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Tags:
Level: Intermediate
Length: 4.5 mi (7.2 km)
Surface: Singletrack
Configuration: Other
Elevation: +388/ -94 ft
Total: 169 riders
Mountain Biking Wasatch Crest
#5 of 710 mountain bike trails in Utah
The Wasatch Crest Trail (GWT) is probably one of the best, if not the very best, singletrack trail in Utah! I prefer to do this ride as an out and back, starting at Millcreek Canyon's Big Water Trailhead! You can start at the top of Scotts Pass, but you won't get the full effect of the ride!! You can also start at the Mill D North Fork trail up to Lake Desolation. Take extreme care when crossing the "Spine" above Lake Desolation, it is best just to get off and walk the short section! You'll see what I mean when you get there!!!
First added by alvin.santoy on Jan 1, 2003. Last updated May 8, 2020. → add an update
Before you go
- Drinking water: unknown
- Lift service: unknown
- Night riding: unknown
- Pump track: unknown
- Restrooms: unknown
- Fat bike grooming: unknown
- E-bikes allowed: unknown
- Fee required: unknown
This trail information is user-generated. Help improve this information by suggesting a correction.
From I-215 take Exit 3 (3900 South). Turn north on Wasatch Boulevard to 3800 South. Turn east at the Mill Creek Canyon sign. The road ends 9 miles up the canyon at the Big Water Trailhead. Mill Creek Canyon is a FEE area. Be prepared to pay $ 2.25 per car ( in 1999). This is collected when leaving the canyon. Before you bitch about having to pay...try the trails first! They have done an incredible job with your money. This ride is worth a whole lot more then $ 2.25 !!
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I road the Le Bus Mountain Bike Shuttle from Skyline High School that drops you at guardsman pass. It's a great way to save time on the ride. The Wasatch Crest has spectacular views of the Wasatch back Country and you get a good workout with some fun downhill. I recommend taking pipeline to rattlesnake gulch to finish out the ride.
| ThankI rode this trail as part of the Park City IMBA Epic Loop so I hit it near Scott Hill, missing out the first mile or so. It is an excellent crest trail with good views, lots of undulations and much variation in trail - ranging from dead easy to dead gnarly. The altitude is close to 10,000 feet so it's more tiring than you'd expect. It's a two way shared back-country trail - a mini-adventure that will leave you with the satisfaction of having survived the challenge.
| ThankThis trail is incredible. If you're looking to ride in the Park City/Salt Lake area put this at the top of your list. This trail has incredible views of the Wasatch range and the surrounding valley with flowy sections and the right mixture of technical sections. The high altitude provides a great challenge, especially to an eastern rider like myself. The trail has multiple options of where you can start and finish. A truly amazing trail that's not too tough and very suitable for intermediate riders.
| ThankClassic Utahs Monarch Crest!
| ThankDo it! You've heard about it, and now with the shuttle companies running up to the trailhead, it's easier than ever to mark this epic trail off your list. Views, a punishing climb (at dizzying altitude), and lots of fast flowy descending. What more could you want. BONUS! There are options, too. You could shuttle the Crest 3-4 times and take slightly different routs down each time. Throw in the possibilities of riding up from Deer Valley and Park City Resort, and you've got a week of solid riding in a 10-mile radius area. Hard to beat this spot.
| ThankThis trail lives up to the hype--it's a must-ride if you're in the area, and the best trail that I've personally ridden in Utah, outside of Moab. While it's not nearly as epic as the Monarch Crest in Colorado, this is a rad crest ride that's definitely bucket-list-worthy.
| ThankLook up Big Racks shuttle. $12 gets you a shuttle to the top from 3900 South and I-215 park and ride. It's a no-brainer for this cheap! I will never not ride WCT when in the SLC/Park City area.
