Malan's Peak Trail

The Trail

This difficult trail is 2.1 miles long (one way) with a 2000 foot elevation change. The trail starts at the end of 27th Street in Ogden. Head up the trails eastward toward the canyon. Although there are multiple trails in this area breaking off in different directions, they all connect and will lead to the canyon; just follow the signs that direct you to the Taylor Canyon Trail.

For the first part of this trail, you will continue up the Taylor Canyon Trail about .8 miles from the trail head (marked with blue flag on map below). At that point, there is a well marked turn off for Malan's Peak to the right heading up the slope. After taking this turn off, the trail will go up a few long switchbacks until you reach the peak.

Topographical Map (blue flag=turn off for Malan's Peak,
red flag=view point)

Graph of Elevation

Trail in Google Earth

Looking up at the fall colors near the mouth of the canyon

The trail gradually gets slightly steeper as you go up, but overall the climb is pretty steady. This trail is also pretty well shaded most of the way. Just over one mile up, hikers will hit a nice view point overlooking the valley. This also makes a nice stopping point for anyone looking for a shorter trail.

 

The slopes and valley from the view point just over 1 mile up the trail.

There are too many trees along most of the switchback to get many good views of the surrounding peaks, but things do open up a bit here and there.

The view from the peak is fantastic. Whether looking toward the valley:

Or looking toward the peaks and slopes:

Looking up toward Mount Ogden

Looking southward from Malan's Peak

Malan's Peak isn't really a true peak, but if you want to go on a much longer hike, you can continue further along this trail and will eventually reach Mount Ogden's peak. Or, if you continue somewhere around another mile, you will reach Malan's Basin, the site of what once was a mountain resort at the turn of the 20th century.


Directions

This trail is located in Weber County. To get there, from I-15 take Exit 341 for 31st Street in Ogden. Head east on 31st Street until you reach Washington Blvd. Turn left on Washington, and then take the next right onto 30th Street. Continue to Harrison Blvd. and turn left. Then continue to 27th Street and turn right. Continue until the street dead-ends. This is where the trail starts. There is no parking lot, so you will have to park along the street. Please be respectful to the residents and their properties near the trail head.

Beus Canyon Trail to Mount Ogden Peak

The Trail

This strenuous trail is about 5.4 miles long (one way) with a 4453 foot elevation change. Hikers traversing the full length of the trail will go up the west face of Mount Ogden and arrive at the top of Ogden Peak. The climb is fairly steep and steady most of the way, but right before the peak, it levels off a bit before climbing dramatically to the top.

Topographical Map (red=Bonneville Shoreline;
blue=Beus Canyon)

Graph of Elevation

Trail in Google Earth

The first part of this trail is fairly shady. Stay to the right at all forks to stay on the Beus Canyon Trail; otherwise you will end up on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. As the trail continues up, the shade becomes more sparse and then disappears altogether. The path became increasingly overgrown, but the trail remained clear. Near the top there are also a series of rock cairns along the trail, but the path remains clear all the way to the top even without them. At the saddle, the trail hits a steep road that continues up toward the peak. There is another "trail" turn off from the road near the top, but it mostly turns into a scramble up the rocks at the very tip. The mountain peak is capped by transmitting towers and a helicopter pad.

There are great views of the valley, the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island, and the surrounding mountains all along the trail.

Leashed dogs are permitted on the trail.

View of the valley and Antelope Island from the trail

Looking back along the trail and up towards
De Moisy Peak

Wildflowers on the slopes

Looking up toward Ogden Peak

Helicopter landing pad at the peak

View of The Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island from peak

View of Pineview Reservoir from the peak

Road in the bottom right corner is what we followed down to find tram

Going Down on the Tram

Before starting our hike, we parked a car at Snowbasin with the plan to ride the tram down the mountain after reaching the top. We were not completely sure where the top was in relation to the tram, but the light blue line below is the path we followed from the peak down to the tram. The light green line is the path of the tram.

