This ride has many good things going for it...
- Most of the ride is in the shadows of the canyons and mountains so the snow maintains a good consistency even when the air temperature is above freezing.
- The Wheeler Creek Canyon to Art Nord TH section is heavily frequented by snowshoers, skiers, and fat bikers making for a nice, firm packed trail that rivals the ride quality of a groomed track.
- Art Nord TH to Snowbasin Resort via Old Snowbasin Road is groomed by the resort Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
- Art Nord TH has restrooms that are open through winter!
- The restrooms at Snowbasin Resort are open to the public.
Some issues/annoyances you may run into...
- The Wheeler Creek TH in Ogden Canyon has very little parking and becomes even more limited as the snowpack gets deeper.
- The road through Ogden Canyon can get busy at times making it difficult to get out of.
- Wheeler Creek Canyon is heavily used by dog walkers so don't be surprised if you see heaping mounds of poo baking into the snow every 10 feet.
- Art Nord TH has more parking space than Wheeler Creek TH but fills up rapidly on the weekends.
- Don't even think about parking at the resort on a weekend.
Now that we got that out of the way...
Wheeler Creek Canyon to Art Nord TH is about 2 miles one way, 4 miles round trip. This is a good ride in and of itself for beginner fat bikers.
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| Wife takes a break |
This section has a fairly steady grade with a few, short steep sections. The only real hazard here is the drop into the creek, which should be easily avoided considering the width of the trail.
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| Heading downhill looking toward Ogden Canyon |
At 1 mile, you'll reach the junction for Icebox Canyon. Icebox Canyon trail is usually well packed by snowshoers and quite manageable on a fat bike. I'll cover the Icebox Canyon trail in another post.
You'll reach the Art Nord TH a mile after the Icebox Canyon junction. Now is a good time to use those restrooms because the next opportunity doesn't come for another 4 miles. Also, expect to answer a lot of questions about your awesome fat bike if you stick around here too long.
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| Art Nord Trailhead |
Now that you've convinced everyone in the parking lot to buy a fat bike, let's move on...
From Art Nord TH to Snowbasin the ride will be entirely on a groomed road. Spoiled? Yes. However, I prefer a couple inches of fresh snow on top of the groomed surface. It makes for a less bumpy ride.
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| Freshies bro |
About a third of a mile up from Art Nord TH, you'll reach a magnificent overlook that gives you an awesome view of Mt. Ogden and it's surroundings. If you are going to get an obligatory Instagram shot on this ride then this is the place to do it.
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| The overlook |
Continuing on from the overlook you'll get a short break from the climbing and coast an ever so slight downhill grade for a quarter mile or so. The climbing picks up again as you near the junction for the Middle Fork trail, also to be covered in another post. This junction is my usual halfway point where I stop and eat a Honey Stinger Waffle or half a sandwich.
The ride up from Middle Fork to Snowbasin is simply butter. It's a constant, steady grade. Pick a gear and just ride it out. I usually sing out loud whilst taking in the scenery to save myself from being overcome with the boredom of mindless crank spinning.
Better keep your head up or else you'll crash into the gate as you enter Snowbasin Resort. You could turn around at the gate and leave your total ride about a half mile short or continue on into the resort and ride around to the overflow parking where you can find more groomed tracks that spit you back out onto Old Snowbasin Road. My recommendation is to ride through the resort so all the patrons can gaze upon that delicious eye candy tucked betwixt your thighs as they ooh and aww over the girth of your gargantuan tires.
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| Caught in a storm near Middle Fork junction |
The ride up from Middle Fork to Snowbasin is simply butter. It's a constant, steady grade. Pick a gear and just ride it out. I usually sing out loud whilst taking in the scenery to save myself from being overcome with the boredom of mindless crank spinning.
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| Almost to the resort, looking back toward Sardine Peak |
Better keep your head up or else you'll crash into the gate as you enter Snowbasin Resort. You could turn around at the gate and leave your total ride about a half mile short or continue on into the resort and ride around to the overflow parking where you can find more groomed tracks that spit you back out onto Old Snowbasin Road. My recommendation is to ride through the resort so all the patrons can gaze upon that delicious eye candy tucked betwixt your thighs as they ooh and aww over the girth of your gargantuan tires.
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| The ice sculpture at Snowbasin Resort |
Now enjoy that sweet downhill and try not to freeze to death!
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| Elevation Profile |
