Description

This is the ultimate ride at City Creek, featuring a lot of variety and challenge on a trail that wraps around a scenic ridgeline.

It’s almost all singletrack, with intense climbs and riveting downhill.

The upper portion is certainly the highlight, but there’s a wealth of quality trails that can be used to complete the loop, so you never have to ride it the same way twice. Beginning from Lower City Creek trailhead, you’ll use the Bench trail to get up on the hillside.

Then you can pick your favorite route to go uphill, aiming for the jeep road at Cusick Creek.

Consider these first couple miles to be the warmup, because the climb gets burlier once you hit the jeep road.

Eventually, it levels off and there’s a brief coast down, before Over the Top trail breaks off and crosses the creek.

Then you’ll huff up some switchbacks to get even higher.

This is where the scenery gets really good, as the trail weaves through aspen glades and grassy slopes. Once you’ve conquered the climb, enjoy a panoramic cruise along the side of the ridge, then brace for the drop.

The trail tackles a complex descent with two initial corners followed by a traverse with a rockslide section, then a stack of super tight and technical switchbacks.

After that, it’s an easier runout, but with lots of vert still left to descend.

Over the Top trail ends at a junction with Sullivan’s, where you can choose how you want to finish the ride.

What’s mapped here is the descent on 911, a unique trail that pumps back and forth through an incised wash.

If you’re not ready to call it a day, you could make another small loop in the foothills or even turn and go up Sullivan’s to find some more action in the City Creek canyon.