Emigration Canyon

January 3, 2015

I had never been to Emigration Canyon until Brad was the leader on a short ride we took through a canyon in October of 2013. It's a perfect ride on a warm day when you want to escape the city for a little while without being gone very long. The road that passes by the Utah Hogle Zoo turns into a little road that leads through the canyon with houses on each side, as if it were any other street. Eventually, the road opens up and there is a winding road incline to a summit.

The first time I went on this ride with Brad must have been a very good day for it because there were at least a dozen motorcycles at the summit viewpoint. After the descent the road passes a dam and connects with I-80 in Parley's Canyon.

Since then, I have been back to this view point in Emigration Canyon several times. I remember the second time in November of 2013 was one of the coldest rides we'd been on. Brad and I jumped off our bikes long enough to take a picture and then we hurried home to thaw. I can think of a few other cold moments I've had, but that one definitely ranks.

Soon after our November ride we put our bikes away for the Winter. We didn't head back out to Emigration again until May of 2014. This was just a few days before Brad left for his deployment to the Middle East for six months. Unfortunately, he would miss almost the entire 2014 riding season.

My next Emigration ride was in June and I was alone.

In August I went back to the summit with my girlfriend. It was her first time there and she enjoyed the ride and view.

The last Emigration ride of 2014 was in October with my girlfriend again.

The first Emigration ride of 2015 was Friday, February 6. Brad recently purchased a GoPro and was testing it out for our trip next month. Here is our ride sped up 1500x.

I'm always looking for scenic loops that won't take the whole day, as well as ones with a decent speed limit. Emigration Canyon is a perfect hidden gem that not many know about.