Mineral Fork Trail is a great day of ATV riding. The ATV trailhead is about 6 miles east of Wasatch Boulevard up Big Cottonwood. When you come up on the S curve in the canyon you will be roughly one mile and a half from the ATV trailhead.
Unfortunately, the ATV trailhead is not marked but you will observe a large heavy steel gate across what may appear to be a private drive way. There may be cars parked out front of the gate. Some may have trailers behind them. If there are several trailers out front you may wish to consider riding this ATV trail on another day. In many places the ATV trail is very narrow and will not permit passage by two ATVs at a time.
The trailhead is very easy to miss as it looks like little more than a wide spot on the south side of the road, so don't be surprised if you go right past it the first time you drive by. If you are using GPS, the coordinates for the Trailhead are: N40 38.183 W111 41.902
The ATV trail has three sections. The first section of the ATV trail is the approach from the road to the upper canyon. The trail switchbacks several times crossing a creek on two of those occasions, if you love to ride your ATV through water, this is the trail for you. There is one place where two giant boulders have fallen from the edge of the mountain to the trail leaving an eye of a needle to thread your ATV through. If your ATV is one of the wider made models. You will be glad your machine has flexible fenders.
The second section of the ATV trail is the part that runs along the upper Mineral Fork valley. In the early spring a third stream crossing will be experienced, but late in the summer this stream dries up when the snow fall is mostly gone from the valley. In the summer this area is densely populated with a large variety of wild flowers and ferns.
The Wasatch mine is the most significant landmark on this ATV trail as it marks the end of the ATV trail - and a word of caution, do not explore the mine, it is known to have bad air and there is a polluted stream coming from its opening. The pollution will be obvious, as there is an orange hue to the rocks along the edge of the brook that runs through the floor of the valley. Common sense will tell you, don't drink from this stream either. Possible causes for the pollution are from old mining habits of using Arsenic to leach minerals from the mines. The third section of the ATV trail starts at the Wasatch mine and only goes for a very short distance before being closed to all OHVs due to it's nearly 60 degree inclines.
Unfortunately, the ATV trailhead is not marked but you will observe a large heavy steel gate across what may appear to be a private drive way. There may be cars parked out front of the gate. Some may have trailers behind them. If there are several trailers out front you may wish to consider riding this ATV trail on another day. In many places the ATV trail is very narrow and will not permit passage by two ATVs at a time.
The trailhead is very easy to miss as it looks like little more than a wide spot on the south side of the road, so don't be surprised if you go right past it the first time you drive by. If you are using GPS, the coordinates for the Trailhead are: N40 38.183 W111 41.902
The ATV trail has three sections. The first section of the ATV trail is the approach from the road to the upper canyon. The trail switchbacks several times crossing a creek on two of those occasions, if you love to ride your ATV through water, this is the trail for you. There is one place where two giant boulders have fallen from the edge of the mountain to the trail leaving an eye of a needle to thread your ATV through. If your ATV is one of the wider made models. You will be glad your machine has flexible fenders.
The second section of the ATV trail is the part that runs along the upper Mineral Fork valley. In the early spring a third stream crossing will be experienced, but late in the summer this stream dries up when the snow fall is mostly gone from the valley. In the summer this area is densely populated with a large variety of wild flowers and ferns.
The Wasatch mine is the most significant landmark on this ATV trail as it marks the end of the ATV trail - and a word of caution, do not explore the mine, it is known to have bad air and there is a polluted stream coming from its opening. The pollution will be obvious, as there is an orange hue to the rocks along the edge of the brook that runs through the floor of the valley. Common sense will tell you, don't drink from this stream either. Possible causes for the pollution are from old mining habits of using Arsenic to leach minerals from the mines. The third section of the ATV trail starts at the Wasatch mine and only goes for a very short distance before being closed to all OHVs due to it's nearly 60 degree inclines.
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