Bikepacking and Overnight Rides From Provo: Four Documented Routes and the Camping Rules That Shape Them

JoAnn Giordano Editor-in-Chief, Provo.com How we make Provo.com

Few overnight bike routes near Utah Valley have been mapped and written up in detail, and this page sticks to the ones that have. There are four: a short beginner trip at Strawberry, a demanding multi-day route that ends in American Fork, a long gravel road across the West Desert, and, for the very fit, a 330-mile race course. Just as important are the camping rules, which decide where you can spend the night. In the canyons nearest Provo, roadside camping is banned outright.

It is late October as this is written. Most of what follows is next summer's planning; the season section says what is still realistic now.

1. Strawberry Narrows: the first overnight

Why it's first: Ski Utah's introduction to bikepacking names the Strawberry Narrows Trail as the starting point for new bikepackers. It describes about nine miles of rolling, buff singletrack along the water connecting Strawberry Reservoir to Soldier Creek, with "comfortable, shaded campsites in the forest along the way." AllTrails measures it at 10.9 miles point to point with 846 feet of gain, rated moderate, and lists camping among its uses.

Getting there: Soldier Creek, at the east end, is about 82 minutes from downtown Provo by OpenStreetMap routing (OSRM), up Provo Canyon and over US-40. Our Strawberry guide covers the reservoir.

Where to sleep: The Forest Service's Soldier Creek Campground, beside the reservoir with paved roads, picnic tables and fire rings, ran May 8 to October 11 in 2026, so it is closed until spring. In season it books on Recreation.gov, and the 7-day limit for developed sites applies. Dispersed camping follows the 14-day rule below.

The catch this winter: if you are thinking about a snow ride, the DWR warned in January 2026 that West Strawberry Road might not be plowed. Our Strawberry, Scofield and Yuba ice fishing guide has the details.

2. The Central Wasatch Traverse: Farmington to American Fork

This is the serious one, and it ends in Utah County. Bikepacking.com's route guide describes a 140-mile ride with about 22,000 feet of climbing from Farmington to American Fork. It links the Great Western Trail and old pioneer routes with well-known singletrack, including the Wasatch Crest and the Wasatch Over Wasatch (WOW) trail, passes through Park City and Midway, then climbs toward Mount Timpanogos on the Ridge Trail before descending Grove Creek into American Fork.

What the guide says to know:

• Difficulty 7 out of 10. Technical descents, especially Grove Creek and the Spine on the Wasatch Crest, with loose rock, exposure and some hike-a-bike when loaded.
• Ride it north to south. The Armstrong trail is climb-only and cannot be ridden backward.
• Season: June through October, best in late June or early July. The Skyline section of the Great Western Trail stays gated to motor vehicles until July 1.
• Resupply in Park City, Midway and American Fork, with Silver Fork Lodge, Solitude and the Brighton Store in between. Carry extra food and water for Farmington to Park City and the Ridge Trail, which the guide calls some of the slowest miles on the route.
• Bike: hardtail or full suspension, 2.3-inch or wider tires, low gearing and good brakes.
• Transit: FrontRunner serves Farmington at the start and American Fork at the finish, so no shuttle is needed. Our FrontRunner guide covers the train.

The Utah County leg on its own is a big day. AllTrails lists Ridge Trail 157 at 19.2 miles out and back with 3,615 feet of gain, rated hard. The guide says riders "can camp freely in national forest land," which is true in general, but read the American Fork Canyon rule below before picking a site on the last night: much of the canyon floor is off-limits for camping.

3. The Pony Express byway: the West Desert by gravel

For an overnight on open gravel rather than singletrack, the documented choice is the Pony Express Trail backway. Visit Utah's West Desert route begins at Fairfield, about 50 minutes from Provo by OSRM, and follows SR-73 west to the backway, which is paved for about 15 miles to Faust and then "well maintained gravel suitable for all vehicles in dry conditions," continuing over Lookout Summit to Simpson Springs and Fish Springs. The BLM calls it a maintained National Backcountry Byway with station sites and interpretive displays.

