Had a nice ride today with my baby sister, Crystal Barton. We started up a trail to climb Spanish Fork Peak, me on Reno and Crystal on my mustang, Jimbo. Reno, just didn’t have it in him today. He started huffing and puffing about 1/3 of the way up, and just wasn’t recovering fast enough for me, so we headed back down.

By the time we reached the truck he was doing much better, so we drove over to Diamond Fork, a little farther up Spanish Fork Canyon, and did a little riding in a little easier terrain.

Reno will need a little more work before he can make SF Peak, which surprises me, coming off our 200-mile pack trip last month. He’s young (just turned 4), so he just needs a little maturation and patient work. The trail heading up to the peak climbs several thousand feet in a matter of a few miles. It is an excellent trail for “legging up” a horse before the fall hunts, but one can easily over-do things and end up on foot. Today, turning around was the right thing to do. No sense in over-working or hurting a horse for a pleasure ride.

For those interested, the trailhead we used is up Spanish Fork Canyon (US Rte 6). Coming from Spanish Fork it is about a mile past the giant windmills. There is plenty of parking for trucks/trailers in the north side of the highway. The iron swing-gate is just west of the parking area, about 100 yards. The trail starts as a two-track, passes a fenced-in utilities installation, then heads straight up a canyon to the north. Just stay on that trail heading north and ignore anything that turns off either way. The trail heads straight up the canyon for a couple miles, then winds around the peaks and saddles and eventually arrives at the very peak. One can return on the same trail, or go over the mountain and come down Mapleton Canyon (which requires juggling vehicles and trailers for the return to the other trailhead).

The ride from Rte 6 to Mapleton Canyon parking area took us about six hours, as I recall. I forgot to take my GPS, so I can’t say exactly how far it is or what the elevation change was, but my guess is 7 or 8 miles total, end to end. Elevation change, according to maps, is about 4800′, so you are climbing at a rate of more than 1,000′ per mile. That’s a tough climb for a horse, especially when you are starting above 4700′ to begin with.

The trail is steep, but otherwise not what I consider challenging. There are a couple steep sidehills that might be a bit scary for the novice trail rider, and the occasional detour for a fallen tree, but other than that the worst of the trail is that it is quite rocky. Last year my horse made it over the trail barefoot and never got tender. I would rate it intermediate and above, for both horse and rider. Take a breast strap, and a crupper or breeching is recommended for narrow-shouldered horses.

There is a small lake or pond (depending on the time of year) just past the peak, on the way down toward Mapleton Canyon, but the water is often stagnant and filthy. Horses will drink it, but they don’t like it much. I saw no other water available when I went over the trail last year. The horses will be thirsty when you get down the mountain.

I recommend riding this trail the first time with someone who has been on the trail before, as the trail can be hard to find in a couple places if one doesn’t know where to look. The trail gets some foot traffic, especially during hunting season, but it is closed to all but foot or equine traffic. It sees little enough traffic that the trail is rather lightly visible in places and appears more like a deer/elk trail than a foot/horse trail, at least on the south side of the peak.

Last little note about the Spanish Fork Peak trail: The views are absolutely spectacular, once you get above the trees and break out on the west side of the mountain they are amazing. However, for most of the trail you will be in the trees and in the canyons, where the view is limited.

P.S.

I seem to have lost all the photos I took on my first ride over the Spanish Fork Trail. Sorry. I’ll get more on the next trip.