Bruin Point summit(u)
Utah is well known for cycling
between colorful rock canyons of its south. It is not
quite as well known for the more alpine roads of the
Wasatch Range in the north. The scenery of this summit
falls in neither of these two categories. And it's just as
extraordinary. A lush green escarpment landscape gives way
to crumbly, dry, light colored badlands cliffs and flat
bottomed isolated canyons, surrounded by alcoves and
groups of sculpted cottonwood trees blowing in dry canyon
winds. This is also one of the highest two sided summits
reachable with a bicycle in Utah, and it is snowfree when
lower altitudes in the Wasatch Range are still buried in
white. Except for the lower part of Dry Canyon I have
never seen this route written up in any cycling books.
While cycling some ATVs will probably be encountered. But
the area is far from a large population center, so that
traffic tends to be light ( in my limited experience ).
01.(5520ft,mile00) START - END SOUTH:
Sunnyside Junction: Ut123, US6
02.(6440ft,mile09) East Carbon City
03.(6510ft,mile11) Sunnyside
04.(7250ft,mile15) route turns right off main road,
up Water Canyon
05.(10131ft,mile20) TOP: Bruin Point summit(u)
06.(10004ft,mile21) profile continues to Dry Canyon,
left fork at this intersection
07.(5440ft,mile40) START - END NORTH: junction Dry
Creek Canyon, Nine Mile Canyon Road |
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Approaches
From South. The profile on this side looks like a
skijump, just a little bigger, 4600 feet big. Paved Ut123
leaves US6 for the coal mining towns of Sunnyside and East
Carbon City. These coal mining towns with a number of nice
parks and interesting company town layout have one large
grocery supermarket, on the extreme east side of Sunnyside. As
I learned on my ride, it is even open on Memorial Day.
Pavement continues for a few more miles up the canyon. The
turnoff to Bruin Point ( or Bruin's Point on some maps ) is
signed. A easily bikable dirt road becomes steeper and
narrower as it climbs up a lushly forested plateau landscape
between a few old mine remnants. Several switchbacks lead to
increasingly vaster views, until the last few miles become
extremely steep and also open up views north all the way to
the Wasatch Range and Plateau. The top has a sign, which
includes an elevation but not the word "summit".
Therefor the designation includes the (u) behind it here.
From North. The route is described in a downward
direction. Immediately after the top the cyclist has to choose
between two possible descents. The one described here follows
the left fork down Dry Canyon. If any snow is encountered it
will happen when the road enters a dense forest immediately
below the top. The route contours down the hill with several
switchbacks until Dry Canyon appears below between mesa sides,
sculpted with perfectly triangular surfaces, an aspect that is
peculiar to this area of Utah. The most scenic aspect of this
entire ride is probably lower Dry Creek Canyon. This narrow
canyon has nevertheless a well drained flat bottomed valley
floor, where the route winds itself seemingly forever from
Cottonwood Groves to deeply eroded alcoves. The presence of
gas wells in the lower part of the Canyon distracts from the
beauty somewhat. When Dry Canyon finally ends into Nine
Mile Canyon, an entire gas processing facility is the only
still used structure encountered, since leaving Sunnyside. The
petroglyphs in Daddy Canyon are just a few feet down valley on
Nine Mine Canyon road, which is described under Nine
Mile Canyon summit(u). On my traversal of this
descent much of it was blocked by blown down trees from a
recent storm, which demonstrated again just one of the many
advantages of a bicycle. Not only can it carry you, you can
carry it too.
Tours
Dayrides. A ride beginning on US6, climbing through
Sunnyside to Bruin Point summit(u), descending through Dry
Creek Canyon, then climbing over Nine
Mile Road summit(u) back to the starting point measured 89
miles with 7500 feet of climbing in 8.2 hours (m3:06.05.27).
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