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The Telegraph Footpath AKA Telegraph Trail is a really nice hiking only trail in Draper. It features a nice scrub oak forest, and amazing views into Utah County. It is a great trail to explore the south side of Maple Hollow, even though there were a couple of spots that triggered my fear of heights. We also had a great wildlife day, so in the end it was a complete win.
Quick Details:
Length: 3.88 mile loop.
Trail Type: Loop
Difficulty: DR3. This was a bit of a climb, but it was gentle, at least the direction we went.
Elevation Gain: About 690 feet.
Restroom: Yes, new flush toilets at the trailhead.
Dogs? Yes, leashed. This trail is mostly outside of the Deer Ridge Off Leash Area,
Other Info: Hiking only. No bikes, no horses. This trail starts at the top, goes down, and returns uphill. This can be tough for newer hikers.
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. Or you can go the other way just to the left of the restrooms.
1455 Deer Ridge Dr, Draper, UT 84020
Passing the aquarium and The Claw (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).
The former site of the prison (PSP).
Traverse Ridge Road has random elevation signs (PSP). Here at the top is 6056 feet.
Old water tower (PSP). It looks like they decided to double down on it’s usefulness and made it a cell tower as well.
Oh boy, it’s busy today (PSP).
The Trail:
For this loop you can pick up the trail to the left of the restrooms, or start on the main Deer Ridge Loop to the right of the restrooms for a smidge. We opted for the latter, and I think that was absolutely the better way to go, and I am super glad that is what we decided to do. I think it is ultimately the easier way, and the parts that I struggled with my fear of heights got knocked out at the beginning.
Trailhead kiosk.
Map. We are doing that big purple loop to the top left.
I quickmathed about 3 ish miles.. haha, as I mentioned, it was almost a mile more. I love the Draper trail system, and that they provide mileage between junctions, but I wish they provided totals for specific trails. But, my fault. I should have checked it before we left.
Continuing up Deer Ridge.
Again.
Lots of sage brush.
View of the Salt Lake Valley.
Utah Valley on the other side.
Salt Lake Valley again.
Closer. You can see The Claw, and they also appear to be burning phragmites (an invasive weed) today.
At about a quarter mile we reached the next junction, which is the one we want. There is another map here, but it does not show the full trail we are doing today.
The Rex Maneuver to the right. And Telegraph Trail to the left. So left.
The Telegraph Trail. There is an alternate path to here from the left that we did not do today. I don’t really see much point to it, other than it being different than the main Deer Ridge Trail. Anyway, head right here. Also, as the sign says, dogs need to be leashed after here.
Phlox.
Larkspur.
I love this time of year when everything starts greening up and blooming.
More phlox.
Lovely view of Mount Timpanogos and Utah Valley.
It is a really nice walk so far.
Different shades of phlox.
Scrub oaks.
Mount Timpanogos again.
Phlox that is growing into the color.
Utah Valley again.
South Maple Hollow below.
Alien Tower above.
More greening up.
Some sad glacier lilies.
I don’t know for sure, but I assume the lighter color is filled in areas. There are a lot of houses on top of the filler there.
The next junction at about a half mile. Off The Beaten Path to the right, Telegraph Trail continues to the left.
Now we have a long 2 mile section to the next junction.
Continuing along.
Maple Hollow below again.
Utah Valley.
The trail ahead on the other side of this side hollow.
The Off The Beaten Path Trail above, and the trail we are on below. I struggled a little bit through here with my fear of heights.
Fun springtime game: Nest or porcupine? It is almost always a nest.
Entering a nice green lush area.
Wow! Super pretty here.
Then there was another section I did not like. But, I pushed through it.
Pretty yellow flowers.
Another nice wooded section.
Miners lettuce. I am more used to seeing this in wetter areas than here.
The back end of this little side hollow.
Uphill.
Downhill.
Happier looking glacier lilies.
This is really nice!
Much happier glacier lilies.
