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Snow Basin is a Ski resort that is working to attract summer visitors. The trails on the resort itself are often reserved for bikers. The area is surrounded by Forest Service land and their trails are open to hikers, bikers and horseriders. This is short trailer ride from Ogden, So it is easily accessable to a lot of people and is a popular place for mountain bikers and equestrians. I find most of the hikers and bikers very polite. Most of the trails have been built to accomandate mountain bikers. So the old horse trails with steep climbs are blocked off and trails with more gradual slopes and multiple switchback have replaced them. They are all single track trails. There are numerous bridges which are great practice for the horses. There are several places to access the trails. The Lower Parking lot at the ski resort provides ample and easily accessable parking. There is also parking at the Art Norde trail head and the Green Pond trail head. Although the Green Pond trail head is often full and doesn't offer much room for trailers.
Depending where you start, the trails can be an out and return or a loop. The cold canyon trail, used to an out and return climb up to the view point on cold canyon overlook. The Forest Service built a new trail in 2010 that combines with the Cold Canyon trail to give you a loop for most of the route with a spur trail that continues up to the overlook. The overlook area is small. I usually tie my horses up 50 yards down hill and walk the last part of the trail. I don't consider this a difficult trail, but if you are afraid of heights, it could bother you.
This area is always 15* cooler than the valley temps and makes for a great summer evening ride. Late June and early July have an abundance of wild flowers. There are lots of mountain maples that offer wonderful fall colors. Moose and mule deer are frequently seen along the trails.
I often ride young horses here, or bring novice riders, because the heavy undergrowth encourages them to stay on the trail following the leader vs wandering off the side of the trail. |