Where to sleep: the BLM's Simpson Springs campground has 20 sites open year-round at $15 a night.

The cautions: A byway brochure produced with the BLM warns that the "sand and gravel road ahead can become unstable when wet," that getting stuck is easy, that flash floods come in thunderstorm season, that heat and cold are both extreme, and that distances are deceptive. It also says there is no gas between Vernon and Wendover; on a bike, that means no water either. Carry everything. Our gravel riding guide has more on the byway and the rest of the county's documented dirt roads.

4. Uinta Bikepacking: the race course

For context on what is possible: bikepacking.com lists Uinta Bikepacking, a 330-mile self-supported race with more than 33,000 feet of climbing that starts and finishes in Park City and passes Jordanelle and Strawberry reservoirs. It is an ultra-endurance event, not a weekend trip, but its route shows how the Wasatch Back and the Strawberry country connect by bike.

The camping rules

Stay limits on the national forest

A Forest Service order for the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, in effect from August 2022 through August 2032:

• Developed sites (campgrounds): no more than 7 consecutive days in one location on the Logan, Ogden, Salt Lake, Pleasant Grove, Spanish Fork and Heber-Kamas ranger districts, within any 30-day period.
• General undeveloped areas (dispersed camping): no more than 14 days in any 30.

No camping in the American Fork Canyon corridor

A separate Forest Service order, in effect through June 30, 2027, bans overnight camping and fires, campfires and wood stove fires within a quarter mile of:

• SR-92 in American Fork Canyon, from the forest boundary at the canyon mouth to Granite Flat campground;
• the Alpine Loop (SR-92) from the junction of the North Fork road (FR 144) east to the Aspen Grove parking area;
• the North Fork road (FR 144), Forest Road 010, and the horse transfer station day-use area.

The Forest Service says the order is meant to prevent damage to water quality, vegetation and the banks of the reservoir and streams. For the last night of the Central Wasatch Traverse, that means a developed campground or a site well off those corridors. Our American Fork Canyon guide covers the canyon's campgrounds and fees.

Wilderness: no bikes

The Bonneville Shoreline Trail Committee, explaining why it lobbied to move wilderness boundaries off the BST route, notes that the 1964 Wilderness Act allows trails in wilderness but prohibits mechanized vehicles, including mountain bikes. Our mountain biking guide explains where that line falls above Utah Valley.

Fire danger

When we checked the forest's pages in October 2026, the Forest Service showed fire danger as Very High in both the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains. Fire restrictions change with conditions; check the forest's alerts page the week you ride, and assume no campfire unless you have confirmed otherwise.

Riding now, in late fall

• Campgrounds: Of the Forest Service campgrounds we checked, Soldier Creek and American Fork Canyon's Little Mill closed October 11 and Shady Dell on the Mirror Lake Highway October 18.
• Gates: In November 2025, the Forest Service's Spanish Fork Ranger District said most of its road gates close by November 30 depending on snow, and a Utah County Sheriff's Office spokesperson told the Daily Herald that people may bike beyond closed gates but should expect slower emergency help.
• The desert: Simpson Springs is open year-round, which makes the Pony Express byway the most realistic overnight in the cold months, on a dry forecast.

For the gear and the shop work before a first trip, our Provo bike shop guide lists where to go, and our camping guide covers how Forest Service and state park sites book.

Routes are as described by bikepacking.com, Ski Utah, Visit Utah and the BLM; trail figures are from AllTrails. Camping rules are quoted from Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest orders checked in October 2026.

JoAnn Giordano

Editor-in-Chief

JoAnn Giordano is the editor-in-chief of Provo.com. Having lived in and around Utah Valley for years, she leads the site's editorial direction with a focus on the comprehensive, honest local coverage that helps residents, students, and newcomers feel at home. When she's not shaping Provo.com's restaurant and neighborhood coverage, she's exploring the valley's trails and tracking down the best new spots on Center Street.

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