Pretty hillside.
Cute pink flowers.
Itty bitty little blue flowers.
More forest.
More happy glacier lilies.
Some kind of flowering tree.
Gnarly tree.
Glacier lily.
Continuing along.
Little hill below.
Little red bridge below. We will eventually see this a little closer.
Mount Timpanogos.
The South Maple Hollow Trailhead.
Desert parsley.
Heading towards another hollow, and another short spot I didn’t like.
Then we enter another lush green hollow.
So this seems to be the theme of this trail. Short spot near the end ridges that I don't like, quickly followed by a green lush back end that doesn't bother me. LOL but, hey, I am making it!
I love this time of year.
That looks like some sort of insect damage.
It is super pretty in here.
Leaving the side hollow.
Maple Hollow below.
Mount Timpanogos.
You can just make out the very tippy top of Alien Tower above us.
Super close crop to show it better.
Flat part for a second.
The bottom of Maple Hollow again.
Into another side hollow.
Okay, after this side hollow it looks like the trail is going to go around that sub peak and then start heading down. That’s not so bad.
Utah Lake beyond.
Alien Tower above us again.
Continuing into the side hollow.
Carpet flower.
Into the side hollow.
Nice and green back here too.
Dry Canyon..jpg)
Panoramic. Mount Jordan, Dry Canyon, Box Elder Peak, American Fork Canyon, and Mount Timpanogos.
The little peak we will be going around shortly.
Milk vetch..jpg)
Another panoramic.
Oh wait a minute… the trail keeps going! Uh oh! Maybe it is longer than I thought. But.. it's got to head down eventually.
We decided we would push on to the sign up ahead, then stop, take a break, and get our bearings.
Ooh! First paintbrush of the year.
Make that first group of paintbrush of the year. Wow.
The South Maple Hollow Trailhead again. I thought the trail went down to it, but I was mistaken.
Another nice flat section.
Plane.
More larkspur.
Another hollow to the west.
Better view of Utah Lake.
Continuing along this ridge.
Utah Lake again.
Ooh, some close by paintbrush.
Enjoying this flat section.
Utah Lake again.
Well. The trail is not going to take us closer to the sign, it switch backs to the left. We did take a quick break, but neither of us had a cell signal. However, now the trail looks like it is heading down. So we decided to keep going.
We have been curious what this large complex that appears to be expanding is for a little while now. It looks like it is Texas Instruments.
Utah Valley.
The ridge we are on..jpg)
Panoramic. Mount Jordan to Utah Lake.
Oh, I did get a good enough shot of the sign to read it. It says “Now leaving Draper City Open Space. Entering Private Property” We’re still in Draper??? I covered this last time we were in the area, Draper extends across Salt Lake County and into Utah County, and that is not unique for cities to do either (much to my surprise). But, It is still kind of surprising that it extends this far over the main ridge. But, as the sign is indicating we are almost to the border.
The South Maple Hollow Trailhead again.
More paintbrush.
Starting the downhill part.
The trail is a little thinner here, but still pretty strong.
Across the hollow and Lone Peak above.
More lovely greenery.
What do we have here? A beautiful red velvet ant! We have only ever seen one of these once before! Now.. forgive me for nerding out for a minute, but I love these guys.
These are actually not ants. In fact they are a parasitoid wasp. The females, as seen here, are wingless.
Despite the name, and the fuzzy appearance, you really do not want to handle one of them. They have an extremely painful sting that earned them the nickname: cow killers. Rated 3 out of 4 on the Schmidt sting pain index (outside link) According to this, the pain from a velvet ant sting can last a half hour! Ouch! For reference, a tarantula wasp is a 4.
They are parasitoid due to the fact that after mating, the female will find another species of ground-nesting wasps and deposit her egg into a host larva., which will grow and consume the host larva.
They sure are quick little buggers.
Super pretty.
