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1.(4260ft,mile00) START-END NORTH: south west end of Lagoon/Farmington Creek bicycle trail 2.(4530ft,mile02) START-END NORTH ALTERNATE: Farmington Canyon access to Farmington Creek bicycle trail. 3.(5290ft,mile03) pavement ends at Farmington Canyon (hiking) trailhead. 4.(7230ft,mile10) profile turns right, away from Francis Peak road 5.(9100ft,mile14) TOP 6.(8140ft,mile17) junction with xx road 7.(4390ft,mile27) START-END SOUTH: Bountiful, Center and Main 8.(4160ft,mile29) START-END SOUTH ALTERNATE: West Bountiful, 400 south and Ut131

Approaches

From North. An especially interesting way to start this climb is from the very bottom, the beginning of the Farmington Creek bike path ( also called Lagoon bike path is spots ). It can be accessed at the north east corner of the amusement park in Farmington, though it's a bit difficult to find. This path threads through a dense tunnel of Cottonwoods, using small bridges and continuous curves. When the cotton falls in June it can look like winter in there. The easiest way to switch to the still paved Farmington Canyon Road, is simply go up an embankment, a hundred yards past Farmington Pond, although a more elegant but less obvious way, using pavement, also exists. Farmington Canyon road is paved a mile further, but it may seem much longer because of the steep grade.

From where the pavement ends, the climb to the summit can be divided into four sections. First: Switchbacks and traverses climb up the side of the canyon, framing views of the Salt Lake and the regular street pattern of Farmington into a triangular picture, bordered by slanted canyon walls and a horizontal sky. Second: The climb reaches what seams like a plateau. But the road keeps climbing in ever denser forest between low ravines, prompting wonder about where the heck this summit is located anyway. An altimeter provides a clue that it is still far above.

The thirds part begins at a junction, where the route of most traffic goes straight to Francis Peak and its communication facilities, while Skyline Drive diverts to the right. There are only route number signs at the junction. Surprisingly the Utah Department of Transportation has a large outpost at this elevation. Taking the wrong turn, you pass it. Continuing on Skyline Drive, UDOT garage becomes visible on a long hogback ridge leading to a rocky knolled top on the next ridge to the north east. A second right turnoff, this one signed, leads up up and away to the rocky ridge above, providing ever diminishing views of a mountain lake that the road just passed.  The road crosses the ridge and opens a vast panorama on the colored patchwork of Salt Lake bay waters below.

This may seem like the top but there is still one more section to go. This one is a little shorter in time and effort spent, while the other three are very roughly equal. Traversing along the western side of Bountiful Peak, the road summits when the viewshed also takes in the north onto the Wasatch Range. A snowfield on top lingers into June, but can be easily traversed, since it is fairly level.

From South. The southern approach is described in a downward direction. The road makes a long traverse down along the ridge, maintaining a constant view of the Salt Lake. At this point just about every cyclist will agree that it is great to have a moving bike without moving legs. Road conditions change at a gate, which is designed to keep motorists from going up. During my visit it was still locked during the first week in June. There is always a special pleasure derived from crossing gates with the "do not..." signs facing so that you cannot read them until after you have crossed the gate. Only then do you learn if or what you shouldn't have done. While the majority of the road surface so far has been a hard matrix with occasional thin layer of gravel or rocks, here it becomes deep gravel that is much better negotiated with the help of gravity. In fact the entire road follows an elaborately engineered bed, complete with guard rails, that looks like it just never got around to being paved. Soon the monstrously big houses of Bountiful seem to creep up the hillside like the fingers of an urban fungus, and the dirt boulevard ends in the middle of opulence. Main Street and a choice of restaurants for a late lunch are only a short roll away. Going in the opposite direction, it is easiest to pick up the route by heading for the large white mormon temple at the top of town, then traverse north from there.

Tours

Dayrides. A loop ride beginning at the unpaved section of Farmington Canyon, crossing the summit as described, then returning on paved roads to the starting point measured 52 miles and 5700ft of climbing in 5:2 hours. About 10 miles and an hour were spent exploring the various bike path options of the Farmington Creek trail (m3:07:06.05).

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