Five Mile Pass

Vault Toilet at Five Mile Pass

The vault toilets are on the south side of Highway 73 a little way back from the parking area. There is another set of vault toilets to the west, also south of the parking area. There is no water available or garbage canisters, so be sure to take your trash home.

View of Rush Valley

On our ATV trip about 2 miles south, I took a picture of Rush Valley, a very barren area west of us in Tooele County.

Five Mile Pass Trail

Panorama View of Fivemile Pass South from Parking Lot

Sign at Five Mile Pass

 
Since we are beginners, we chose to go south along the main trail. My husband and I left the main trail and veered right on a smaller side trail that gradually went up the hill. I soon found out that it was a little too steep for me. I told him I was scared when we got to the top of the trail because it looked pretty steep and rocky to go down so he turned his Grizzly around and turned mine around too. We went back down the way we came up.
We tried again, this time staying on the wider trail that continued south. This was a more level trail and we went about 2 miles then we turned left off the main trail. This brought us to an area where there were big piles of dirt and trails leading all over the area. We went up and down these dirt hills then headed back north, taking trails that led through the foothills. These trails were more steep, but not too bad for beginners. We traveled through sagebrush and cedar trees, kicking up dust from the rocky trails.

Five Mile Pass Recreation Area

North Panorama of Five Mile Pass from Parking Area

We just bought 2 new Yahama Grizzlies and our first outing was to Five Mile Pass Recreation Area, about 10 miles southwest of Cedar Fort, Utah on Highway 73. Another common name for this recreation area is "Fivemile" Pass (Fivemile is one word) so I'll interchange the name through this blog. We parked on the south side of the highway in a large gravel parking lot. The north side also has a very large sandy parking area. Our GPS device read N40 degreees 14.206'W112 Degrees 09.672' Elevation 5220. A brief description of this site can be found at http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/salt_lake/recreation/off-highway_vehicle/fivemile_pass.html On the right side of this BLM page is a link to a pdf file map. The map shows a patchwork of areas overseen by the BLM and the state.

Ready to go Riding at Fivemile Pass

Antelope Just after Crossing Highway 73 at Fivemile Pass

Just east of Five Mile Pass, a herd of antelope were in a farmer's field. After we arrived at Five Mile Pass, an antelope walked cautiously past us, halting every few steps as it made its way northwest. Just a minute after this picture was taken, a motorcyclist began chasing the antelope through the north parking area. The poor animal ran as fast as it could go back across Highway 73, almost running in front of a truck and getting killed. PLEASE RESPECT WILDLIFE! GIVE WILDLIFE A WIDE BERTH AND LEAVE THEM ALONE!