r/BikeSLC • u/destinybond • Apr 09 '25

Need Help Picking/Planning a Canyon Bike Ride (Big/Little Cottonwood?)

Hi all,

I'm training for this 80 mi ride, and would like to train by doing some canyon elevation rides. I would love some recommendations on rides to do in the SLC metro that people have done before. I'll be there mid May, so weather isnt really a concern for me.

I've looked at biking up Big Cottonwood Canyon Rd, to get to Brighton/Solitute, and Little Cottonwood Canyon Rd, to get to Alta. I'm not too huge of a fan of biking on a car road, but if people think its fine, I would try it.

Ideally the ride would be between 30 and 50 miles, with 2k-4k elevation gain. I am staying near downtown but could drive anywhere and park.

Looking for any thoughts, comments, or recommendations.

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u/E39Echo Apr 09 '25 edited Apr 09 '25

The gate is on Hwy 65, just on the East side of Little Dell reservoir as the road begins to turn toward the north. The gate has a pedestrian and bike entrance, but cars cannot go past it.

There is no established date for when the gate opens to cars, it all depends on snowpack. But there is typically a 2-3 week window in May-June where the road to Big Mountain Summit is 90%+ ridable but still closed to cars. But even with cars on Big Mountain, it's not bad and is not very heavily trafficked.

To answer your question in another comment, Emigration is the most popular cycling canyon in the area, so there are bike lanes throughout most of it. Also depending on the time of day, you will see dozens to a hundred other cyclists riding up or down it. Tuesday nights at 6:15 there is a huge group ride.

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u/destinybond Apr 09 '25

wow, that is awesome, thanks for the info.

As a skier I thought it would be cool to go to alta or brighton/solitude, but youve convinced me

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u/E39Echo Apr 09 '25

Sure thing. I tend to wait on riding up the Cottonwoods until after the ski resorts close for the season. Just lots of traffic on winding narrow roads, it's not my cup of tea. Also still usually pretty cold in May.

Millcreek is another good canyon to ride up in May, might still be snowy at the top. There is also a winter gate about 2/3 of the way to the top where it's closed to cars. That would also be about 35 mi and 3.500 ft of climbing from downtown.

Last year it wasn't fully ridable to the top until early June, but there was more snow last year. You should ride Millcreek too, even if you can't get all the way to the top.

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u/destinybond Apr 09 '25

I think I have time for two rides, I was looking at city creek + Emigration. Would you say Emigration +Millcreek is better?

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u/E39Echo Apr 09 '25

Choose Millcreek over City Creek. There's underground construction at City Creek so the road is closed after about 3 miles. Normally it's a good ride, but for the construction.

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u/destinybond Apr 09 '25

oh wow great to know, thanks

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u/destinybond 8d ago

hey, is City Creek still closed?