Great Western Trail Tracks Wanted bits and pieces OK!!!!

I've ridden (some) of the tracks that you show heading north out of Torrey.

The uphill section indicated on 092 just south of 248 was steep, loose and littered with baseball sized rocks and smaller. Neither of us were able to make it up that section on our (unloaded) 640 Adventures several years ago. A 4x4 quad? Sure, probably, but we couldn't maintain enough momentum before the rear tire would spin and dig.

We also rode around 093 on the same trip and where the map shows it goes from road to trail it actually just faded out to nothing...

Perhaps there's been some maintenance since 2007.

I've also come south on 209 as far as snow lake, and it was a wide well maintained road.

This is the Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM), the official forest decision after Travel Management of routes open to vehicles. Why would you think some are blocked? Just what you see on GE?

Thanks Mike, got e-mail version. Again 20 years ago these large scale maps were not electronic but valuable to get the idea of motorized hiking and snow mobile.

I am with you Paper maps form USFS and Mapsource R&R, Topo, & CN. Don't understand Google Earth much.

Scott is your guy to get GE help but don't ever mention paper maps or you may get black listed.

Thanks for input on 092 vs. 093?

However 092 is not on the GWT it is on Scott's Alt. If you look on the MVUM, it shows a wierd designation just below 248 that looks like they may be saying "South Only".

On 093, interesting! It shows as a trail on MVUM so perhaps FS puched it through? Since Scott has lots of track points, I assume he can see a trail in GE?

The only option to these two is long county road around them.

Yeah, I suppose that could be "south only." I just remember riding up to the bottom of that section, looking up and going "you have got to be kidding me!" Then after trying a few times, "F-this!" The map symbol seems like a pretty good representation of that.

I can't find this. Can you provide coordinates?

I love paper maps. They're great for starting camp fires. Someday I'm going to mount a 48" monitor on my sidecar so I can see a full day's ride in detail on the screen at one time!

Jerry, those maps you found on NFS site were perfect for my apporach. Can you find others like it on the web for areas further North that show GWT labels? I'm spending way too much time drawing tracks, and don't have time to search them out. I've reworked some of my stuff North of Salina, but need confirmation that I'm on the right roads.

FR 150, Skyline Drive, GWT are one in same.

I'm way beyond Skyline Dr. Also, I don't see Skyline Dr on any road connecting to I-70 East of Salina. So, the first 10 or 20 miles of GWT going North from there don't seem to be on Skyline Dr.

You are correct. The hiking trail intersects on FR 004 and continues N.E. up to the intersection of FR009/Willow Creek rd/FR150. Once in Salina what route would be best to get to GWT proper?

GWT crosses under I-70 about 7 miles East of Salina, going up pretty steep right away. Near the top, after jumping on then off Water Hollow Rd, it follows some pretty sketchy roads/trails. There may be problems riding some of those sections. I've mapped two alternate ways up (009 & Willow Creek Rd) which should not be a problem if the official way is not passable by moto.

Here ya go:

Agree. Have you mapped out Skyline Dr to Tucker on Hwy 6, or does the GWT head more N.W.? Will need gas before then. Fairview? I've done Skyline from the Mayfield/Ferron rd north up to and past hwy 31. No surprises. BTW, when I was at the Price Manti-La Sal Ranger office a month ago i was told that Skyline was closed at Snow lake due to last winters snow fall. There are plenty of go-arounds up there.

Go to Fishlake MVUM map, just north of Torrey, GWT starts north then makes switchback to right which is 093 which you supplied tracks of so you must see it in GE (someone above said years ago it just quit and end of road than athere was not trail).

Just before switchback, 092 goes on north to big hill with funny arrow designation on map.

See nest post about Salina with what I see are the options there.

Attached are what I see are designated GWT and options in/out of Salina for gas or overnight.
Torrey to Salina 76 Mi
Salina to Soldier 121 Mi
About right, but could push gas up to Ephraim about same distance off GWT as Salina but probably not much other service.

Above these options, your tracks are on top of Big Dog's actual ride so must be obviouis and passable to Soldier then they are close but differ slightly.

Got Dixie Travel Map today looking at it now. After Look, many short road segments on the 2006 forest map are now closed!

Jerry, your "GWT Torrey-Salida" track diverts from the official GWT as it approaches Salida. My track in post 160 sticks to GWT. I included a paved alternate to go to the Salida gas station. Your track sticks to dirt longer getting to the gas station (good), but it goes bad where it turns left as it hits I-70. There is no road there. You have to cross under I-70 where I originally drew it (Track 006 in your file) and go North a mile to get across a river.

Same exiting Salida. Your GWT Salida-Soldier Summit track doesn't follow GWT heading out of Salida, but joins it on the top of the ridge 20 miles later. My attached file follows GWT, with a paved alternate from the gas stop back to the official GWT. If you follow your track out of Salina, you'll miss some great though quite challenging stuff getting to the top.

Then, in my attached file at my waypoint "Split1", the official GWT (based on map from gwt.org and quota map) goes left on Hwy 31, while your track goes right. They come together 5 miles later. This is a spot where GWT seems to divert from Skyline Dr for a few miles.

My track "GWT per quota map" leaving Soldier Summit area goes off into a very aggressive mountain area. The road disappears where my track ends. From the end of my track it must be hiking trail, though I don't see any sign of it in GE. The GWT track that goes North directly out of Soldier Summit is indicated as a blue (snowmobile) track. In GE it's a good dirt road, so that's the path my trough track follows.

I am almost certain that I saw a GWT sign at the intersection of Hwy 264/FR173. I took it and headed south over to Hwy 31. I do not recall signage once at Hwy 31.

Here is the forest service map of that area:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5329408.pdf

The trail looks goes north from Hwy. 6 a few miles west of Soldier Summit proper.

Go north on the map until you hit a mark for trail 117. At that point, follow #725 north. It will run parallel to the west of Drunkard Hollow. #725 turn into trail #023, which is single track motorcycle.

Benchmark Atlas shows the turn going north of off Hwy. 6 as "GWT Access".

I apologize for not just doing this in Google Earth.

Hog,
It looks like your dark green track is the one that I described above.
There is also fuel available at Strawberry Reservoir Marina, and Daniels Summit on Hwy. 40.

The red trail on the map that I posted, will intersect Hwy. 189 in Provo Canyon at an area called Vivian Park.

Getting to Vivian Park from the Strawberry area will have some single track moto trail.

Scott I am quite aware that "official" and probably the marked by Fishlake GWT does not go into Salina but I believe it should go into gas about every 100 miles (or so) and routes that perhaps cut off going into town should be Bypass Options. At least for GPS tracks that is what I do it to reduce number of tracks I would use to ride it.

How does the attached file look now (using all your tracks) at Salina? However, City Nav and the MVUM both show an I-70 crossing 2.5miles east of town and a forest numbered road going into town. Also the last several miles of the track I show going to Salina is part of the Piute ATV trail on the MVUM.

I also included Big Dog's tracks. He uses the right path at your Split 1 so there could be GWT signs going that way.

Got tierd of waiting for multi-gig download. Which map is it?

Again the "motorized trail" needs to go into town for gas every 100 miles or so just like the Piute Trail. Who ever decided the current signed route was way to pure and probably thinking OHV not Dual Sport but Dual Sport is only people who will ever use 200 miles or more of the trail.

When I lookes at some forest maps up there, I looked like they were hiking only not motorized for GWT designations.