| ThankThis is one of my top trails. I rode from the Canyons resort to Park City on Mid Mountain. Ate and relaxed in Park City then took the Crescent City lift up, to Three Candles, Keystone, and Shadow Lake Trail to get to the bottom of Puke Hill. I was pretty exhausted by the time I had rode/walked up Puke Hill and was going to fly down Pinecone and take a bus back to the Canyons Resort. However 3 guys talked me into taking the Crest Trail back to the Canyons. I can't thank them enough. Incredible views, mostly all down hill for 13 or so miles. Walk the Spine no need to hurt yourself. Stop along the way and just soak up the views and take pictures. If you are in Salt Lake or Park City this is a must do trail. Something you will never forget!!!!!
| ThankAwesome - beautiful views. Few solid climbs, but very well put together and many options for exiting back to PC or SLC via Millcreek. Worth shuttling IMO.
| ThankSuch a killer ride. We shuttled up to just under puke hill and started from there. Make sure you're acclimated or else you'll be sucking wind - it was rough coming straight from sea level on the east coast. Such an iconic, fun trail. Great views and super fun terrain. Can't wait to get back and explore more.
| ThankShuttled up Big Cottonwood from the bottom of Mill Creek Canyon to ride this flowy blissful trail with its fresh mountain air and alluring scenery. Don't let hurl hill scare you off; it's not that bad 'cause after that, this ride is fun all the way down. Mill Creek Canyon - what a gem!
| ThankGreat trail! Fantastic, scenic and fun--this trail can be about as challenging as you want it to be, which is great for different experience levels. Not really many jumps, but just some great flowing singletrack. Puke hill lives up to its name, so just be aware that you will have to work on this ride.
| ThankThis is by far my favorite trail in Utah. My preferred route is to drive up Big Cottonwood to Guardsman pass. There is an obvious trailhead on the left about a mile up Guardsman way. This will put you face to face with "puke hill" in no time. It is aptly named. However if you continue another mile or so up the road, there is a parking lot on the right with a snazzy connector trail that takes off across the road headed north. This bypasses about half of puke hill. Continue on some of the most gorgeous singletrack around until you hit the "spine." Unless you are an advanced level rider, do what I and most other sane folks do and hike-a-bike.
You will eventually come to a place where you are invited, nay WARNED to, on ODD days stay in Big Cottonwood Canyon on the Desolation lake trail. On odd days, dogs are allowed off-leash on the Big Water trails beyond the sign. PLEASE, for your safety, other hikers and their pups' safety, heed this warning and take the Desolation trail which heads left at this junction. On even numbered days, take the connector trail to the right past the warning sign, up the hill to the Big Water trail. This is my absolute favorite section of the ride. This trail puts you at the top of Millcreek Canyon. At this point you can road ride a very short distance and pick up the Pipeline trail at Elbow Fork ( watch for signs) this allows your epic day of awesome to continue another 7 miles down to the bottom of Millcreek Canyon on this fantastic trail. You can also ride the road down to the bottom of the canyon if you can't handle any more amazing trail riding.
The easiest transportation option is to bum a ride to the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon after parking a shuttle car at the bottom of Millcreek Canyon.
| ThankNot just some of the best singletrack in Utah, but some of the best anywhere. You get killer climbs, fantastic scenery, tremendous variety, and rip-snortin' downhills. There is a whole network of trails so you can customize your ride to your liking. I prefer to startin the northern of the two canyons (Mill Creek), ride up the Big Water Trail, gain the ridge via the Great Western Trail, ride the ridge, descend the Desolation Trail, and swing back to Big Water via Dog Lake. 24 miles (or more, depending on how much out and back you do on the Crest) of singletrack bliss.
| ThankGo the Guardsman pass rout. Come down the wasatch crest mid mountain connector and their are no closed days. Take the mid mountain trail back to deer valley and you have yourself a supper long epic ride that is hard to beat.
| ThankBe careful some of the trails out here are only legal on odd days. This is a beautiful are with some great singletrack but not the best in Utah.
| Thank