The Road of the Insane
Providence Canyon 4WD Trail
Logan, Utah

by Todd Adams

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Please visit our Sponsor, CLICK on the Banner above

 The Salt Lake Jeep List is an E-Mail list of off-road enthusiasts. They plan outings from time to time as cabin fever strikes the group. It is kind of an unofficial club that is not restricted to Jeep ownership. Anyone can become a member of the list by just following the instructions on the home page located at http://www.circle17.com/jeep/ . If you join, just keep in mind you might have to put up with quite a few postings each day, including the ongoing "casting out satan" updates from EZ and the "what should I buy next a Dodge or a Ford" comments to help with Brett’s next tow rig purchase. Many of the members, like me, mostly sit back and keep up to date with what is going on without making many posts. This would be known as the lurk mode. A few keep the list hopping by posting a few times each day.

The groups last outing was up Providence Canyon near Logan Utah on June 17th 2000. We met in Logan Utah at a super market parking lot where we put faces to names on the list that we had not met in person before. This run brought out many of northern Utah’s Big Dog Jeepers. Also some folks that had close to stock rigs like me in my new Isuzu VehiCross.

Just a few of the rigs in Logan

Isuzu VehiCross

From the south end of Logan it is a short distance to Providence Canyon. Not far up the canyon on a dirt road is an old limestone quarry. This quarry was used in the early part of the century for the production of sugar from sugar beets, as we were informed by one of the locals over the CB.

The group pulled up to take turns at "Nasty Hill" in the middle of the quarry. Seems like "Nasty Hill" was not tough enough for some of the better built rigs that compete in the Rock Crawling Championships, so a new route devoid of vegetation along the side of the quarry road was found. One of the first casualties was Brett Davis who tore off a rear spring hanger on "Freak Show". Some may remember Brett as a co-driver from 4-Wheelers Magazine’s Top Truck Challenge a few years back. I should mention here this group likes to play hard. Out of the 34 vehicles to start, only half that many made it to the top of Logan Peak which was the goal for the day.

Brett, Josh and Matt in "Freek Show" AKA Popcorn

Rock Crawling Championship competitor Bart Jacobs on the rocks

We spent over two hours at the quarry with about half the group taking the by-pass to "Nasty Hill" including myself. Running the VehiCross over loose basketball size boulders ending in a 2+ foot ledge near the top was not what I had in mind to test it’s capability. The last trip up this canyon I was in RED YJ and knew how difficult this optional hill was for a fully locked rig much less a stock Isuzu. I was content to sit back and take in the carnage as it unfolded.

Once back on the trail, which was more boulder bashing but on a smaller and "easier" scale than "Nasty Hill", EZ, AKA Chris Perri, showed us how to double break a rig. Not his mind you, but a Mutt that he was test driving. Just a few hundred yards past the quarry he not only broke a rear axle but a front U joint as well at the same time. I told EZ he was more than welcome to ride with me as long as he was content at just being a passenger.

The Mutt that "EZ" took care of

Winching through the trees

Next up was a tough loose hill and then a three foot ledge between two trees that gave you no option for the line you could take. It is here that the VehiCross took it’s first strap ever. I had no problems with this capable vehicle leading such trails as Elephant Hill and Dome Plateau during the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab this year, as well as Hells Revenge during an Isuzu only event in Moab the first week in May. The Cherokee in front of me not only dug some nice deep holes in the soft dirt, it put its engine fan into the radiator which left another rig out for the day. At this point the vehicles trying to get up the hill, which had already claimed three rigs, were asked to go around on the by-pass. Most of the vehicles lined up behind me, that had made the hill, also required a tug to get up between the trees. As we heard over the radio, this trail was claiming more and more casualties elsewhere as well. By the time we got to the bottom of ‘Road of the Insane", almost half the group had limped back down the canyon.

Road of the Insane

The Jeep that was struck in Carl’s Holes

The "Road of the Insane" is a road constructed on a very steep and exposed ridge first climbing up to the top of Providence Peak and then continuing on to the top of Logan Peak, just under 10,000 feet in elevation. This part of the trail defeated all but vehicles that were locked both ends the last time I was here. I was not sure if the VehiCross would make it with only the factory limited slip in the rear axle.

I was in line for the hill in back of Carl "I Lean" Whitmore and I gave Carl plenty of room before I followed him up. Bart Jacobs, gave Carl a "Triple Dog Dare" to try a side road that was even steeper than the main road. Not being able to back off this dare, Carl gave it a shot. As Carl was digging four deep holes with his tires, I was slowly creeping up to his position. I knew if I stopped my momentum I would not be able start up again and the result would be for me to back down the few hundred feet I had just come up. Carl finally gave up and started up the main road again as I got close. Giving it a bit more throttle, I bounced over his holes and followed Carl up the hill. When I got to a spot on which I could stop, to take a few pictures, I noticed no one behind me. I heard my name on the radio asking me to come back down and strap the Jeep that was behind me, which had slipped into Carl’s holes. Fat chance! It was all I could do to get myself up without having to strap someone else. Allen Taylor, in his Big Dog Toyota truck managed to get by the Jeep and pull it out of the holes.

The road continues to Logan Peak

The video surveillance

The view from the top of Logan Peak is breathtaking. The air was so clear we could pick out mountains two counties away. One funny thing at the top were the signs at the radio relay tower that said we were under video surveillance. I looked around and could not spot a camera anywhere. I had noticed a guy with his bedspread laid out next to an old Dodge Ram Charger and the next thing I new he was walking around our group with video camera in hand. Go figure. So I took a picture of him taking a picture of us. He never did say a word.

We all wanted to get down and back home after a great day, so we went back the way we came as the other way down and back to the trail was blocked by a large snow drift. This jewel of a trail is in danger of being closed by the Roadless Initiative. I hope we can convince the Forest service this road needs to stay open. The Forest Service just recently acquired the quarry and there may be some changes there as well. I would hate to lose one of the best trails we have in northern Utah to some plan coming out of Washington DC

Utah Trail Guidebooks, Trail Maps, and Trail Videos

4X4NOW Feature Page
4X4NOW Trail Reports | Moab 4WD Trails
4X4NOW "How-To"  | 4X4NOW Buildups
4X4BOOKS | MAPNOW

get Garmin at GPSNOW - Order by 5pm and have it Tomorrow!
Choosing | for Laptop/Pocket PC | Basic | Handheld Mapping | 2-way Radio | Automotive | Motorcycle | RV/Truck/Bus | Land & Water
Accessories
eTrex H | Legend | Vista | Venture HC | Summit HC | Legend HCx | Vista HCx
GPS 18 DLX | 60
Mobile 10 | Mobile 10 for smartphones
GPSMAP 60 | 60Cx | 60CSx | 76S | 76Cx | 76CSx | 276C | 376C | 378 | 478
MapSource City Navigator North America | US Topo | BlueChart
nüvi 200 | 270 | 350 | 360 | 370 | 650 | 660 | 670 | 680
Quest | Quest 2
Rino 110 | 120 | 130 | 520 | 530 | 520HCx | 530HCx
StreetPilot 2820 | 7200/7500 | c330 | c340 | c530 | c550 | c580
Astro GPS dog tracking system
zūmo 450 / 550
© 4X4NOW