07/28/2026
Sand Rock RidgeRiders Enjoy Sheep Creek Area
In Spanish Fork Canyon
By Dave Nixon
SRRR Club President
The Sand Rock RidgeRiders enjoyed a cool summer ride to the Sheep Creek area up Spanish Fork Canyon.
Friday July 11th a group of 16 machines assembled in a large open area with enthusiasm for the adventure that awaited. It was a beautiful clear day, slightly cool, nearly jacket weather.
We headed east over smooth mountain roads, through open scenery all around. Soon we were on the Reservation Ridge Road. We traveled through tall pines and came across several camps of people enjoying the surrounding beauty.
As we approached the South Eastern Strawberry Peak, we felt uncontrollable desire to follow the road leading up to the top. We could see for miles in every direction. The view of Strawberry Reservoir was deep blue, large and beautiful.
Our next destination was Timber Canyon. Along the way a cow and calf moose were spotted by our tail guides and photographed for evidence. As we traveled down Timber Canyon, we could see a few beaver dams down in the bottom. The road was good with a couple of water crossings to splash through. We stopped for lunch under the shade of some tall pines.
We traveled the rest of the way down the canyon and crossed the Strawberry River Bridge. We turned left up stream for a few miles. We witnessed some of the devastation caused by the Dollar Ridge Fire and then a major flash flood. So much debris came down out of Slab Canyon that it dammed off the river making a lake. Nature is reconstructing and recovering in its own way.
We traveled downstream and through the Strawberry Pinnacles both directions, then back to the staging area.
Saturday July 12, the group of 20 machines met for another day of adventure. We learned about the Central Utah Water Project in that area and rode up to the Syar tunnel which comes through the mountain from Strawberry Reservoir. The tunnel was completed in 1991.
We rode west through open country towards the back side of Mt. Timpanogos then turned right on FR 715. We stopped for a little walk over to the West Portal. This is the original tunnel completed in 1906. It delivers water from Strawberry Reservoir into the sixth water drainage. Then makes its way down into the southern part of Utah County to fill the Highline Canal with irrigation water.
From there we were riding in tall timber, and up to Strawberry Ridge. From this high vantage point we could look at breath taking views in each direction. Blue Strawberry Reservoir with its natural curving shoreline surrounded with rolling hills covered in sage brush and vibrant green forests. To the south overlooking Spanish Fork Canyon was never ending green covered hills with distant peaks bordering the clear blue sky.
We made our way down to Daniel Summit Lodge where we enjoyed a cool lodge atmosphere and a very nice lunch. After a group picture of our SRRR family we made our way back up to the ridge from different roads and past the North West Strawberry Peak (yes there are two of them) then back to the staging area. This ride could have been called the Strawberry Ride since I have mentioned it many times in this report.
Photographs courtesy of Stina Sorenson
