Alien Tower via Beware of Doug

 Alien Tower is a neat old structure located on a sub peak between Draper and Alpine. The trail features scrub oaks, wildflowers, and amazing views into both Salt Lake and Utah counties. The newer Beware of Doug trail takes away a lot of the steep climb along the Deer Ridge Loop (which we usually use), and replaces it with gentle switchbacks in a pretty scrub oak forest. We have been up to Alien Tower before, but this is the first time going this way.

Quick Details:

Length: 3.58 balloon with spur.
Trail Type: Balloon with spur. Leaning towards referring to that as a tootsie roll.
Difficulty: The main Beware of Doug loop is a gentle DR3. The spur up to the tower is a bit more steep and rocky, DR4.
Elevation Gain: About 512 feet.
Restroom: Yes, 24/7/365 flush toilets.
Dogs? Yes, off-leash even, until you hit the spur for Alien Tower, then leashes are required.
Other Info:

To Get Here:

Take exit 288 for 14600 South. Head east. Turn right on Traverse Ridge Rd, Turn right on Deer Ridge Dr. Take that to the end. You will hike the old dirt road to the right of the new restrooms.

The mountains (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)). That is a really sad looking snow cap for this time of year.

Trailhead sign (PSP).

The fancy new trailhead upgrades that came in 2023 (PSP). They include new 24/7/365 flush toilets, picnic areas, drinking fountain, and loads of parking. It is fantastic.

The Trail:

You want to take the main Deer Ridge Loop, just to the right of the restrooms.

Trailhead kiosk with area map.

Map

Heading up the Deer Ridge Loop.

The low point on the ridge.

The sub peak we are heading towards.

The Salt Lake Valley.

Utah Valley on the other side.

The turn off for The Rex Maneuver Trail and the Telegraph Foot Path Trail.

Continuing along.

Where the Deer Ridge Loop splits off.

Whoops! Almost missed the turn off for Beware of Doug. This is about 4/10ths of a mile up.

It is quite a bit more thin, but still very strong.

Into the woods. Last time we did this section, we skipped it on the way up, and did it on the way down, which unfortunately was after dark. So I wanted to see it with some daylight.

Scrub oaks.

Looking back at the first switchback.

The 2nd switchback.

Oregon grape.

More forest.

3rd switchback. As far as switchbacks go, these are pretty chill.

4th switchback.

Little yellow flowers.

See, super chill.

5th switchback.

View of the Salt Lake Valley.

We can even see The Claw.

Panoramic.

Continuing along.

6th switchback.

Scrub oaks.

Pretty leaves.

7th switchback. Oh boy.

Continuing along.

The main Deer Ridge Loop below.

The Salt Lake Valley again.

More scrub oak.

8th switchback.

View into Utah Valley and the other side of the main Deer Ridge Loop.

Scrub oak.

Trails above.

9th and final switchback for this section. Phew!

Scrub oak.

Desert parsley.

Utah Valley again.

We have reached the loop part of Beware of Doug at the big 6 way intersection. You can go either way. We went right, but I kind of wish we had gone left since we went right last time. Meh, I am certain this will not be my last time exploring this trail.

Then we will follow the main Deer Ridge Loop for ~100 feet or so.

Then we hit the split off for the west side of the loop. This is about 9/10ths of a mile up.

The sign with the Beware of Doug comic. We still haven’t figured out who on the Draper trails committee is the Douglas Adams fan.

The comic.

Little bit more of a climb here, but still not so bad.

Salt Lake Valley.

Panoramic.

Continuing the climb.

The Deer Ridge Loop below.

More scrub oak.

The Deer Ridge Loop again. That is the steeper part that this trail bypasses. I love these new trails!

Scrub oak.

Random cinder block.

Thick woods.

Little clearing.

The other side.

Continuing up.

The SL valley again.

The main loop below.

I believe that is the Off The Beaten Path Trail. I kind of want to check that out, but I think I might struggle with at least that part. However, the trail looks pretty wide. So, eh, maybe one day when I am feeling confidant haha.

More scrub oak.

Another sub peak to the west.

The main loop is climbing up and almost joining the elevation of this trail.

More scrub oak.

The next junction.

Continuing along.

Robin.

Looking up towards the top of the sub peak we are going around. The Rex Maneuver Trail will take you up to it.

Alien Tower to the south.

Then we reached the main loop again. Beware of Doug continues down along the other side, but we want to head up to Alien Tower, so right.

Again maybe ~40 feet or so to get to the spur for Alien Tower. This is about 1.4 miles up.

Here you are leaving the off-leash area. PLEASE leash your dogs here and help keep this area open to all of us in the future!

Just a bit ahead the Off the Beaten Path crosses the trail.

Hah! I was like, 90% certain that trail was another Far Side reference, and yep. here it is. LOL. Again, maybe we will check it out some time.

The ridge we will be climbing.

The steepest part of the climb. Oof.

Trudging up. It’s been a minute since we had a steep climb.

A little break from the climb. Phew! (Go left).

The tower we are heading towards.

Another sub peak to the right. We have done it before, it’s a short, but steep climb.

Lone Peak, Dry Canyon, and Box Elder Peak.

Into the woods.

Another short steep section.

The tower.

