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.
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Topographical Map (red=Bonneville Shoreline;
blue=Beus Canyon) |
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| Graph of Elevation |
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| 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.
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| View of the valley and Antelope Island from the trail |
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Looking back along the trail and up towards
De Moisy Peak |
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| Wildflowers on the slopes |
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| Looking up toward Ogden Peak |
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| Helicopter landing pad at the peak |
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| View of The Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island from peak |
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| View of Pineview Reservoir from the peak |
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| 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.
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| Topographical Map (light blue=path to tram; green=tram ride down) |
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| Graph of Elevation (Hiking path only - does not include tram ride) |
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| 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.
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| Looking up at Mount Ogden from the tram |
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| 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.
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.
