Oakridge Preserve

The Oakridge Preserve in Farmington is a paved pathway along some swampland. while it was alright, I don’t think it’s worth going out of your way for it. The little “preserve” is situated between HW89, i15 and Park Lane, and then townhomes on the other side. I felt the same way about this “trail” as I did about Haight Creek. In that, it wasn’t really a trail. It was just me today so I thought I would come check this out as it is paved and no real climb, so it seemed pretty safe to do by myself. Plus, I like to explore these trails as sometimes they are a miss, like today. And something they surprise me and are quite enjoyable like Shepard Creek City Section.

Quick Details:

Length: 1.24 mile balloon. Or there are a couple additional options to make it longer or connect to nearby trails. Like Shepard Creek.
Difficulty: DR2. Paved, flat, easy.
Elevation Gain: None
Restroom: No. Closest one would be the Maverick on Shepard Ln (alternate TH option).
Dogs? Yes, leash required.

To Get Here:

Take HW89 in Farmington to exit 296, Shepard Ln. Head west  Take the first left onto Frontage Rd. Go about 500 feet and turn right on Shepard Church Dr. Park.

The frontage road looks like you are just getting on the freeway so if that startles you like it did me, you can take the next left, Shepard Creek Parkway. Then turn left onto Spring Creek Lane, and Left onto Shepard Church Dr. Follow the curve to the right and park.

Or, park at the Maverick on Shepard Ln., and add about 500 feet to your walk.

The Trail:

The trail will head south behind the church, next to this canal.

The little canal. I imagine this is diverted from Shepard Creek.

The mountains above.

There is the Farmington Trails sign! I don’t think there is one at the beginning.

Now we are by the townhouses.

First little pond. It looks fairly frozen.

At the south end of the pond you will come to the trail split that makes this a balloon trail. I went left.

Duckies!

The pond again.

Good to know.

This got me to thinking. They developed the west side, with a lot of pushback since it is primary wetland habitat. So, they take this marshland, that is prone to flooding, and probably couldn’t be developed upon anyway and call it a preserve. Gee, thanks.

Lagoon.

This one to show how close the trail is to the frontage road and HW89 next to that. Also, this segment of the trail appears to be an old road.

Small field.

Farmington Canyon.

The creek again.

Now we appear to be on normal paved bike path. That is Park Lane up there.

Marshland.

The creek again.

Nice little forested area.

The creek and some ponds.

Now we are approaching i15.

Nice mountain view.

Another little pond.

Found an American coot.

The pond with the mountains above.

The next trail split. Right will get you back to where you started, left will continue along to the Oakridge Golf Course. The Farmington Trails page lists a trail around that as well, but we haven’t done that one yet.

Now we are back to being about 30 feet from the back doors of these townhouses. I don’t know why, but it just kind of makes me uncomfortable.

The pond again.

More ducks and coots.

The meadow from the other side.

Back to the first pond.

Last leg.

Back to the trailhead.

If I lived in this neighborhood I would probably walk around this area fairly often, but I didn’t think I will return. It wasn’t horrible, but definitely not my favorite. It is a good, super easy option to do in winter to get some exercise. I guess I just don’t like feeling I am walking through peoples back yards even if it’s an official trail. Eh, I will go with  3 squirrels.

As for difficulty, it is completely paved and flat. DR2.

Dogs are allowed, but should remain on a leash. Please clean up after your furry friend.

Shepard Creek City Section Partial - Winter

The Shepard Creek City Section is a surprisingly lovely trail system that follows a creek. I was expecting something closer to Lower Farmington Creek but this was just lovely. It is in a shallow gulley and the woods tend to obscure the fact that there are houses nearby for most of the way so it truly felt like a nice wild trail. Unfortunately, about a half mile up there was a creek crossing that didn’t look safe right now, so we decided to turn around. However, we enjoyed it enough that we decided it certainly deserves another visit.

Quick Details:

Length: The Farmington Trails page puts this at 2.3 miles. We did about a mile.
Difficulty: DR4. The segment we did was super easy, bumped it up due to the creek crossing with no bridge.
Elevation Gain: 350 feet.
Restroom: No.
Dogs? Yes, leashed.

To Get Here:

From Main street in Farmington head to 1400 North. Head east. About 200 feet up 1400 N you will see a dirt road on the north side of the road. You will also see the very hard to miss Farmington Trail Sign. Park on the street.

The Trail:

Trailhead sign next to the dirt road. I’m not sure why it points to the right, you want to go strait back. Perhaps normally you walk on the right side of the road?

You will follow this dirt road for about 600 feet.

Then climb this small hill. Which turned out to be an old dam.

Drained reservoir. So I wasn’t sure which way to go so we went right. However, the main trail is left. No worries though as we were able to connect again.

The creek.

From the other side. It was pretty easy to cross down here.

Neat stick structure.

Lots of ice.

Eventually we ran out of trail, but luckily we had seen the trail up above. It wasn’t too bad to scramble up to it.

Now we’re up on the edge of the gully. But it is still lovely.

You can still see the creek from the trail.

Lots of ice!

I was really surprised at how wild this trail was!

The mountains above.

Farmington has even added a couple signs to help keep you on the path. Other cities, take note. Farmington is officially winning with their trail signage. While I am at it, their trails page is days beyond any other nearby city.

Crazy thick woods through here.

There is quite a bit of climbing up, only to climb back down again. But it’s not too bad.

The creek again.

Looking up through the mess of branches.

Lots of deer tracks. Seems like a good place to see deer.

Creek crossing. Someone has added a rope so you have something to hang on to. But, between the ice being both thin, and slick, we just couldn’t finagle it. We had one close call before we decided it just wasn’t worth it. Yes, this creek is small, and not terribly deep, I doubt we would have been in danger, but the thought of being wet in these temperatures did not sound pleasing. Shame. It wouldn’t be too difficult to add a bridge, even just a log one.

Looking downstream.

The creek again.

Back into the tangle of woods.

Bends in the creek.

Looking up again.

Nearing the bottom.

We decided to follow the main trail down the north side of the gully this time. Trail signs confirm this is the intended route.

More deer tracks.

Woodpecker home.

Back down to the old dam.

Looking up towards the mountains, and the canyon where Shepard Creek comes out of.

The old dams spillway. Looks very similar to the one coming out of Farmington Pond.

I wonder why this reservoir has been drained.We did see some machinery so they might be working on it. But it seems like it’s been empty for a while.

We found a weather station.

From the bottom.

More deer tracks. Man I bet this is a great place to see deer.

Last leg.

Speaking of seeing deer!

Well, we didn’t finish the trail but I did enjoy it more than I expected. Definitely going to return in the spring when we can safely cross the creek. Didn’t run into many people and to see a bit of wildlife. I wont rate it because we didn’t finish it, but I did enjoy it.

As for difficulty, it was a very gradual, rolling climb and I would give it a DR3 except for that crossing. It could really use a bridge. For that I will bump it up to a DR4.

Dogs are allowed, leashed. Please clean up after your furry friend.