Leaving Draper, and I assume Salt Lake County as well.

Actually, I just double checked. According to google maps, we left the county a ways back. That is weird. Does Draper extend into Utah County? Well holy shit… according to Wikipedia (outside link), it does. How the hell does that work?

Well.. that sure opened a rabbit hole. I found that there are at least 772 municipalities that are within multiple counties in the United states. 5 of which are in Utah. Well, that was fun. Wikipedia again (outside link). I love stumbling upon random factoids like that.

The other side of the signs.

Continuing the climb.

Around the bend.

Then we are up on the ridge. Phew! Not much further.

Good view of Utah Lake in Utah Valley.

Salt Lake Valley.

Along the ridge.

I used to psych myself up for this, worrying it would freak me out, but it is a super wide ridge. It’s fine.

Mount Jordan.

The tower.

One final climb.

We made it! Phew!

Alien Tower. I am not 100% sure what it was, but I assume it was a telegraph tower due to a trail on this hill being called Telegraph Hill.

Someone built a fun rock spiral. Its no Spiral Jetty, but it is kind of neat.

The spiral and the tower.

Under the tower.

360 degree panoramic from the tower. Oh boy.

Utah Valley panoramic.

Utah Lake.

Panoramic.

Some construction below.

Salt Lake Valley.

Panoramic.

The tower again.

Utah Lake.

The tower and the spiral.

One last look at the tower. We were enjoying it up here, and enjoying the views, but oh my, the wind was sure blowing us about! So.. time to head down.

Heading back down.

Down the ridge.

Utah Valley.

Salt Lake Valley.

Steep part.

The other small sub-peak that we have climbed before.

Back into Draper.

Salt Lake Valley.

The other little sub-peak again.

The last steep part.

Where the Off The Beaten Path Trail crosses the trail again.

Back down to the Deer Ridge Loop.

The east side of the Beware Of Doug loop is just a little bit to the right.

Of course, you can choose to head down the main Deer Ridge Loop, or even the Rex Maneuver just a little bit further along. I love that there are a ton of options now!

Sign with the comic.

More forest.

Alien Tower and the ridge.

Scrub oak.

Some red covering of some sort.

I believe these are galls of some sort.

Rounding the bend.

Box Elder Peak and Mount Timpanogos.

Alien Tower again.

Lichen.

Continuing down.

More galls.

Woo! Something is budding.

More forest.

Continuing along.

Mountains again.

I think that is the Telegraph Foot Path.

Off The Beaten Path just below us.

Desert parsley.

Maple Hollow.

Starting to get a better view of Utah Valley.

The Deer Ridge Loop low point between ridges.

Continuing along.

Mount Jordan.

Mount Jordan, Box Elder Peak, and Mount Timpanogos.

More forest.

Random pile of sticks. I wonder if it is a slash pile.

More galls.

Back to the 6 way split. Beware of Doug continues across and to the right. Or, of course you can go down the main Deer Ridge Loop to the right, or even the Rex Maneuver to the right right (pretty much a U-turn).

We opted to stay on Beware of Doug.

Twisted scrub oak.

The Salt Lake Valley.

The Claw again.

More twisted scrub oak.

Some cute little pink flowers.

Utah Valley again.

The main Deer Ridge Loop below us.

More forest.

The Salt Lake Valley.

The Claw.

Panoramic.

Heading down the switchbacks.

Scrub oak.

Someone made a shortcut at this switchback.

It… doesn’t look fun.

But hey, nice view.

Panoramic.

Another pile of sticks.

More forest.

Looking up.

More cute little flowers.

More forest.

Looking up again.

More forest.

Awww.

Forest.

Back down to the Deer Ridge Loop.

The road.

Where the loop connects.

The other side of that “shortcut” we found earlier.

Split off for the Telegraph Foot Path and The Rex Maneuver.

The low point between ridges.

The Salt Lake Valley.

The Claw.

Utah Valley.

Continuing down.

The Salt Lake Valley again.

Large spider.

The sun through a thick wall of clouds.

Continuing down.

Trail counter. This just tracks how many people pass by it. They use that data for such reasons as to where to put in trail improvements, such as the amazing ones we can see at this trailhead that came in 2023. I imagine they are now tracking their ROI (return on investment) for the improvements they put in. 

Back to the trailhead.

One of several underground water tanks (PSP).

Potato Hill (PSP).

The Salt Lake Valley (PSP).

Red Rock (PSP).

Flowering trees along Mike Weir Drive (PSP).

The Claw.

Nice sunset with dinner at my new favorite restaurant The Cliff Dining Pub. What a view!

Todays route.

Well that was a great hike! I love having multiple options to get somewhere. The Beware Of Doug trail is a little longer, but it is more gentle, and much prettier. It is also definitely less busy than the main Deer Ridge Loop. Now, the spur up to Alien Tower, that is a little bit more of a climb, but still not too bad. The views along both trails are amazing too. 10 out of 10 squirrels.

As for difficulty, the Beware of Doug section is a super gentle climb, DR3. The spur up to Alien Tower is a bit more steep, DR4.

Dogs are allowed, unleashed even, until the Alien Tower spur, then they should be leashed. Also be sure to leash back up before you hit the parking lot.