Cross country skiing in the Beaver Creek area

Beaver Creek valley is located east of Kamas, the start point of the Mirror Lake Highway, that cuts through the western Uinta Mountains. The cross country skiing area starts right at the pay station ($3/day) and runs for about 5 miles along the road and in the surrounding hills. Further up the road is a snowmobile land. Fortunately, the skiing area is closed to these stinking noisy machines, which makes it one of the favorite winter destinations.

Here is map (610 kB) of the area south of the highway, which I explored so far, few comments on the trails are below. There are another 3-4 options north of the highway, map of the eastern part is here (600 kB).

Beaver Creek Trail

Flat trail that runs on a forest road parallel with the highway, on the other side of the creek. There are several access points along the highway, the first is right at the pay station. Park on the northern side of the road, at the Yellow Pine trailhead. The trail is about 5 miles long (one way) and makes a small loop around the Pine Valley campground, where are some nice views on the valley. Apart from this, there is not much scenery. Since it is fairly popular, the trail is usually in a reasonable shape, with two tracks in parallel. The rating is easy, it's a good place for the beginners or for those looking for a workout.

Pine Valley Trail

This trail starts west of the Pine Valley campground and heads south on the western foothills of the Pine Valley. First mile or so it's flat and then it climbs moderately to a ridge on the between Pine Valley and Provo River Valley. The trail is not visited very often, so expect that you may have to break your own path. Also, the area seems to be heavily populated by deer and moose, since the trail was full of their tracks which made the skiing a little difficult. Because of this and few short steep sections, I give this trail moderate rating. A more advanced skier can return via Cedar Hollow Trail and Taylor Fork trail.

Fotos

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Panorama of Pine Valley from the south end of the Pine Valley Trail (210 kB).

Cedar Hollow Trail

Goes up on a road in Cedar Hollow from the Hwy. 35 east of Francis. In about 2.5 miles, it reaches the ridge above Beaver Creek Valley and offers spectacular views of the valley and western Uintas. This area is seldomly travelled, even by snowmobiles. Every time I was there, I skied in a snowmobile track. However, the snowmobile density there is very low and thus they are not annoying. This trail provides a good connection between Pine Valley Trail and the trails that go up the hills south of Beaver Creek. Rating is moderate, due to the climb up Cedar Hollow and several short steeper hills.

Fotos

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Panorama west towards the Wasatch Mountains from about where the Cedar Hollow Trail ends.

Panorama north, down below is the Beaver Creek, in the distance western Uintas (200 kB).

The same panorama from the highest point on the ridge, 8820 ft. (300 kB).

Panorama south towards the Provo river valley (150 kB).

Taylor Fork Trail

This trail climbs up the hill starting at the west side of the Shingle Creek campground. In about one mile, there is a junction, with few signs and a fence on the western side. The trail going straight (south) is a dead end, turn east uphill and follow what is an ATV trail in the summer. It is moderately steep until the last stretch where are a couple of switchbacks. The last half mile or so until the Cedar Hollow Trail is nearly flat on a high plateau. This trails seems to be quite popular, I have seen there several ski tracks and a group of snowshoers (if you have snowshoes, this is probably the shortest way to reach the hills south of Beaver Creek). I would rate this trail as difficult, mainly because of the steep ascent/descent in the final stage of the climb.

Fotos

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ATV gate on Taylor Fork trail at the high plateau ca. 0.5 km south from the ridge.

A lone tree at the same spot.

View down south from the same spot. The sun was already setting down, this loop took longer than expected.

Mine Trail

This trail starts where a sagebrush slope meets the Beaver Creek trail, about a mile east from the paystation. First half mile, it moderately climbs south to an intersection. Turn right (west), the other trail leads to a destination unknown. The climb gets steeper for about another half mile, and then flattens up again as it reaches the western flank of the mountain. The trail then goes down a bit to the west, I have opted for climbing a hill towards the east, and joined a snowmobile trail, which seemed to be a part of the summer ATV loop. This trail heads south for about 1.5 miles. Keep straight on a first intersection (the other trail heads west, not a good idea) until you get to a large meadow with a corral. Turn left on a trail that is marked as Jeep Trail on the map. This trail climbs for about 1.5 miles until it reaches the ridge above Beaver Creek, where it joins Cedar Hollow trail. I would rank this trail highest in the difficulty, the initial climb up is fairly steep, then follows some routfinding in the deep snow until one hits the ATV trail again, and then there is the long climb up back to the ridge. I have made the loop Mine Trail - Cedar Hollow - Taylor Fork in about 5 hours non-stop.