Round Valley Adventure

The adventure began during a cool Autumn day in September.   We met at the Rail Trail parking lot on Prospector Avenue, in Park City, Utah.   After we prayed, we glided down the paved Rail Trail for 2 miles.   At a road, we turned left and went up a paved trail to the Round Valley area.
Our dirt adventure began at the Quinn's trailhead.   We rode up the dirt road and went to a paved parking lot.   From there we climbed the hill up to the Cammy's trail and took a break.   Then we road up to the Valderoad, turned left and went down the Seventy Seven trail.   We road down to the center of the valley and climbed up the ridge.   Turning left, we went up Rad Ridge to the Cammy's trail.   We rode to the Valderoad, turning right and coasting back to the Round Valley ball park.  Then back up the Rail Trail.
RATINGS: Moderate technical
MILEAGE: 13 miles
TIME: 3 hours
RESTROOM available at the Ball Park during the warm seasons.
GEAR: Helmet, water, pump, flat repair kit, first aid, and energy snacks.

Upper Red Pine Lake



Upper Red Pine





Boulder Field



God blessed us with a challenging hike today.   Light snow covered the ground above Lower Red Pine.  It was cloudy, sunny, light rain, light sleet, icy wind, sometimes warm and full of adventure. 

A great day to praise God, fellowship together and even pray.

DESCRIPTION:  Drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon to the White Pine trailhead.  While the trail to White Pine Lake is a winding jeep road;  Red Pine is a steeper singletrack hiking trail.   Once you have arrived at Lower Red Pine, there is no official trail to Upper Red.   Most people climb boulders up the hill.   Fishermen catch monster trout in this lake, when the conditions are right.

RESTROOM at the trailhead.

WATERSHED: No dogs in Little Cottonwood Canyon.  No swimming in lakes.

WILDERNESS AREA:  Red Pine and Maybird Gulch.  No mountain biking.

RATINGS: INTERMEDIATE to Lower Red Pine Lake,

Upper Red Pine is more challenging, climbing over huge boulders.

MILEAGE: 3 miles to Lower Red Pine,  3.6 miles to Upper Red.

HIKE TIME:  Allow 7 hours total,

Bristlecone Pine Loop and Yovimpa trail

God gave us awesome views!Begin your hike at Rainbow Point, near the rain shelter.   Following the Rim trail, you will find the beginning of the Bristlecone Pine Loop.  Go clockwise.   On the way you'll find a sign to the Riggs Spring, Under-the-rim trail.  Continuing on the Bristlecone Pine Loop, you will go through a forest of Ponderosa trees and come to another shelter.  This is a great overlook.  At the mid-point, are some Bristlecone Pine trees.  At the end of the loop, take the trail to Yovimpa Point, a handicapped assessible sidewalk trail.  Also, you'll find the other side of the Riggs Spring Loop.

MILEAGE: 1 1/2 miles

HIKE TIME: Allow 1 hour

RATINGS: Newbies

RESTROOMS: Available at Rainbow Point.

PICNIC AREA near Yovimpa trail.

Bryce Canyon Overlooks

Natural Bridge

VISITOR CENTER: This is a good place to begin your tour. Restrooms, souvenirs, movies, and museum.Enjoy God's scenic wonders! This is a great way to see the park! After the Visitor Center, drive to Rainbow Point and take the hike to the overlooks.  Then drive down the road and stop at the overlooks.  Make sure you don't drive too fast to stop.   At Fairview Point, we saw a raven.   God blessed us with a wonderful day!  

• RAINBOW POINT: Take a drive to Rainbow Point and have a picnic lunch.
• BRISTLE CONE LOOP and YOVIMPA OVERLOOK.  (Hiking)
• BLACK BIRCH CANYON
• PONDEROSA CANYON
• AQUA CANYON
• NATURAL BRIDGE
• FARVIEW POINT (Hiking)
• SWAMP CANYON
• PARIA VIEW (Hiking)
• BRYCE POINT (Hiking)
• INSPIRATION POINT (Hiking)

RATINGS: NEWBIES

TIME: Allow 5 hours

KID FRIENDLY

Queen's Garden, Peekaboo Loop and Wall Street



Queen's Garden Trail

 

Peek-a-boo Loop

Begin your hike at Sunrise and hike down Queen's Garden.  Don't take the horse trail at the junction.  At the bottom, take the side trail to the Queen's garden.  This is a great place to take a break.
Then hike toward the Navajo Loop.  From there take the Peek-a-boo trail.  Clockwise is the easiest way to go around.
Then go up Wall Street to Sunset Point.  At the top you can either shuttle back to Sunrise Point or walk the rim trail.

Wall Street

RATINGS: MODERATE
KIDS: Older children can make this hike.

MILEAGE: 6 1/2 miles loop

Queen's Garden to Navajo Loop Jct. 1.6 miles,

Navajo Loop Jct. to Peek-a-boo ~ .3 miles,

Peek-a-boo Loop ~ 3 miles

Peek-a-boo to Navajo Loop Jct. ~ .3 miles,

Wall Street to Sunset Point ~ .7 miles,

Sunset to Sunrise Point ~ .5 miles.

HIKE TIME: Allow 4 or 5 hours

RESTROOMS: General Store, Sunset Point, and Peek-a-boo stables.

GEAR: Hat, sunscreen, salty food, sack lunch, camera, and hiking pole, plenty of water.
NO DOGS allowed into the inner canyon; only on the upper rim trails.

Red Canyon Parkway

God blessed us with a wonderful ride in Southern, Utah.  This is a scenic ride, passing the Red Canyon visitor center, tunnels and campground.  It is a fast ride down.   The best time to ride is in the cool morning or evening.

RATINGS: NEWBIES

KID FRIENDLY

MILEAGE: 5.5 miles to road near top.   The trail has been extended several more miles along Highway 12.

BIKE TIME: 1 hour up, 20 minutes down.

DIRECTIONS: Look for "RED CANYON" sign and turn right.  

RESTROOMS: At Thunder Mountain trailhead, and top.

Pinecones, Hoodoos, and Red Rock Canyons

This has been a great weekend to experience God! And to see the beauty of His creation!

FRIDAY: We enjoyed the RED CANYON PARKWAY, bicycle ride.  Then went to Pine Lake Campground and set up our tents.   Then we had a BBQ.   What a feast.  We had a Meet-n-greet, around the campfire.

SATURDAY: Some went road biking from Ruby's Inn all the way to Rainbow Point and back.  Others joined us on the Queens Garden tour and went back to Pine Lake to go fishing.  For the die-hard hikers, we added the Peek-a-boo Loop.  After taking showers and relaxing, we headed back to camp for our famous evening barbecue.  Our group divided: Some went to Bryce to see the stars over the overlook; while others heard a missionary story, James Chalmers, around the campfire.

SUNDAY: After another big breakfast, we had a Sunday morning devotional.  We studied the Feeding of the 5,000; and shared our favorite Bible passages.  Our group broke up into two groups:  One drove to Lower Calf Creek Falls, while the other went back to Bryce to Tour de Overlooks.  We had our last BBQ and campfire.

MONDAY: We had a breakfast, and packed up to go home.  What a weekend!   God gave us great weather--three days of sunshine, no bugs, and wonderful fellowship!