ROUTE № 07
Statewide flagship
Pavement
Photo slot · img/rides/guardsman-pass.jpg
Guardsman Pass
Nearly 10,000 feet of pavement connecting two worlds, open four months a year.
Nearly 10,000 feet of pavement connecting two worlds, open four months a year.
Route line traced from OpenStreetMap — the real GPX drops when we ride it with the GoPro.
Seasonal. When it's open, you go. This is not a complicated system.
9,717 feet — Heber Valley one way, Big Cottonwood the other, and you on the spine between.
Fresh-ish pavement wiggling down through aspens toward Midway.
Every route on this guide gets ridden and filmed by the shop. This one hasn't had its camera day yet — it's on the Saturday list, and the footage drops right here when it happens.
Video slot · swap this block when the guardsman-pass footage lands
Up Big Cottonwood past Brighton, then over the top at 9,717 feet and down through Bonanza Flat into the Heber Valley. Guardsman is a seasonal road — the gate closes with the first real snow and doesn't open until late June — which gives every ride up here a slight heist energy: the window is open, go. The top section is narrow, steep, and paved all the way now, with views down both sides of the Wasatch at once. Watch for cyclists, deer, and guys on rented Slingshots experiencing consequences.
Anything light enough to enjoy a 15-mph hairpin. The season's short — take whatever's closest to the door.
Cottonwood Heights or Midway. Nothing in the canyon.
Gates, weather and closures change — check conditions before you ride. Ride your own ride.
The shop is the trailhead. Text us and we'll tell you when the next ride-out rolls — all machines, all paces, zero judgment about how long it's been.