Mineral Basin - Utah County

Driving Time: 1 hour one way
Difficulty Rating: 5 (10 Scale)
Scenic Rating: 8
Trail length: 3.76 miles one way
Notes: The hardest trail in American Fork Canyon, traffic on it can be a real problem though. Not very many places to pass along it.

Edit: I will be uploading a new map shortly.

Is it really that difficult? I'm sure I did that trail last fall when the leaves were turning. Beautiful trail, but I thought it was a mild dirt road. Maybe it was Mary Ellen Gulch or something I did. Lots of trails up there once the snow melts.

Edit: The trail I did last fall crossed Pole Line Pass. Is that the same trail or am I thinking of something else? Beautiful mountain biking trail up there btw, if anyone is into that sort of thing. I used to but my knees are shot now.

Big-Ern wrote:

Is it really that difficult? I'm sure I did that trail last fall when the leaves were turning. Beautiful trail, but I thought it was a mild dirt road. Maybe it was Mary Ellen Gulch or something I did. Lots of trails up there once the snow melts.

Edit: The trail I did last fall crossed Pole Line Pass. Is that the same trail or am I thinking of something else? Beautiful mountain biking trail up there btw, if anyone is into that sort of thing. I used to but my knees are shot now.

Hmm... sounds like a different trail.

Did you 'cross' Pole Line Pass or go over Pole Line Pass into Midway near Wasatch State Park? Mineral Basin and Pole Line Pass split just before the Pacific Mine. If you did Mineral Basin you would remember it, a 100 yard section of bowling ball sized rocks and small ledges aptly named the 'Rock Garden', several additional small ledges before ending at the private property gate of Snowbird, with their Mineral Basin lift and the Tram terminus in view from the basin.

Pole Line Pass on the other hand is no more difficult than the remainder of the North Fork AFC road above Tibble Fork Reservoir.

Edit: Are all these AFC maps from the Elite (pay to play) section of U4x4C? Pretty sure they wanted to keep them pay to play Jeff (the map creator) is a pretty active dude on the internet, he'll likely stumble across these one of these days. If you haven't asked for permission to copy their content you might want to. If you have and he was cool with it, right on, his map database is a great resource.

cruiseroutfit wrote:

Did you 'cross' Pole Line Pass or go over Pole Line Pass into Midway near Wasatch State Park? Mineral Basin and Pole Line Pass split just before the Pacific Mine. If you did Mineral Basin you would remember it, a 100 yard section of bowling ball sized rocks and small ledges aptly named the 'Rock Garden', several additional small ledges before ending at the private property gate of Snowbird, with their Mineral Basin lift and the Tram terminus in view from the basin.

Pole Line Pass on the other hand is no more difficult than the remainder of the North Fork AFC road above Tibble Fork Reservoir.

Edit: Are all these AFC maps from the Elite (pay to play) section of U4x4C? Pretty sure they wanted to keep them pay to play Jeff (the map creator) is a pretty active dude on the internet, he'll likely stumble across these one of these days. If you haven't asked for permission to copy their content you might want to. If you have and he was cool with it, right on, his map database is a great resource.

Yah, Jeffs a great guy. Yes, these maps + a ton more can be found Under the elite section. I'm of course a paying member off .
Let me start off by saying that I've sent Jeff an email asking if I can use the TOPO maps. In the event he says no, then I'll be happy to recreate the trails.


I did however check with the Agreement I signed with utah4x4 before posting this info.
Per the terms of Agreement with the utah4x4:

"You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by this bulletin board."

To the best of my knowledge that information has not been copyrighted by Jeff or the board. Also, my guess is that if you look at the licence for NG Topo, it does not allow for the charging of third party access. (This results in lost revenue for the software)

For example, I can rent/buy a movie and show it to family/friends etc... Thats legal. It's illegal for me to charage a fee in order to watch the movie even though i rented/bought the movie.

From my perspective, the content isn't copyrighted (as far as I can tell) and I payed $$ for access to it. If i want to share the info for free I should be able to. I know it took time and resources to put those maps together and thats why i paid for access. I by no means want to infringe upon anyone intellectual / copyright property rights or content lol. Like I said, I have an email out to Jeff... So we'll see here in the next few days if I have to recreate all this stuff... (which i'm happy to do).


Update: Jeff wants to keep them on utah4x4. I will be re creating the maps.

Kurt, I was actually coming from Midway, over Pole Line Pass, and then down to American Fork Canyon. I don't remember a rock garden or ledges as you described. I remember it being an easy dirt road. We stopped at the pass and hiked North on the Pole Line Pass trail for about an hour before turning back. Beautiful area, especially in the fall when the leaves were changing.

