Last Child
08-30-2009, 10:12 AM
I saw this posted on UMB so I decided to ride it yesterday and totally loved it. I much preferred the ride from Steep Canyon to Steam Mill Canyon to the down hill of Steam Mill.
I parked at the parking area 100 yards or so off of the highway at Franklin Basin. Then it is 3.3 miles up the road to the turn to Steep Canyon. This is a nice ride to warm up the legs. Then 1.2 miles up Steep Canyon to the turnoff to start the single track. It looks like this.
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww232/Last-Child/ss1.jpg
Head straight south. From here to Steam Mill was my favorite part of the ride. Challenging for me. Lots of roots to navigate over and the lovely smell of pines. This is what I imagine mountain biking was at it's infancy. Here's a few shots.
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww232/Last-Child/ss2.jpg
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww232/Last-Child/ss3.jpg
After you get out of this first part of trees and into the first opening it's tough to find the right trail. Just as it opens up there is a fork in the trail. Do not go right. Hang left. Right takes you to a trail that peters out and goes into the trees. A cow trail I believe to get to the shade.
A short distance down is another fork. Hang right. This will take you towards the Yurt. Another short distance is another fork. Hard to see. Hang right. If you make it to the yurt you went to far. This part of the trail is thin and lots of sagebrush hitting the legs and wheels. It took me at least half an hour to find the right trail here.
Here's the yurt.
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww232/Last-Child/ss4b.jpg
The next part of the trail is pretty sweet. More of same as the above pics through the trees. Lots of root and some rock gardens. The trail will open up and heads southwesterly to Steam Mill.
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww232/Last-Child/ss5a.jpg
This will take you to the bottom by the creek. There is a small fork at the bottom. Right takes you up canyon but eventually disappears. Take the left and it will take you to the main trail. Left at the main trail will take you down right will take you across the creek to the old boiler and the main trail up to the lake.
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww232/Last-Child/PICT0017a.jpg
Next time I ride this I am heading to the lake and beyond. I think you can actually make it all the way over to White Pine lake. That would be sweeeet.
Heading down Steam Mill is an adventure for sure. Massive rock gardens with some pretty big rocks and several tree crossings. If you follow the "newer" portions of the trail you can avoid some of the rock gardens and trees. Quite challenging. I had a lot of fun.
Here is a map. I lost signal when I laid my bike down to search for the right fork by the yurt and my gps quit tracking. I didn't notice it until close to Steam Mill but this shows the basics. If you look closely where I lost signal you can the confusing multiple fork area. Unfortunately this does not show the correct fork to take because I lost signal before I found it. But you can see it on the USGS map. So if you can get a copy of the USGS Quad map Tonys Grove area you can see the trails clearly.
I only ran into one person (a lady hiking) on this trail despite it being during the bow hunt. All hunters I saw were riding around in their trucks or on 4 wheelers on the roads. I can't believe how lazy hunters have gotten these days. Made for a real nice day of solitary riding though.
This is going on my list of favorite rides.
I parked at the parking area 100 yards or so off of the highway at Franklin Basin. Then it is 3.3 miles up the road to the turn to Steep Canyon. This is a nice ride to warm up the legs. Then 1.2 miles up Steep Canyon to the turnoff to start the single track. It looks like this.
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww232/Last-Child/ss1.jpg
Head straight south. From here to Steam Mill was my favorite part of the ride. Challenging for me. Lots of roots to navigate over and the lovely smell of pines. This is what I imagine mountain biking was at it's infancy. Here's a few shots.
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww232/Last-Child/ss2.jpg
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww232/Last-Child/ss3.jpg
After you get out of this first part of trees and into the first opening it's tough to find the right trail. Just as it opens up there is a fork in the trail. Do not go right. Hang left. Right takes you to a trail that peters out and goes into the trees. A cow trail I believe to get to the shade.
A short distance down is another fork. Hang right. This will take you towards the Yurt. Another short distance is another fork. Hard to see. Hang right. If you make it to the yurt you went to far. This part of the trail is thin and lots of sagebrush hitting the legs and wheels. It took me at least half an hour to find the right trail here.
Here's the yurt.
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww232/Last-Child/ss4b.jpg
The next part of the trail is pretty sweet. More of same as the above pics through the trees. Lots of root and some rock gardens. The trail will open up and heads southwesterly to Steam Mill.
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww232/Last-Child/ss5a.jpg
This will take you to the bottom by the creek. There is a small fork at the bottom. Right takes you up canyon but eventually disappears. Take the left and it will take you to the main trail. Left at the main trail will take you down right will take you across the creek to the old boiler and the main trail up to the lake.
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww232/Last-Child/PICT0017a.jpg
Next time I ride this I am heading to the lake and beyond. I think you can actually make it all the way over to White Pine lake. That would be sweeeet.
Heading down Steam Mill is an adventure for sure. Massive rock gardens with some pretty big rocks and several tree crossings. If you follow the "newer" portions of the trail you can avoid some of the rock gardens and trees. Quite challenging. I had a lot of fun.
Here is a map. I lost signal when I laid my bike down to search for the right fork by the yurt and my gps quit tracking. I didn't notice it until close to Steam Mill but this shows the basics. If you look closely where I lost signal you can the confusing multiple fork area. Unfortunately this does not show the correct fork to take because I lost signal before I found it. But you can see it on the USGS map. So if you can get a copy of the USGS Quad map Tonys Grove area you can see the trails clearly.
I only ran into one person (a lady hiking) on this trail despite it being during the bow hunt. All hunters I saw were riding around in their trucks or on 4 wheelers on the roads. I can't believe how lazy hunters have gotten these days. Made for a real nice day of solitary riding though.
This is going on my list of favorite rides.