Ogden Nature Center North: Quail Trail Loop

The Ogden Nature Center North is a small little nature center located in Ogden. I am still not 100% sure if it is affiliated with The Ogden Nature Center but am leaning towards probably. While hiking around Jump-Off Canyon I noticed there was a a nature center north of it that I have been meaning to check out. Well, since my previous adventure was kind of a dud, I thought I would come check this out.



Quick Details:

Length: About 9/10ths of a mile.
Trail Type: Balloon.
Difficulty: DR3. Fairly flat and pretty easy.
Elevation Gain: 120 feet.
Restroom: No. Nearest one is probably the Chevron on Harrison.
Dogs? Yes, leashed. Please clean up after your furry friend.

To Get Here:

From i15 take take the 12th St exit in Ogden. Take that to Harrison BLVD. After passing the Chevron on 2nd St , and when Harrison becomes Mountain Rd., look for the TH on the right located at about 1160 N Mountain Rd..

The Trail:



Neat little entrance.



Map of the trails in the area.



Ogdens fantastic trail posts. I love that these not only direct you to the trails, but also mention where some of those trails lead, which is how I found this area. Anyway, take the left split heading north.



Onto the trail!



The cliffs above.



A little memorial I found here. With some googling I think I have found who it is for, and it is super sad.





Pretty flowering tree.



The trail.



Some pretty pink flowers too.







I started noticing that there are a lot of boulders around here and it started to dawn on me that they likely came from the cliffs above. So far none of them seemed particularly recent, but it was neat, and started to remind me of our hike in Jones Hole.



Little boardwalk through a marshy spot.



A little glimpse of Ben Lomond.



Little creek.



The cliffs above again.



Taper-bulb onion.



Now I have hit the loop. I don’t really know why, but I decided to go left.



The wetlands the loop goes around.



The bridges on the west segment of the trail are well, boards. Watch your step I almost tripped on this one.



Thin trail through the grasses.



This part of the trail is next to Mountain Rd. and yeah, you can hear the traffic on it.



Another board crossing.



Cliffs above.



Thistles.



Another thin bridge.



Cattails.



Nearing the north end of the loop.



Yet another one of Ogden’s great trail signs.



The east section of the loop is more wooded.



The bridges on this side are more significant.



Itty bitty creek.



Large flowering tree.



Another sign to keep you on the trail.





Amazing forest.





What are these giant freaking leaves?



Well that is super creepy. Judging by the dates here it appears I have stumbled upon a random pet cemetery.



Looking up through the trees.



Thick mess of woods. I love it!



Another bridge.



Another creek.



Another bridge. This creek is dry.



Super pretty back here.



Another bridge.



Another stream. I think all or some of these might come from springs as there aren’t a lot of streams above.



Lovely forest.





Another couple of bridges over a couple more dry creeks.



Low hanging tree.



Rock slide.



Looking up again.



Gnarly old tree. Kind of reminds me of Oregon’s Tallest Known Myrtle Tree.



Another bridge. At this point I have lost count.





More pretty forest.



Nearing the south end of the loop. You can see Ben Lomond peaking up over the plants.



Back to the beginning of the loop.





More of the pretty flowering trees.



The cliffs above.



Pretty trail.



Mossy rock.





I found a little side trail out to a small clearing with a rock slide.





Pretty forest again.



Taper-tip onions.

For such a short little trail, I really enjoyed it. The marsh was kind of ehhh, but the forest was absolutely beautiful. Plus it is not terribly crowded. 8 out of 10 squirrels.



As for difficulty, this trail is fairly flat so going with a DR3.

Dogs are allowed but must be leashed. Please clean up after your furry friends.