ATV Adventures: A night of adventure on the Arapeen OHV Trail System
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- On the trail to the meadow on Hells Hole Ridge.
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- Riding in the twilight to Lake Hill Campground.
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- Riding through a thick stand of aspen is an amazing experience.
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- Lynn Blamires
No two rides are alike. You can take the same trail on two different occasions and the experience will not be the same. Such was the case at the Arapeen Sunset Ride in Ephraim sponsored by Sanpete County. My brother-in-law, Mike, and I decided to take this ride again.
We knew what to expect because we were at last year’s Sunset Ride. We lined up at 5 p.m. in two lines — a red line and a blue line. We wore labels to indicate which line was ours. That label got us into Roy’s for pizza. Roy’s Pizza is a great place for lunch or dinner.
The red line started first and then our group followed a little later. We rode up Ephraim Canyon and turned off on New Canyon Road. This trail follows Ephraim Creek — a babbling brook of clear water.
It had been a warm day but it got cooler as we climbed higher on the mountain. Because of the long days of June, it was a great time to ride this trail. The sun was setting but we were on the west side so the day was longer. I had been fooled by warm weather in the valley before so we brought jackets — good idea.
We wound through the woods on a beautiful mountain trail. We passed New Canyon Reservoir on our way up to Hells Hole Ridge. We could see two forest fires burning to our south, but we saw signs asking us not to report them as they were controlled burns supervised by the Forest Service.
The ridge is just above 9,000 feet and the woods gave way to a big, beautiful mountain meadow. Here is where the real adventure began. We were supposed to stop here for a break like last year. After the break, we were to double back and take another route. We didn’t stop. Our leader kept going.
As we continued north on the top of the ridge, we were treated to amazing views of the valley to the west and higher points on the mountain to the east. However, we had entered a huge field of chokecherry bushes on a very narrow trail.
Finally, the leader realized we missed turning around in the meadow on Hells Hole Ridge. Now, many drivers had to figure out how to turn their machines around where there was no place to turn around. Mike got out and guided me while I backed to a point on the trail with a break big enough to reverse our direction. Each rider had to do the same and soon we were riding back through the meadow. No one was ruffled. It was just part of the adventure.
We continued south, passing the reservoir, until we reached the junction that had taken us to Hells Hole Ridge. This route took us on a challenging trail that twisted through the woods. The challenge was the potholes from truck drivers who had driven on the trail when it was very muddy. Our machines were built for this so we enjoyed the challenge.
We passed Fred’s Flat on our right and White Ledge on the left. After fording White Ledge Creek, we rode around Flat Iron Point. It was getting dark so we stopped and let everyone catch up — it was time to light up the bling.
I was ready with a light bar, pod lights to light up the sides of the trail, and colorful rock lights. Mike was pushing me to get some whip lights, but I haven’t been able to get approval from the finance committee. Mike thought he might have some influence on his sister — I mean, my finance committee.
After everyone was lit up, we joined the Ephraim Canyon Road and headed down the canyon. We made one more stop at the Lake Hill Campground where Kevin Christiansen with Sanpete County had a campfire burning bright.
We gathered around and listened to some clever cowboy poetry while we dined on cake and soft drinks. We chewed the fat for a while and then hurried to the RZR. We wanted to try to get ahead of the crowd as we headed back to town.
We made it to the Willow Creek Inn in Ephraim at 10:30 p.m. where we planned to spend the night. When you go, take plenty of water, keep the rubber side down and plan an adventure on the Arapeen Trails.
Contact Lynn R. Blamires at quadmanone@gmail.com.