Beware of Doug

 The Beware of Doug Trail is a newer alternate loop with-in the Deer Ridge Off-Leash dog park in Draper. It is a middle level loop with it’s partner trail The Rex Maneuver being an upper loop. Someone on the Draper trails committee is obviously a fan of The Far Side haha. Anyway, this trail features a lovely scrub oak forest, and amazing views of both Salt Lake and Utah Valleys. I first noticed these new trails last year and today I thought we should check one of them out.

We.. had a slight self imposed detour so we did miss a small section of the trail.

Quick Details:

Length: The actual balloon trail is only about 1.65 miles. But it does require a 4/10ths of a mile spur to get to it. so it is about a 2.45 mile balloon. We did a 2.2 mile balloon today.
Trail Type: Balloon, with alternate balloon options.
Difficulty: DR3. It is a pretty mild climb.
Elevation Gain: About 315 feet.
Restroom: Yes. Nice flush toilets.
Dogs? Yes. Off leash even! Please clean up after your furry friends, and pay attention to signs.
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.

Heading up Traverse Ridge Road and approaching Potato Hill (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

Neat old water tower (PSP).

The new fancy trailhead amenities that were added in 2023.

The Trail:

We will start on the Deer Ridge Trail.

The new trailhead kiosk.

Heading up.

The Salt Lake Valley.

The low part of the ridge between the peaks. The wind gets really nasty here.

The Salt Lake Valley.

Panoramic.

Utah Valley.

The Salt Lake Valley again.

Continuing along.

Fun clouds.

Just a smidge past the big Deer Ridge split, is the small turn-off for the bottom of Beware of Doug.

I had planned on going up that, but we just passed a couple who noticed my camera and (correctly) assumed I might be interested in a porcupine a little ways further… so we stayed on the main Deer Ridge Loop a little longer. We exchanged .82 miles for .45 and only missed .43 miles of the southwest corner of the loop. But, meh, maybe we will try again.

It is fairly common for people to notice my camera and assume I might be interested in wildlife haha. I certainly do not mind the assumption.

Continuing along the main Deer Ridge Loop.

Little landslide.

The Salt Lake Valley again.

We can see The Claw from here. I enjoy having a gigantic object that I can recognize from up in the hills.

Panoramic.

The mountains behind us.

Now we start the climb!

The Salt Lake Valley again.

Up through a little gully.

Again. 

I seem to recall this section being covered in rocks. They must have come in and cleared it at some point.

I'm not crazy haha. From 2022 and from almost the exact same vantage. What are the odds?

The top. Phew!

Some sunset.

Side trail heading down south. It appears to be a connector trail that connects down to the Mayors Trail.

The little map here confirmed we could connect to Beware Of Doug here as well.

It is directly across from the connector trail.

The other direction. As I mentioned we missed about 4/10ths of a mile along the southwest end of it doing my random porcupine hunt… but not the end of the world. We never did find the porcupine though.

This is all new to us now. Fun!

More sunset.

Random happy piece of cement.

Alien Tower above. I enjoy going up there as well, but not today. We got a wayyy later start than normal and didn't have much light left.

Where the Beware of Doug Trail crosses the Deer Ridge Loop.

More sunset color.

Trail sign.

With the accompanying Far Side cartoon. I still haven’t figured out why these trails were named as such. All I can figure is someone on the Draper trails committee is a fan.

Into the scrub oak!

More sunset.

More scrub oaks.

Again.

Alien Tower again.

Along the east end of the trail.

Dry Canyon, Box Elder Peak, American Fork Canyon, and Mount Timpanogos.

Scrub oak.

Continuing along.

Box Elder Peak and Mount Timpanogos again.

More sunset.

The ridge to Alien Tower again.

More scrub oak.

Mount Jordan.

Mount Timpanogos.

This part started to just slightly twinge my fear of heights response, but I would say it was more of anticipation of it getting worse? I don’t know how to describe it, but I was fine, did fine, and would do it again. So like I said it was just a twinge. The new trail is surprisingly pretty wide.

Mount Timpanogos again.

Mount Jordan, Dry Canyon, Box Elder Peak, American Fork Canyon, Mount Timpanogos.

Maple Hollow below. Several trails appear to go down that, but we have not explored any of them yet.

Another panoramic.

Continuing along.

Scrub Oak.

Utah County.

Another panoramic. I just love the views along this trail system.

Maple Hollow.

I swear there is a Maple Hollow on the other side too….oh yup. It goes on both sides of the ridge.

Starting to see into the Salt Lake Valley again.

Mount Jordan.

Scrub oak.

The Salt Lake Valley.

6 way trail split. Or where, Beware of Doug, and The Rex Maneuver, cross the Deer Ridge Loop. The Beware of Doug trail continues forward, and slightly right. The short section we missed today is forward along the Deer Ridge Loop for about .03 miles before splitting off again.

Now we are on the switchbacks down to the lower part of the Deer Ridge Loop.

The Salt Lake Valley starting to light up for the night.

Twisted scrub oaks.

The Salt Lake Valley.

Panoramic.

More scrub oak.

Back to Utah County.

Salt Lake County.

Both valleys with Mount Jordan in the middle.

One of the switchbacks. I have totally lost count of them already haha.

The Salt Lake Valley.

With some scrub oaks.

Again. It is pretty all lit up like this.

Panoramic.

Couple muddy spots, but nothing too bad.

Continuing down.

The valley again.

Scrub oak.

The valley, and the main Deer Ridge Loop just below. It seems so close!

Closer.

Another panoramic.

The Deer Ridge Loop below. We’re getting there!

Scrub oak.

It is getting a little dark. But I think we will make it to the main loop before total dark.

Last bit of forest.

Clearing.

Back down to the main Deer Ridge Loop! Phew. See, a little bit of light left.

Just a little ways to go.

Where the main loop connects.

The low point again.

Salt Lake Valley.

Utah Valley.

The last section.

Back to the trailhead. Phew! It was getting dark!

I actually really enjoyed that trail. It was very quiet, not crowded, and offered amazing views! I wish we had found the porcupine that caused us to miss a little bit of it, but eh, we have seen porcupines a couple of times now. We got a bit of a later start so we had some dark points along the new to us trail, but meh. Just means we will have to come back! I am going with 9 squirrels today. I really enjoyed it.

As for difficulty, it was  pretty mild climb, DR3.

Dogs are allowed, off-leash even. Be sure to clean up after your furry friends! Also, mind the signs that will inform you when to leash back up. We had an issue trying to leave the parking lot and not hit an off-leash dog running around that should have been leashed, for that very reason. It’s not the man getting you down people, it’s about keeping your beloved pet safe!