The Bobsled, a wild descent from the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, is a technical ride combining smooth single track, stream beds, banked turns, jumps, obstacles, low-hanging branches, and several abandoned cars. Any local rider will tell you it’s the only way to descend between Dry Creek and City Creek Canyon, as Bobsled has become a sort of urban test-piece for Salt Lake area mountain bikers. As an extra bonus, recent trail work has created the best trail conditions the Bobsled has seen in years.
There’s a reason that Bobsled has such a reputation. If you’re a beginner, Bobsled can be really scary. Intermediates can descend it okay, but tend to ride the brakes the whole way down. But experts have the ability to enjoy swooping through it like they really are on a bobsled track. They cruise the banking sidewalls at speed, catch air over rusty, 50’s era vehicles, and launch their bikes off man-made jumps.
There are two ways to get into Bobsled. The first and original entrance is halfway between Dry Creek and City Creek where the Bonneville Shoreline Trail intersects with a hiking trail that drops into City Creek Canyon. Across from this trailhead is the steep and loose entry to the Bobsled. The second (and recommended) way to gain access is just south-east of the main entrance. A few years ago, mountain bikers who were tired of the loose, erosion-causing original entrance hacked a new trail through a grove of scrub oak. For a while this rouge trail was hard to find and only known by a few. But today, the “secret” entrance is obvious. There’s even a wooden bench above it where you can sit and rest, or adjust your brakes and lower your seat before the thrilling descent.
If you survive the Bobsled, you end up on a street in the Federal Heights neighborhood. From here, you can ride the pavement back to wherever you parked your car. You can also pick the Bonneville Shoreline Trail back up at the nearby Terrace Hills trailhead.
Now is the time to hit the Bobsled. Thanks to the hard work of trail crews, the ruts dug by the creek have been smoothed over, brush has been cut back, and the trail is smooth and fun. Let’s all help keep it that way by not riding it when it’s muddy after a rain storm.