Big-Ern wrote:

Kurt, I was actually coming from Midway, over Pole Line Pass, and then down to American Fork Canyon. I don't remember a rock garden or ledges as you described. I remember it being an easy dirt road. We stopped at the pass and hiked North on the Pole Line Pass trail for about an hour before turning back. Beautiful area, especially in the fall when the leaves were changing.

As you cleared the Pass and dropped into the North Fork of AFC, Mineral Basin would have been a route behind you. In fact if you were clipping along you might not even notice the road heading back as it cuts back over your right shoulder. Its well worth the drive if you get a chance, not only does it offer one of the more challenging routes in the AFC trail system, it is also flush with history, old mine sites, water flumes and of course the canyon in general offers much in the way of history and sightseeing.

leetevo wrote:

...To the best of my knowledge that information has not been copyrighted by Jeff or the board. Also, my guess is that if you look at the licence for NG Topo, it does not allow for the charging of third party access. (This results in lost revenue for the software)

For example, I can rent/buy a movie and show it to family/friends etc... Thats legal. It's illegal for me to charage a fee in order to watch the movie even though i rented/bought the movie.

From my perspective, the content isn't copyrighted (as far as I can tell) and I payed $$ for access to it. If i want to share the info for free I should be able to. I know it took time and resources to put those maps together and thats why i paid for access. I by no means want to infringe upon anyone intellectual / copyright property rights or content lol. Like I said, I have an email out to Jeff... So we'll see here in the next few days if I have to recreate all this stuff... (which i'm happy to do).


Update: Jeff wants to keep them on utah4x4. I will be re creating the maps.

The entire site is copyrighted, thus defacto one would assume all its content is as well. Your not showing or sharing it with freinds, your copying it Regardless this isn't a court of law and the semantics are lost on the fact that the 4x4 community is much smaller than most assume, Jeff has put a ton of work into his map database and U4x4C has been given the exclusive. Your class act to honor his request to keep them on U4x4C, didn't want to be the pot stirrer but having similar content out there on the web I would be 100% fumed if I found it copy/pasted somewhere else without even a credit or link to the original work let alone permission.

Recreate them, use your trail descriptions, names and details, track log and create new maps, rate them to your opinion and they can become a great resource for Utah Cruisers, I know I'd be glad to help.

cruiseroutfit wrote:

leetevo wrote:

...To the best of my knowledge that information has not been copyrighted by Jeff or the board. Also, my guess is that if you look at the licence for NG Topo, it does not allow for the charging of third party access. (This results in lost revenue for the software)

For example, I can rent/buy a movie and show it to family/friends etc... Thats legal. It's illegal for me to charage a fee in order to watch the movie even though i rented/bought the movie.

From my perspective, the content isn't copyrighted (as far as I can tell) and I payed $$ for access to it. If i want to share the info for free I should be able to. I know it took time and resources to put those maps together and thats why i paid for access. I by no means want to infringe upon anyone intellectual / copyright property rights or content lol. Like I said, I have an email out to Jeff... So we'll see here in the next few days if I have to recreate all this stuff... (which i'm happy to do).


Update: Jeff wants to keep them on utah4x4. I will be re creating the maps.

The entire site is copyrighted, thus defacto one would assume all its content is as well. Your not showing or sharing it with freinds, your copying it Regardless this isn't a court of law and the semantics are lost on the fact that the 4x4 community is much smaller than most assume, Jeff has put a ton of work into his map database and U4x4C has been given the exclusive. Your class act to honor his request to keep them on U4x4C, didn't want to be the pot stirrer but having similar content out there on the web I would be 100% fumed if I found it copy/pasted somewhere else without even a credit or link to the original work let alone permission.

Recreate them, use your trail descriptions and maps, rate them to your opinion and they can become just as resourceful as his, I know I'd be glad to help.

No worries man. I don't want to step on anyones toes. Plus i really had NAD27 anyway... lol

For clarification:

1. My point was this... If he copyrighted the maps a process has to be followed. Just creating something doesn't make it copyrighted.

2. Their site is vioilating the terms of the EULA for NG TOPO.

3. Your all my friends - True. I should have referenced the link. I've already said sorry to Jeff.. my mistake. But in fairness a link that requires a paid membership doesn't do a whole lot of good anyway. Understand it wasn't my intent to take credit for someone else's work. I was simply lazy :-P.

4. I have the same software... and I've been on the same trails. Its really just a matter of using a differrent line to color. haha

5. Any help to make trail maps would be great. I'm very pro to open knowledge...(obviously).

6. Answer my email so you can install my gears --

leetevo wrote:

6. Answer my email so you can install my gears --

I'm working through them right now but I keep getting Reply Notifications from Utah Cruisers