FR007 Temple Fork(sh)
This summit parallels US89 over Bear Lake
Summit. Both of them together make a great
loop, if you like to mix paved and unpaved roads,
and are willing to put up with some washboard
surface. Here there are better views of the Bear
River Range than from the paved road summit any
day. This area has many well signed intersections,
so that getting lost takes extra effort.
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1.(00.0m,4720ft)START-END
WEST: low point on US89, at entrance to
Logan Canyon
2.(14.6m,5810ft)profile turns up Temple
Fork Rd to right
3.(24.0m,7970ft)TOP
4.(26.5m,7370ft)jct with heavily gravled
Birks rd
5.(26.6m,7350ft)profile leaves heavily
graveled road again, stays left
6.(31.8m,6070ft)Meadowville
7.(34.8m,5980ft)START-END EAST: jct Ut30 -
Meadowville Dr, shore of Bear Lake
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Approaches
From West. The
road up Mount Logan Canyon to Bear Lake
Summit does not only go through the Bear
River Range. At this point the Wasatch Range
becomes almost indistinguishable from the adjacent
Bear River Range. But past the spot where Logan
Canyon US89 reaches a small dip, it crosses into
the Wasatch Range. The junction with Temple Fork
of the Logan River comes a little later. A narrow
finely graveled road follows the road up into a
green valley. Temple Peak is on the left, looking
more like a table, with a table cloth forming a
few limestone cliffs.
During weekend rushhour in the summer, this road is
as dusty as they come and a definite motor
reservation. I never saw another bicycle during my
weekend there in June. That's a shame. If this road
were paved it would be a perfect ride. There are so
many turns, so many new viewing angles on valleys,
rocks and river. But then, if this road were paved
then the local custom would be to remove all the
turns and make it into a big old boring highway. So
I guess I will take preference to the dust and the
stink from noisy 2 cycle engines.
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After a small high point in the aspen the road
crosses another small drainage, and climbs one
more sage knoll. Here is the first of many smaller
loop possibilities, a left connects with Left Hand
Fork Canyon. FR007 switches back and now climbs
steeply with a smoother but more rutted surface,
across from the highest peaks of the Bear River
Range. A wild yellow color orgy comes over the
meadows with the wild flowers, that survived into
the June heat. Now the double track trail enters
deep forest and there are no more views.
The road reaches a high point at the turnoff to
FR117. The latter goes only about 40ft higher, and
is one of several possibilities to loop back to
Cache Valley.
From East. (described
downwards) A gentle descent goes down an inclined
forest plane. At the next junction again
represents multiple alternatives for shorter or
longer loops, left for US89, right for Hardware
Ranch and Cache Valley. This profile goes right on
this wide heavily graveled dirt road. But this
surface does not last long.
A fast descend leads to a first glimpse of Bear
Lake in the distance. The road finally emerges
onto rolling sage hills before Meadowville, which
consists of a few horses in meadows, surrounded by
unidentifiable structures. Taking the northerly
option for the last part to the dessert shores of
Bear Lake, the road reaches Ut30 around the lake
at a rest area with several comfortable picnic
possibilities.
Dayride with this point as highest summit:
PARTIALLY PAVED / UNPAVED :
( < South
Eden Canyon - North Eden Canyon(sh) | FR168 Mill
Hollow s(u) > )
FR007 Temple Fork(sh) , Bear Lake
Summit : some distance up FR007
Temple Fork Rd > up FR007 > FR007 Temple
Fork(sh) > Hardware > FR55 Hardware Ranch Rd
south > down Temple Canyon Rd > Ut30 along
Bear Lake north > Garden City > US89 west
> Bear Lake Summit > down US89 > up FR007
Temple Fork Rd back to starting point: 50.1miles
with 4880ft of climbing in 5:17hrs (garmin etrex30
m5:17.6.17)
Notes: A short distance up Bear Lake Summit I
met the kind of unusual (or maybe cracy)
bicyclist you can only meet in the US. He was
walking a Walmart type bike, hitched to a
rickshaw type trailer with a fully packed
backpack in it. I assumed he was camping. But
the anwer was: No this is everything I own. He
was on his way from a small town in Wyoming to
Boise Idaho for employment reasons. His field of
specialty was Butler (!!??!?.*)
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