I kind of wanted to take her home and study her.. but you know, I don’t like to remove creatures from their natural habitats, and also you know, super painful sting.
Continuing along.
The South Maple Hollow Trailhead again..jpg)
Panoramic.
Coming around the little peak. Another spot I struggled on for a moment.
It is! Wow. I sure did not expect to see elk in this part of the foothills.
But uh… where are her friends? I thought they are more social creatures. I guess they can be solitary sometimes.
Into a green side hollow again. I am pretty sure this is just lower down in the last side hollow we passed through above.
Trail on the other side.
Back end of the side hollow.
The trail we came down above.
Thinner trail.
Mount Timpanogos.
Continuing along.
Utah Valley.
Around the ridge and into another side hollow. Again, likely just lower down in the side hollow that we did above.
Some deer on the other side.
Another section I didn’t love.
They had to cut pretty deeply into the hillside to make this part.
Just like the others, it is more green and lush in the back end.
The elbow at the back.
Uphill.
Downhill.
Now we start the descent that will quickly bring us to the bottom of South Maple Hollow.
With a bunch of little, wiggly switchbacks.
It is super pretty in here.
Large boulder.
More forest.
More wiggly switchbacks.
More forest.
Some kind of catch basin thingy? Weird. I also did not expect a creek down here. This appears to be the bottom.
More forest.
Large nest.
More forest. According to what I remember of the map, we should reach the next junction any minute now.
Glacier Lily.
Large pile of logs. Possible slash pile. That is where they cut down dead trees and gather them into piles along with other debris to burn to keep fire danger down. We see it more often up in the canyons on trails like Donut Falls.
Crossing the creek, which is now dry.
Small clearing. I didn’t take a picture but the Maple Hollow Road Trail connects here just to the right, so yes, this is the next junction. At about 2.5 miles.
The Telegraph Trail continues on the other side. Again, I am surprised we are still in Draper.
Here we get to enjoy the bottom of South Maple Hollow for a bit.
The creek has worked itself in pretty deep though here. Similar to what we see in Corner Canyon.
Forest.
Oregon grape.
We found a porcupine friend. He stayed in the bushes so I did not get a particularly good shot of him.
They seem to be doing some sort of work down here.
Our porcupine friend again. See, not the best shots.
Continuing along.
Another log pile.
More construction.
Some of those bars look pretty rusty. I wonder how long all of this has been down here.
Another creek crossing.
Upstream.
Well this is cute.
It was not very comfortable.
Deep creek bed.
Green hillside.
Forest.
A pair of bridges. We are only going to cross this first one.
Very basic.
There is a little bit of water in the creek now.
The upper bridge. I am pretty sure it is the one we saw from above. It is on the S.M.H. Trail or South Maple Hollow Trail.
The next junction. Now, we start the long climb back up.
The S.M.H Trail just a few feet the other way.
Forest.
Crossing the creek again.
Starting the switchbacks.
Forest.
The 2nd switchback.
Forest.
The hill on the other side. With power lines, and some sort of bird.
3rd switchback.
4th switchback.
5th.
Phlox.
6th switchback.
Forest.
Again.
The hillside on the other side.
I really do not mind these lazy switchbacks. We definitely chose the better way to do this loop.
Forest.
Utah Valley again.
Forest.
8th Switchback? I may have missed 1 or 2.
Some kind of flower.
More forest.
Phlox.
Glacier lily.
Caterpillar nest.
Apparently they are a pest that defoliate trees.
Digital crop.
Man there are a bunch of them.
Forest.
9th switchback.
More forest.
Quick switchbacks. 10 and 11.
Eventually the forest starts to thin out.
Utah Valley.
Mount Timpanogos peaking up over the ridge on the other side.
12th Switchback.
Utah Valley again.
Houses on the ridge.
Pretty yellow flowers.
Larkspur.
Mount Timpanogos again.
Forest.
Glacier lily.
Larkspur.
