2.3 miles
Distance
40 ft
Climb
-1,322 ft
Descent
00:16:33
Avg time
Supporters, Builders, Maintainers & Land Managers of Desolation Trail

  • USFS
    Land Manager

Desolation Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
    • Hike
    • Trail Running
  • Riding Area
    Big Cottonwood Canyon
    Utah
  • Ref Number
    #019
  • Difficulty Rating
    Black Diamond rate
  • Voted Difficulty
    Blue (6 votes)
  • Hiking SAC Scale
    T2 Mountain Hiking
  • Trail Type
    Singletrack
  • Direction
    Downhill Primary
    Popular direction shown
  • Physical Rating
    Hard
  • Global Ranking
    #1842 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • #1126 in Trail Running
    • #6832 in Hiking
  • Local Popularity
    75 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • 75 in Trail Running
    • 75 in Hiking
  • Land Owner
    uinta-wasatch-cache national forest

Primarily downhill trail used to drop off The Crest, but I do see people trying to ride up it almost every time I ride it. There are many water bars made from small logs, which makes climbing very hard, but descending a blast.

There is a rooty tech section right after you pass the lake. Most of this trail flows really well, and is very fast. One thing that makes this trail so great is the technical variety, and that the technical sections are spaced perfectly. This gives the rider time to recover and enjoy the flow between rocky and rooty sections.

Traditionally Indigenous Territory
More Stats for Desolation multi-use trail trail
  • Altitude change
    -1,282 ft
  • Altitude min
    8,270 ft
  • Altitude max
    9,552 ft
  • Altitude start
    9,552 ft
  • Altitude end
    8,270 ft
  • Grade
    -10.349%
  • Grade max
    -31.823%
  • Grade min
    16.914%
  • Distance climb
    521 ft
  • Distance down
    2 miles
  • Distance flat
    160 ft
  • Avg time
    00:16:33
  • Avg reverse time
    00:49:53
  • view trail stats
Status:
on Jul 4, 2023
Ideal
Avg: 4.4 (29 votes)
Your vote: 0

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3D
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Snow Cover Inadequate
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Ideal
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
Trail Flow (Ridden Direction)
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  • Downhill Primary
  • Both Directions
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  • Uphill Only
  • One Direction
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      Directions to desolation-11882 trailhead (40.662160, -111.600040)
      update trails status or condition

      Desolation Trail Reports

      statusdatedescription
      Jul 4, 2023 @ 1:56am
      Jul 4, 2023
      Oct 14, 2022 @ 8:37am
      Oct 14, 2022
      Sep 17, 2022 @ 12:52am
      Sep 17, 2022
      		 Forgot to add a photo of the tree to my previous report
      Sep 16, 2022 @ 11:07am
      Sep 16, 2022
      		 Trail is running at its absolute best right now. The recent rains kept the dust down and it had dried enough today to be perfect and grippy. There...
      Aug 4, 2022 @ 9:18am
      Aug 4, 2022
      		 All trees from my last report have been cleared and the dirt is running great right now (hats off to whoever went up there and cleared it.) Ran...
      view all reports »

      Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

      Past Week
      • 15 rides
      • 23 miles avg distance
      6 Months
      • 276 rides
      • 15 miles avg distance
      All
      • 2,757 rides
      • Last: Sep 28, 2023

      Photos

      more »
      96 |
      Aug 8, 2021 @ 6:44am
      Aug 8, 2021
      128 |
      Aug 10, 2020 @ 7:24pm
      Aug 10, 2020
      125 |
      May 31, 2020 @ 1:22pm
      May 31, 2020
      156 |
      Oct 4, 2019 @ 8:31am
      Oct 4, 2019

      Trail Lists

      Routes with this trail

      more »
      titledistance
      Crest: Guardsman to Mill D10 miles
      Wasatch Crest to Mill D Shuttle Ride10 miles
      Desolation-Crest Loop12 miles
      Crest Shuttle with Bonus Flow featured31 miles

      6 Reviews & Comments


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      Videos

      more »
      youtuber Wasatch Crest and Desolation
      10:10 | 94 | Oct 15, 2022 , My City
      Desolation #019 to Mill D (Remastered) | Big...
      11:15 | 159 | May 26, 2022 , My City
      youtuber So EPIC We had to do it TWICE in one day |...
      23:01 | 132 | Apr 18, 2022 , My City
      Big Water Trail - Dog Lake and Desolation Lake...
      10:18 | 114 | Nov 28, 2021 , My City

      Nearby Trails

      Big Cottonwood Canyon

      • By todd Trailforks & contributors
      • #11882 - 5,412 views
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