Spanish Fork Peak

Stats

Length:	10.25 miles
Difficulty:	Strenuous
Estimated Hike Time:	6-7 Hours
Trail Type:	Out and Back
Elevation Low:	5,685 feet
Elevation High:	10,159 feet
Total Elevation Gain:	4,474 feet
Optimal Season:	Late Spring to Mid Fall
Best Access Point:	Provo

Summary

Although Spanish Fork Peak (aka Maple Mountain) is the smallest of the Seven Peaks of Utah County, it’s still a giant in its own right, rising well over a mile above the valley floor with beautiful views of the surrounding country.

Hike Images

Overview

The trail to the top is long and extremely steep and grueling, and will be a good workout for strong hikers and a significant challenge for novices. The scenery is beautiful and, in the summer, very green. The trail makes its way up Maple Canyon, going through lush forests, glacial valleys, rugged cirques, and wind-swept ridge lines. As with all high Wasatch Peaks, you’ll see snow on the trail into July in wet years and into June even in dry years. Winds at the summit are usually chilly, so be sure to have a jacket with you. Plan a full day for the hike and recuperation afterwards.

Directions

gps coordinates of trailhead:

40.135327, -111.523185

Trail Information

The official USGS name for the mountain is Spanish Fork Peak, though some Utah residents still call it by the old unofficial name Maple Mountain. The trail begins at a parking lot past Whitings campground in Maple Canyon. The first short stretch is relatively flat, though the trail is rocky. After about a quarter of a mile, the trail forks. The fork to the right crosses a stream, and is the trail that leads to the summit. Shortly after the fork, the trail steepens and stays steep the rest of the hike. The trail is forested for most of its length, and much of the time stays right next to the river (though it is sometimes quite a height above it). Grassy meadows exist at spots along the trail, and many of them show evidence of campfires and sleeping spots.

Eventually the trail emerges from the forest not too far from Maple Canyon Lake. The lake is more of a pond: small, shallow, and full of mosquitoes in the summer. The scenery around the lake is alpine meadow, and from here on up the glacial features of the mountain are quite evident. From the lake, the trail goes up into the mountain’s main cirque, and from here the summit (and the hut on top) are visible. The trail goes through a copse of evergreens then switches back up the side of the cirque to the ridgeline northwest of the summit.

From the ridge, the views west to Utah Valley and east to the Wasatch highlands are spectacular. The trail splits at the ridge: the main trail goes down onto the mountain’s western face and takes you south before curving east and ascending again up to the peak. The other hard-to-find branch stays on the ridge and joins the main trail on the last rise to the top. The smaller ridge trail isn’t very easy to see on the way up, and the route up the ridge is especially steep. We found that it’s easier to go up on the main trail, and take the smaller ridge trail on the way down.

From the summit, one can see from the Wasatch Plateau and Mount Nebo to the south, across the Strawberry Ridge and up to the Uinta Mountains in the east, the Provo Peak massif and Timpanogos to the north, and to the west, Utah Valley, the Tintic Mountains and the Cedar Valley. There is a large cairn at the summit and a register hidden inside that you can sign once you’ve conquered the mountain’s top.

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Posted By: James Meyer

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