Maple Canyon to Whiting Campground - June 20, 2018

Hiking Tip

Know what your goals are before you hit the trail, especially if you're hiking with others.  Do you just want to finish?  Do you want to get to the top (or end or whatever) as quickly as possible?  Are you more about the journey and time together?  Is your hike about fitness and pushing yourself or about being in the mountains and enjoying nature?  None of these is a bad answer, and you may answer all of these at different times.  But if you and your hiking partner(s) aren't on the same page it can lead to some frustration and maybe even negative feelings.  No one wants that - it spoils the hiking high!

Pretty incline treatment that leads to a small bridge across the irrigation ditch.

Our Story

Since this hike was close to home and not very well known or popular we didn't leave as early, an hour later than our last hike.  Yay!  We still hit the trail a little before 7:30 am.  It was cool enough that the kids wore jackets, although they shed them before long.

We use AllTrails to find most of our hikes.  Love it!  I'll probably write about it some time, but you'll have to go check it out if you want info about it now.  Anyway, we didn't do any outside research about it beyond AllTrails, which we sometimes do.  We didn't really have a great description about how to get there, so we pulled up the directions from AllTrails in Google Maps and let that guide us.  For a while.  Then she (you know, the talking map lady) sent us one way and then told us to turn around and go the other way.  Go half a mile up.  No, do a U-turn and go a mile back.  She was a little confused.  (It was totally the map lady that was confused, not us.)

Totally.

But we knew we were close, and we knew where Whiting Campground was (which was where we were hiking to), so we just looked for a spot that looked right.  We found a trail, but it went both directions.  We assumed we were in the middle of the trail instead of the beginning.  We were right.

We headed off on that trail in the direction of Whiting Campground.  It was a nice little hike.  About a mile and a quarter each direction.  Mostly just a gentle climb on the way up, with one good hill.  Very forest-y (totally a word).  At one point Katy's son said it was a "more prettier" hike than all our other hikes (we've taken him on one other hike) because of all the trees.  (He's definitely a poet in the making). I can't say I agree with him, since the one we took him on before was Stewart Falls, which is one of the prettiest hikes around.  But I'm glad he liked it so much.

There was an irrigation ditch that ran along most of the trail.  This helped make it "more prettier" to the kids. :)

The trail was pretty dusty a good deal of the way.  Also, it was single-track at times, which made it so we had to step aside whenever anyone needed to pass (we tend to always be the ones who step aside; partly because we like to be polite and partly because it's an extra moment to rest, if needed).  This was fine.  No trouble almost the whole time.  Easy peasy.  Except for one incident.  A couple men on mountain bikes headed down the trail came around a corner rather quickly and only saw us at the last minute.  I saw them maybe a split second before they saw me and tried to jump out of the way.  But the side I tried to jump to was kind of up a mountain, so I slipped back onto the trail.  Luckily, by now the cyclist had seen me and was trying to stop.  We kind of crashed into each other as I slipped back onto the trail, and he grabbed my arm to keep me from falling over as his bike bumped me.  I wasn't hurt.  They were apologetic.  I'm sure they were more cautious as they continued on.  No harm, no foul.  On we went.

Scary mountain bikers! Actually, not all that bad if you let your hiking partner go first. Hee hee!

See that dust?  That's from my near death experience with the cyclists, from when they hit their breaks.
Okay, not near death, but near crash.

It was mostly just a pleasant hike through the woods.  Nice and easy.

Mostly shady.  Some sunny.

Katy's daughter remarked that this looked like a dragon's tail sticking out from the woods.  I can see that.
Maybe she's the REAL poet!

Okay, so the part of the hike that stuck with me the most was the trouble we had finding a bathroom.  Nothing at the trailhead (which we did find and I'll mention below).  But we were headed to a campground we knew was open, so we expected to find bathrooms.  We did, but they weren't open.  We decided to try hiking a bit further into the campground to see if there were some others that were actually open.  We found another set, but they were also locked.  Seriously?!  It was here that some ladies passed us and told us there were bathrooms way up at the top of the campground that were probably open, since there were campers there.  Apparently, the lower sites are group sites, and they only open those bathrooms when those sites are booked.  Whatever!

Third time's the charm on the bathrooms.

Ha ha!

We found open bathrooms - YAY! - and everyone felt better.  But it was sure funny to see Katy's son's reaction to the pit toilet.  (One step up from an outhouse, for anyone who might not know.)  He came out waving his hat in front of his face with his arm across his nose.  It kind of looked like he was dabbing.

Um, that kid is always dabbing. I think he finally found a good use for the motion. Good thing I took him hiking.

So, up and back.  Just woodsy, nothing fancy.  Pretty enough.  It wasn't too tough, but enough so that the kids were very glad when we got back to the van.  I wanted to know where the trail really started, so I sent Katy on in the van, while I headed down the trail to find the end.  The trail wasn't too far from the road, so I was pretty sure she'd find me easily.  Um.  Yeah.  We were probably not even a hundred yards from the actual trailhead.  Not a problem finding each other.

I'd rate the trail a meh-plus.  Not spectacular, but pretty.  And anytime I can be in the mountains is a good day.

Trail Info

*  Difficulty rating: 2.5/10.  2.4 miles round trip with 430 feet of elevation gain.  A few rocks, but not lots.  Very dusty in places.  One good hill on the way back.
*  Popularity: Moderately popular with locals.  Not well known beyond those in the area.  It seems to be well used though.  We passed more people than I expected.  Most were walking/hiking.  A couple runners.  Three bikes.
*  No bathrooms at the trailhead.  See info on other bathrooms above.  There was a working water faucet just to the right as soon as we got to the campground.
*  Several good benches along the trail.

How to Get There

If you use Google Maps, don't trust her after she gets you to the canyon!

Take pretty much any main road to get to Mapleton from Sprinville (or from anywhere else, really).  Find 400 North and head east for almost 2 miles.  It will take you straight to Maple Canyon.  That road becomes Maple Canyon Road.  Almost right after you enter the canyon, turn right into a dusty parking area.  There's a sign by the entrance that says something to the effect that if you're parking a horse trailer there you need a permit.  No horse trailer, no permit needed.  On the east side of the parking lot (left as you came in), is a park sign board with nothing on it.  Just past that is the trail marker - 006.  You're there!