bench Creek Loop is a pretty ride on the southwest corner of the Uintah Mountains. The loop climbs Bench Creek, descends a combination of Camp Hollow and Little South Fork, then catches Highway 35 back to complete the loop of 17.5 miles. Most of the ride is intermediate in technical requirement, but the trail is narrow with some tricky spots. The length, remoteness, and altitude limit this ride to well-prepared advanced mountain bikers. Lowest altitude is 6800 feet; peak altitude 8950; total climbing 2500 vertical. The season for this trail is July through September. You'll be riding in mixed fir and aspen forest. There will be a few creek-crossings. |
Ride notes, counterclockwise loop: 0.0 ST on R side of DT @ metal gate N40 32.309 W111 11.322 (6900 ft) 3.1 Fork L and cross creek N40 30.092 W111 12.438 Rough sandstone hike 4.0 Fork L uphill (straight = old trail) N40 29.432 W111 12.460 4.8 Cross DT N40 29.000 W111 12.271 5.1 Fork L downhill (R = up to road) N40 28.720 W111 12.085 On Camp Hollow Trail | 8.6 L on DT, climb 100 yards N40 30.793 W111 09.969 8.7 R on Little South Fork ST N40 30.869 W111 09.917 12.0 L on DT N40 32.663 W111 07.561 13.0 L on Highway 35 N40 33.480 W111 07.870 15.0 L on Bench Creek Road N40 33.346 W111 09.760 16.3 L uphill between two houses N40 33.346 W111 09.760 17.5 Back at TH |
Getting there:
From I-80, take the US 40 exit
south (toward Heber). A couple of miles later, exit and turn left (east)
toward Kamas on US-189. In Kamas, turn right (south) at the stop sign,
towards Francis. One mile later at the stop sign in Francis, turn left
(east) and drive 4 miles to Woodland. In Woodland, watch for the Bench
Creek Road on your right. Go 3.3 miles on Bench Creek Road, then turn
right on a small broken-up semi-paved road between two houses. 0.9 miles
later, there's a fence and cattleguard, which is the forest boundary.
(If
the road is muddy, park here.) Proceed another 0.3 miles on rougher dirt
road to a meadow in a dip. Park here. As the road heads uphill at the
meadow's end, there's a metal gate. Just past the gate, the singletrack
forks off on your right (N40 32.309 W111 11.322). Copyright 2008 Mad Scientist Software Inc
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