Another junction. South Maple Hollow to the right, and the Telegraph Trail to the left.
13 switchbacks so far (I had to double check on the map). Just a couple more to go. Oof.
Continuing the climb.
15th Switchback.
Continuing along.
Various shades of phlox.
Large boulder field.
16th switchback.
At the elbow.
Utah Valley again.
More boulders.
17th switchback. Like I said, these switchbacks are not bad at all. Every time my fear of heights started to twinge, the trail switch-backed the other way. We absolutely chose the right way to do this loop.
More forest.
Phlox.
Larkspur.
18th switchback.
Some white phlox.
The final junction. Left leads to Off The Beaten Path (that section that parallels the section along Deer Ridge), and right leads back to the trailhead.
Which is also the 19th and final switchback. Phew, just a little bit longer.
The ridge across the way.
Mount Timpanogos.
Another red bridge. I think that one might be on the Eagle Crest Trail. Another one we haven’t done.
Deer Ridge Road. We are almost to the top.
Continuing along.
Random conifer amongst the scrub oaks.
Continuing along.
Glacier lilies.
Continuing.
The restrooms at the trailhead. We are almost done.
Random old pipeline.
Mount Timpanogos.
Another patch of paintbrush.
Closer.
Back up to the trailhead.
Looking back at the trail we came up.
The new fancy restrooms to the south.
The new parking lot. We got all these wonderful upgrades recently in 2023.
Random little pond.
Old water tower (PSP).
The Salt Lake Valley from Traverse Ridge Road (PSP).
In ground water tank (PSP).
Potato Hill (PSP).
Little bit of a sunset (PSP).
Closer view of The Claw (PSP).
I love this time of year.
That looks like some sort of insect damage.
It is super pretty in here.
Leaving the side hollow.
Maple Hollow below.
Mount Timpanogos.
You can just make out the very tippy top of Alien Tower above us.
Super close crop to show it better.
Flat part for a second.
The bottom of Maple Hollow again.
Into another side hollow.
Okay, after this side hollow it looks like the trail is going to go around that sub peak and then start heading down. That’s not so bad.
Utah Lake beyond.
Alien Tower above us again.
Continuing into the side hollow.
Carpet flower.
Into the side hollow.
Nice and green back here too.
Dry Canyon.
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Panoramic. Mount Jordan, Dry Canyon, Box Elder Peak, American Fork Canyon, and Mount Timpanogos.
The little peak we will be going around shortly.
Milk vetch.
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Another panoramic.
Oh wait a minute… the trail keeps going! Uh oh! Maybe it is longer than I thought. But.. it's got to head down eventually.
We decided we would push on to the sign up ahead, then stop, take a break, and get our bearings.
Ooh! First paintbrush of the year.
Make that first group of paintbrush of the year. Wow.
The South Maple Hollow Trailhead again. I thought the trail went down to it, but I was mistaken.
Another nice flat section.
Plane.
More larkspur.
Another hollow to the west.
Better view of Utah Lake.
Continuing along this ridge.
Utah Lake again.
Ooh, some close by paintbrush.
Enjoying this flat section.
Utah Lake again.
Well. The trail is not going to take us closer to the sign, it switch backs to the left. We did take a quick break, but neither of us had a cell signal. However, now the trail looks like it is heading down. So we decided to keep going.
We have been curious what this large complex that appears to be expanding is for a little while now. It looks like it is Texas Instruments.
Utah Valley.
The ridge we are on.
.jpg)
Panoramic. Mount Jordan to Utah Lake.
Oh, I did get a good enough shot of the sign to read it. It says “Now leaving Draper City Open Space. Entering Private Property” We’re still in Draper??? I covered this last time we were in the area, Draper extends across Salt Lake County and into Utah County, and that is not unique for cities to do either (much to my surprise). But, It is still kind of surprising that it extends this far over the main ridge. But, as the sign is indicating we are almost to the border.
The South Maple Hollow Trailhead again.