Topographical Map (light blue=path to tram; green=tram ride down)

Graph of Elevation (Hiking path only - does not include tram ride)

Trails in Google Earth

Basically, we followed the dirt road down from the peak and along the east side of the mountain. We turned off onto the next road we came to, which was a much rougher dirt road going more south. We soon hit a better maintained section of road and passed under the tram. Shortly after that we found the Needles Trail, which we then followed back up to the tram station. This path to the tram was just over two miles.

Looking up at Mount Ogden from the tram

Riding the tram down the mountain

If you plan on riding down the tram, it would be wise to check before your hike to make sure you know what the tram's schedule is for the day. (We ended up having to do some running to the tram station since some helpful hikers informed us that the tram was closing early on the day we went.) There is a whole web of trails and roads snaking along the east side of the mountain though, leaving open a number of options for hiking up or down from the Snowbasin parking lot.

Directions

The Beus Canyon Trail is located in Weber County. The trail head is on the end of 46th Street. To get there from I-15, take Exit 341 for 31st Street and turn right. Turn right onto Wall Street, and then follow the road to the left at 40th Street. Continue to Harrison Blvd. and turn right. Then continue to 4600 S. and turn left. Continue east toward the mountains. The parking lot for the trail is right at the curve at the end of the road.

Vasquez Rocks Short Loop

The Trail

This easy 1.2 mile loop has a 116 foot elevation change is located in Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park. The trail starts along the Pacific Crest Trail and runs along the north side of the Vasquez Rocks. At the end of the rock formations, we looped around and followed the road back to the trail head.

Topographical Map

Graph of Elevation

Trail in Google Earth

The Vasquez Rocks are a popular spot for the filming scenes in a number of movies such as Star Trek, Holes, Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, and many more. Visitors are welcome to climb on the rocks and explore the area. This trail is also opened to leashed dogs and horseback riders.

The Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park itself covers 932 acres and can be very hot. However, no drinking water is available there, so bring plenty of water with you when you visit. For those looking for a longer hike, there are a number of other trails in this area. Picnic areas are also available here. There is no entry fee to the park, but the park does enforce strict hours. For current park hours, please check here.

Directions

This trail is located in Los Angeles, California near Santa Clarita. Specifically, the trail is found in Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park in Agua Dulce. To get there from Santa Clarita, take CA-14 north towards Palmdale. Take exit 15 for Agua Dulce Canyon Rd. Turn left and continue to Pacific Crest Trail. Turn right and continue to the park, which will be on the right. The trail as shown on the maps above starts from the first parking lot.

Goosenecks Overlook & Sunset Point

The Trail

This easy jaunt is under a mile long (round trip) with a 61 foot elevation change when both trails are done in succession. Here we started by going up the short Goosenecks Overlook Trail, which leads to a view point for the U-shaped bends of the canyon below. For more adventuresome hikers, this slot canyon can also be accessed and hiked via that Sulphur Creek Route from the Chimney Rock Trail head.

Topographical Map

Graph of Elevation (doing the Goosenecks Overlook Trail first)

Trail in Google Earth

View of Goosenecks from Goosenecks Overlook

Another View of Goosenecks from Overlook

After coming down from the Goosenecks Overlook, we headed up to Sunset Point. This point is aptly named; it is a beautiful place to be as the sun sets. The sun radiates off the rock faces across the surrounding canyons, causing them to glow brightly. Unfortunately, the clouds blocked the sun while we were there, so we didn't get to see this effect. Even the brief sunset itself was muted in the cloudy sky. It would have been better could we have been there on a less cloudy night. Despite this, we still found the view from Sunset Point enjoyable.

View from Sunset Point during cloudy evening

Another section of the deep gorge cradling Sulphur Creek is also visible from the south side of Sunset Point.

Sulphur Creek from Sunset Point

Directions

This trail is located in Capitol Reef National Park in Wayne County, Utah. The trail is off of UT-24. To get there from I-15, take Exit 188 to get onto US-50. Get off US-50 at UT-260. From there get onto UT-24 and continue to Capitol Reef. The turn off for these trails will be before the Visitor's Center. Take the Panorama Point/Sunset Point turn off to the right. Stay left where the road splits and continue up the dirt road to the parking area and trail head.