Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. ~~John Muir
The Crimson Trail – Logan Canyon, Utah
A lot of folks ask what and where I run. To this end, I thought this would be a great way to demonstrate some of that information. I will use Strava as a way to demonstrate the route and I will walk through the distance and route a little bit.
Links to Strava:
Crimson Trail
Crimson Trail
Crimson Trail – Scramble with Rufus
So the route details:
It is a loop basically. You use highway 89 into Logan Canyon and turn off at the 3rd Dam road aka Spring Hollow Camp Ground. It takes about 10 or so driving minutes from 1st Dam and has a parking lot of about 15 cars or so and no need to pay for parking in that lot (THIS MAY HAVE CHANGED – PLEASE CHECK AND BE AWARE OF ANY CHANGES). If it is pretty busy, you can cross the bridge and the highway and park on the loop. I have not needed to do that yet.
This has become a staple route of mine this summer. I am grateful that Matthew Shoemaker twisted my arm and had me come run it with him while the snow was still on the trail. I would say that you can either hike or run this. Expect a steep 1st mile with ~ 750 ft of incline. Once you leave the parking lot, head up to the campground gate and then keep heading up to the bridge that takes you to the trailhead. The trailhead is about .2 miles from the bridge and the trailheads to the left
Junction on trail to The Crimson Trail.
Trailhead to the Crimson Trail
From this point expect the steep first mile and meandering switchbacks. You start to get a glimpse of the glory of the wilderness as the local birds and ground animals quiet down as visitors enter their domain. Take a few minutes to take in the views as you ascend. A high view of Spring Hollow, 3rd dam and beginning to see the Wind Caves are all focal wonders.
After mile one things start to even out with a gentle set of rollers. Keep your head straight and be present and mentally aware. This is not so much a technical trail, but the features on trail can trip up even the most experienced runner. I stumbled 3 times today introducing a friend to the trail. A few lookouts are available both in the canopy of trees and you begin to see the great walls of fucoidal, limestone and other rock formations. I like to run this at sunrise to capture the sun awakening the walls and tree and mountainscapes. One of the benefits of this trail while running early is the solitude and being alone. Logan Canyon is most known for this trail and at times it gets super busy. I have been able to record a few vLogs on the trail and capture some ‘zen moments’.
About 2 miles in there is a set of look offs that defy description. So go get up there and take it in:
#FaveRuns #Routes
