ATV Adventures: 3 favorite OHV destination rides in Northern Utah
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- Riding the mountain trails on the Shoshone Trail System after having lunch in Randolf at the Crawford Trough.
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- Riding in the woods to Randolf on the Curtis Creek Trail.
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- Riding out of Homansville Canyon heading for the train tunnel.
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- Approaching the train tunnel near Eureka.
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- Lynn Blamires
Anyone who follows my ATV adventures knows how much I enjoy Utah’s backcountry trails. Each season offers a variety of scenery and terrain. The high mountain trails in the summer provide cool temperatures, amazing views and forest beauty.
As the season turns to fall, the mountains explode with color, offering more reasons to ride those trails. Advancing into the colder season, the heat of the desert trails is tempered, offering a raw beauty you will only see among the desert plants, towering rock monuments and barren canyons in Utah.
My favorite ride is a “destination ride.” If it is a day ride, I like to go to a town, have lunch at a fun place and ride back. A multiple-day ride would include a motel, a shower, hot food and time with friends.
My days of camping on the trail are over. Camping is where you spend a lot of money to live like a homeless person.
There are a lot of destination rides to enjoy. Here are some of my favorites:
Five Mile Pass (west of Lehi) to Eureka
This is a fun day ride. Once you navigate one of the many trails around the Thorpe Hills, you can take Ten Mile Pass Road down by the Cedar Knolls. Then take Twelve Mile Pass Road to the Allen Ranch. Turn south on Homansville Pass Road down into Eureka.
There are several options for a hot meal in Eureka. The menu at B’s Hangout includes burgers, fries and shakes, but they also have some tasty dinner meals. They are open Tuesday through Sunday. The Tintic Pizza Co. has some good reviews on their specialty pizzas. They are open daily. The Cast Iron Bistro is open Friday and Saturday with a new menu. More information is available at https://eurekautah.org/restaurants-hours-and-menus.
Create a great adventure by making this a multiple-day ride. The Tintic Goldmine Bed and Breakfast offers six bedrooms with private baths and includes a hot breakfast. Their rates are reasonable and the mining trails around Eureka are fun to explore. You can also visit the ghost towns of Homansville, Knightsville and Silver City. Visit https://www.utahoutdooractivities.com/tinticbb.html for more information.
On the return trip, follow the railway bed east from the Homansville Pass Road into Homansville Canyon. Continuing east on the railway bed, ride through the old railroad tunnel.
It is about 100 yards long with a slight curve that prevents you from seeing the other end until you are into it. You will pick up Old Utah 73, which will take you back to Allen Ranch Road through Chimney Rock Pass to Twelve Mile Pass Road and back to Five Mile Pass.
Hardware Ranch to Randolph
Two ways to get to Hardware Ranch are through Huntsville on Highway 39 or from Hyrum. You will need a Shoshone Trail map to make this trip. Riding north, take trail Nos. 130 East, 060 North, then 058 down into town on the New Canyon Road. This is the prettiest route. Enjoy lunch at the Crawford Trough.
Left Hand Fork of Blacksmith’s Fork to Garden City
I wrote about this ride last week and it was a great adventure. There is more than one staging area from which to take this ride. Temple Fork from Logan is another option. Making the same destination from different points puts another ride on your calendar.
From the staging area, follow the trail north (231 on the map). Take trail No. 047, Herd Hollow, at the junction and a right on 147. Take 058 by Old Ephraim’s Grave and turn east on 007. Turn north on 055 and follow it to Highway 89. At this point, if you are street-legal, you can take the highway into town. If not, go under the highway on trail No. 106.
Garden City has some great places to eat. They are famous for their raspberry shakes. Don’t try to get a peach shake out of season. I did and they made it with canned peaches.
Fast food places abound in town. We ate at Zipz Bear Lake, but there is also LaBeau’s, The Burger Barn and many others on Bear Lake Boulevard. I counted at least 15 places to eat. They were all busy, but we didn’t have to wait long.
When you go, take plenty of water, keep the rubber side down and find time to put these rides on your calendar. These are three destination rides I have enjoyed. Stay tuned for more. If you have a favorite destination ride, I would like to hear about it.
Contact Lynn R. Blamires at quadmanone@gmail.com.