Bike The Bonneville Shoreline Trail

Our Quick Stab at the Mysterious Trail

By Xanthe Webb

(See more photos from this ride.)

We've finally done it! I have acquired enough information to report on this bike ride, although both times I seemed to have run out of daylight to make it a complete trip. This makes it my number one suggestion - to start on your bike ride with plenty of sunlight left and a good estimate of how long it will take you to get from point A to point B!

I guess that is where I can help you though, one gash in the leg and a sore shoulder later. My brother and I were dropped off at Rock Canyon in Provo and had planned to ride to the access point for the trail in front of Hobble Creek Canyon in Springville (just to the south). We started at just about seven in the evening, thinking that it wouldn't take that long. Well we were wrong. Not too far off, but just enough to make it interesting.

The Bonneville Shoreline Trail runs north to south all along the Wasatch Front, up on the east bench. The trail at Rock Canyon is excellent and easy to see. However, the further south you go the more forks in the trail you will come to. You will probably end up backtracking once you realize the trail you decided on is an ATV trail or something like that. No worries, its just a quick backtrack or a jot with your bike on your shoulder (like me!) down the mountain.

We ended up only making it down to the beginning of Springville (by the freeway onramp) but even that short ways was a pretty challenging ride. However, the two of us were in no ways extremely experienced bikers. The terrain consists of mostly rolling ups and downs but frequently you will run into steep places where you might choose to walk up even if your bike doesn't slip on the loose gravel.

We had backtracked so many times and paused for breathers that by the time we reached Springville is was almost completely dark (slightly before 10 pm). It made for an interesting time trying to find a road out into the city. We were having no luck and after wandering around several trails that all circled back we found ourselves cutting through some lucky person's yard with no fence. We felt bad but under our situation (that being that we couldn't see…) we figured we could explain if questioned. I even carried my bike on my shoulder again just in case any turf might be messed up!

In any case, I am glad that we figured the trail and the terrain out. On a previous occasion I had ventured out from the access point at Hobble Creek Canyon as far as directly up from 400 South in Springville. So, we only have a gap of about ten blocks or so that we haven't ridden. I can take a guess at what they'd be like though- some fun, but gravely steep hills that I will have to explore again sometime soon.