Alright, back to the hike.
More paintbrush.
Starting the downhill part.
The trail is a little thinner here, but still pretty strong.
Across the hollow and Lone Peak above.
More lovely greenery.
What do we have here? A beautiful red velvet ant! We have only ever seen one of these once before! Now.. forgive me for nerding out for a minute, but I love these guys.
These are actually not ants. In fact they are a parasitoid wasp. The females, as seen here, are wingless.
Despite the name, and the fuzzy appearance, you really do not want to handle one of them. They have an extremely painful sting that earned them the nickname: cow killers. Rated 3 out of 4 on the Schmidt sting pain index (outside link) According to this, the pain from a velvet ant sting can last a half hour! Ouch! For reference, a tarantula wasp is a 4.
They are parasitoid due to the fact that after mating, the female will find another species of ground-nesting wasps and deposit her egg into a host larva., which will grow and consume the host larva.
Holy crap that is metal.
They sure are quick little buggers.
Super pretty.
I kind of wanted to take her home and study her.. but you know, I don’t like to remove creatures from their natural habitats, and also you know, super painful sting.
This is a good reminder to not handle creatures that you aren’t familiar with. A much more popular one that I have heard of is the blue ringed octopus, which is super pretty, tiny, and cute, but that one will kill you. This one will probably just make you wish it did.
Alright, we can let her go back to doing wasp things.
Continuing along.
The South Maple Hollow Trailhead again.
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Panoramic.
Coming around the little peak. Another spot I struggled on for a moment.
Well hello there friend… Wait a minute. Is that a freaking elk?
It is! Wow. I sure did not expect to see elk in this part of the foothills.
But uh… where are her friends? I thought they are more social creatures. I guess they can be solitary sometimes.
She is sure making her way up the mountain very quickly.
Into a green side hollow again. I am pretty sure this is just lower down in the last side hollow we passed through above.
Trail on the other side.
Back end of the side hollow.
The trail we came down above.
Thinner trail.
Mount Timpanogos.
Continuing along.
Utah Valley.
Around the ridge and into another side hollow. Again, likely just lower down in the side hollow that we did above.
Some deer on the other side.
Another section I didn’t love.
They had to cut pretty deeply into the hillside to make this part.
Just like the others, it is more green and lush in the back end.
The elbow at the back.
Uphill.
Downhill.
Now we start the descent that will quickly bring us to the bottom of South Maple Hollow.
With a bunch of little, wiggly switchbacks.
It is super pretty in here.
Large boulder.
More forest.
More wiggly switchbacks.
More forest.
Some kind of catch basin thingy? Weird. I also did not expect a creek down here. This appears to be the bottom.
More forest.
Large nest.
More forest. According to what I remember of the map, we should reach the next junction any minute now.
Glacier Lily.
Large pile of logs. Possible slash pile. That is where they cut down dead trees and gather them into piles along with other debris to burn to keep fire danger down. We see it more often up in the canyons on trails like Donut Falls.
Crossing the creek, which is now dry.
Small clearing. I didn’t take a picture but the Maple Hollow Road Trail connects here just to the right, so yes, this is the next junction. At about 2.5 miles.
The Telegraph Trail continues on the other side. Again, I am surprised we are still in Draper.
Here we get to enjoy the bottom of South Maple Hollow for a bit.
The creek has worked itself in pretty deep though here. Similar to what we see in Corner Canyon.
Forest.
Oregon grape.
We found a porcupine friend. He stayed in the bushes so I did not get a particularly good shot of him.
They seem to be doing some sort of work down here.
Our porcupine friend again. See, not the best shots.
Continuing along.
Another log pile.
More construction.
Some of those bars look pretty rusty. I wonder how long all of this has been down here.
Another creek crossing.
Upstream.
Well this is cute.
It was not very comfortable.
Deep creek bed.
Green hillside.
Forest.
A pair of bridges. We are only going to cross this first one.
