The Temple Quarry mountain bike ride, also known as the Little Cottonwood Creek Trail, is a crowded area filled with hikers, casual walkers, trail runners, rock climbers and mountain bikers. Despite the traffic, the trail is a fun, short but strenuous ascent along the south banks of the creek at the bottom of Little Cottonwood Canyon. The ease of access, coupled with a shady canopy of trees and pleasant views of the rushing creek, make it the perfect place to get in a quick workout.
The trail to Temple Quarry is only three-and-a-half miles of uphill before a fast and rolling descent on wide single track. The up, however, is consistent, steep at times, and often covered in loose sand and rocks thanks to water running down the trail during spring runoff.
The ride begins in the parking lot at the bottom of Little Cottonwood Canyon. It follows a flat, sandy section until hitting the paved roads that lead to a few houses by the creek. Follow the road to a gate where the trail continues up through groves of pine and deciduous trees. The trail starts to get steep, with challenging rocky sections where loose debris can easily spin out a back tire. After several hills and stream-crossings over wood bridges, the trail dead-ends at a ruined building that sits across Little Cottonwood Creek.
From here, it’s an exciting downhill back the way you came. Rollers in the trail make fun jumps, and large sections of rock increase the chances for possible “Superman” wrecks if hit with too much speed. The descent is so fast, it often comes as a surprise that seven miles out and back went by so quickly. Overall, urban mountain biking doesn’t get much better than riding at Temple Quarry.