Monday, August 21, 2017

Indian Trail Hike - Ogden Utah


Introduction


The other day I was looking for a new hike to do.  I was looking for a hike that wasn't going to kill me, have some people on it and that offered something new.

For a while I've been wanting to the Indian Trail Hike.  This hike is on the east side of Ogden in a residential area.  Apparently, this is an old Indian trail that was used by Native Americans when the Ogden River was overflowing.  So there is a bit of history and some cool geological phenomenon along the trail.

The trail head and parking can be found on Google Maps by looking for 22nd Street Trail head.

The Ogden trail folks have done a good job of placing easy to read and find trail markers which will guide you to the actual trail.  This trail intersects with several other ones and I would've been sort of lost without them. You can pick up the Bonneville Shoreline trail and a few others.  I had no problems making my way to a trail that hugs the ridge of the Ogden Canyon.

The first three quarters of a mile are exposed.  There isn't much shade as you make a brief ascent.  Then suddenly, you'll enter a copse of trees and the rest of the hike is primarily shaded (especially if you are hiking before noon).

I believe there is only about a 1000 feet of climbing.  While at times the hike can be strenuous, for the most part the climbs and descents were easy to manage.

The trail is easy to navigate and in fact a little runnable in many spots.  I wouldn't recommend it for cyclists as there are several sharp drop offs.  One false step and one could easily tumble down the side of a cliff.  There is ample room and only one area looked a little scary, but one should mind their footing while on the trail.

There was one confusing part along the trail at a spot about 1.75 miles out.  The trail seemed to head up and another path continued to hug the ridge.  From the initial perspective, it would appear that you should climb.  In short, don't do that.  The upwards going one seemed to peter out and got hard to follow after about 30 - 40 yards.  I got smart and decided it was a weird trail and went back to the main trail.  Not sure where it went to, but clearly the way around the trail is to hug the ridge above Ogden Canyon.

After about 2.5 miles from the 22nd Street parking lot I came across a shelter.  There was a dog watering bowl there (dogs appear to be okay on the trail).  Here, you are treated to a wonderful view of the Ogden Valley and beyond.  There are places to sit and evidence of a fire.  On a clear day you can see beyond the Great Salt Lake.  Alas, today wasn't one of those days.

I continued about another half mile from that point and realized I was going more down than up.  I didn't really want to go all the way to the canyon road below (even though I think I would've hugged a creek).  The entire trail is 4 miles -- from the 22nd street trail head to the canyon road below.  I had seen enough and didn't want to have to re-ascend all the gains I had made.  

This trail is definitely a good one to do on a hotter day.  It is heavily shaded and fairly lightly trafficked.  For those that are curious, here is the route I took.  For a Sunday, I came across about half a dozen people -- I expected to see more.

Heading north (briefly)

Heading onto the ridge of Ogden Canyon




Some awesome views of the Ogden Valley and beyond


Typical stretch of trail







Shelter at mile 2.5










Nearly at the 3 mile marker - my turn around

Nearly at the 3 mile marker - my turn around





Heading back down



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