Very basic.
There is a little bit of water in the creek now.
The upper bridge. I am pretty sure it is the one we saw from above. It is on the S.M.H. Trail or South Maple Hollow Trail.
The next junction. Now, we start the long climb back up.
The S.M.H Trail just a few feet the other way.
Forest.
Crossing the creek again.
Starting the switchbacks.
Forest.
The 2nd switchback.
Forest.
The hill on the other side. With power lines, and some sort of bird.
3rd switchback.
4th switchback.
5th.
Phlox.
6th switchback.
Forest.
Again.
The hillside on the other side.
I really do not mind these lazy switchbacks. We definitely chose the better way to do this loop.
Forest.
Utah Valley again.
Forest.
8th Switchback? I may have missed 1 or 2.
Some kind of flower.
More forest.
Phlox.
Glacier lily.
Caterpillar nest.
Google says these are Eastern tent caterpillars.
Apparently they are a pest that defoliate trees.
Digital crop.
Man there are a bunch of them.
Forest.
9th switchback.
More forest.
Quick switchbacks. 10 and 11.
Super pretty in here right now.
Eventually the forest starts to thin out.
Utah Valley.
Mount Timpanogos peaking up over the ridge on the other side.
12th Switchback.
Utah Valley again.
Houses on the ridge.
Pretty yellow flowers.
Larkspur.
Mount Timpanogos again.
Forest.
Glacier lily.
Larkspur.
Another junction. South Maple Hollow to the right, and the Telegraph Trail to the left.
13 switchbacks so far (I had to double check on the map). Just a couple more to go. Oof.
Continuing the climb.
15th Switchback.
Continuing along.
Various shades of phlox.
Large boulder field.
16th switchback.
At the elbow.
Utah Valley again.
More boulders.
17th switchback. Like I said, these switchbacks are not bad at all. Every time my fear of heights started to twinge, the trail switch-backed the other way. We absolutely chose the right way to do this loop.
More forest.
Phlox.
Larkspur.
18th switchback.
Some white phlox.
The final junction. Left leads to Off The Beaten Path (that section that parallels the section along Deer Ridge), and right leads back to the trailhead.
Which is also the 19th and final switchback. Phew, just a little bit longer.
The ridge across the way.
Mount Timpanogos.
Another red bridge. I think that one might be on the Eagle Crest Trail. Another one we haven’t done.
Deer Ridge Road. We are almost to the top.
Continuing along.
Random conifer amongst the scrub oaks.
Continuing along.
Glacier lilies.
Continuing.
The restrooms at the trailhead. We are almost done.
Random old pipeline.
Mount Timpanogos.
The restrooms again.
Another patch of paintbrush.
Closer.
Back up to the trailhead.
That was an additional 6 switchbacks for a grand total of 19 Phew! But, like I said, they were pretty easy going. Again, I am glad we decided to go the way that we did today.
Looking back at the trail we came up.
The new fancy restrooms to the south.
The new parking lot. We got all these wonderful upgrades recently in 2023.
Random little pond.
Well, now we decided to go find some supper.
Old water tower (PSP).
The Salt Lake Valley from Traverse Ridge Road (PSP).
In ground water tank (PSP).
Potato Hill (PSP).
Little bit of a sunset (PSP).
Closer view of The Claw (PSP).
The general path we took today.
Well, that was fun! Even though there were a couple of spots that triggered my fear of heights they were pretty short, and I was able to get myself through them. It was nice to get them out of the way in the first half. We also did not run into anybody else on this trail. A few people on Deer Ridge, and we saw a few bikes on the nearby Maple Hollow Trail, but had this trail to ourselves. It was lovely. We also had a good wildlife, and critter day too. 9 out of 10 squirrels.
As for difficulty, most of it was fairly flat, with a bit of a gentle climb at the end. DR3.
Dogs are allowed, but pay attention to when they need to be leashed (the majority of the trail).
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