Steep Hollow Road FR 289

Dogs Off-leash

Features Birding · Fall Colors · River/Creek · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

People love to ride four-wheelers and horses in this area, so keep an eye out for other kinds of traffic.

From the Franklin Basin Road, this road turns to the left (west) and passes by some small campgrounds (and some parking spots) as it starts to ascend into the Steep Hollow drainage. The road winds up through some forests and crosses a creek, and in many places is very rocky with large boulders in the road.

The road levels out somewhat and passes a junction with the Shorty's Cutoff Trail, and the creek comes back into view. The road more or less follows the creek for most of its existence as it then heads toward Doubletop Mountain, which is one of the most spectacular peaks in the Bear River Range. In certain places you can catch a glimpse of this peak from the road if you get a break in the trees.

Eventually, the road ends at another parking area (that you can really only get to with a pretty high clearance vehicle, as the road is in pretty bad shape down closer to the Franklin Basin Road) where the road then turns into a small trail that leads to a small basin just below Doubletop Mountain. This road is more of a means to an end rather than an amazing trail in and of itself, but it does offer some views of some pretty amazing country in the Bear River Range and has great opportunities to see wildlife if you go at the right time.

There are moose, badgers, elk, and all kinds of wildlife that frequent this area, you just have to be lucky enough to see them. There are also plenty of beautiful wildflowers (columbines, indian paintbrush, etc.) during the spring and summer.