Winter trails local to Salt Lake City area

JPaul

Member
Location
West Valley, UT
My understanding is it's closed to wheeled vehicles (part of closing off skyline drive) due to safety reasons. If you drive over it with a wheeled vehicle and get caught they can fine you.
 

moab_cj5

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Old Ward Canyon does not have gates, and is available to run in the winter, but you will likely get stuck in the deeper snow. The gate is higher up the main road, at the parking area (unless they added a gate i am not aware of, in which case there isn't enough snow to ramp over it anyway). Old Ward trail ends just east of the parking lot, below the gate.

I personally wouldn't go over the gate for the fact I don't want to cause access issues for my user group. Not everyone sees it the same way, and adheres to the same closures. Education is key! If you see someone doing something you don't agree with, have the courage to approach them in a calm, cool, collected manor and try educating them. Sometimes I learn a few things too.

My 2 cents.
 

JPaul

Member
Location
West Valley, UT
There are no gates for Old Ward, just the one up by the top on the new Ward road. The snow as of last Saturday wasn't very deep, and it was pretty firm too on the trail. But after this last snow it probably isn't passable anymore for 4x4's.
 

jeep-N-montero

Formerly black_ZJ
Location
Bountiful
We live about a half mile below the B and received 16+ inches up here yesterday, pretty sure it is quite unsafe for wheeled vehicles going up the canyon at this point unless you are on some very wide tires and running chains.
 
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Gate or not, wheeled vehicles are not allowed to travel over snow on USFS roads as so designated. Farmington Canyon is open to OHV's in winter, Ward Canyon and above the B is open only to over-snow vehicles at snowline (everywhere). Diesel Brothers or any other idiots doing it, doesn't make it right.
 
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JPaul

Member
Location
West Valley, UT
Gate or not, wheeled vehicles are not allowed to travel over snow on USFS roads as so designated. Farmington Canyon is open to OHV's in winter, Ward Canyon and above the B is open only to over-snow vehicles at snowline (everywhere). Diesel Brothers or any other idiots doing it, doesn't make it right.


I wouldn't count myself as an idiot for driving up Ward Canyon road up to the closed gate and then down Old Ward trail over the snow a couple weeks ago (even if it was possibly done in ignorance), and in addition to asking around on here and checking on the UFS site, I had looked on the poster board the USFS has up at the parking lot when I got there for any information about the trail being closed or any restrictions and there wasn't anything posted about it. I don't think a vague map listed in a semi-obscure place on the USFS website is a lot of help and very enforceable, particularly if they're going to bother closing a gate but not posting up information a few miles down the road at the parking lot. By the way, I never found that map when I was checking their site before going anywhere, all I saw was information about Farmington canyon and several other roads/trails being closed, and that Ward road was closed above Buckland Flats (which implies that below the gate is still open to OHV's). Though granted, looking back at the post I now see it was from this past May. But it is all I can find on the USFS website talking about Ward Canyon road being closed.
 
Anyone who drives on a road knowing it is closed is an idiot. I don't know anything about you so go project your issues somewhere else.
 
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