"The Paiute Trail Story"

"The Paiute Trail Story". Trail Information. It all began in the small community of Circleville, Utah, back in the summer of 1988. Two lifelong friends were sitting on a pick up tail gate, enjoying a Coke, and speculating about the recent closure of Hwy 53 to OHV's. With this closure, they would lose access from their home town onto Circleville Mountain and their favorite hunting and fishing spots. They knew of an old horse trail up Wades Canyon, that, if modified, could be made accessible to their "Big Red" three wheelers. Speculation continued; what if, a trail system was developed that would allow riders to access the public lands of the Fishlake National Forest from small rural communities in South Central Utah? It started as an idea and became a dream come true., Clyde Lay was Forest Engineer for the Fishlake National Forest. His friend was Linden Romine, a Piute County Commissioner. Both being prone to action, they rolled up their sleeves and went to work. They improved that route up Wades Canyon to accomodate motorized OHV vehicles; (3-wheeler Big Red, and the new 300 cc Honda four wheeler). They rolled out maps and plotted a large loop route (260 miles) that passed through four communities, including their beloved Circleville. Much of the route all ready existed. Only a few places would need actual construction. They took the idea to participating counties and small communities and presented the concept. They selected a name, Paiute, the name coming from Indian culture of the area, thus the spelling which if different from "Piute County". They also selected a symbol to mark the main trail. This symbol, later named "Tazz", was a Fremont character, taken from a local pictograph, estimated to be some 700 years old., In the summer of 1990, and with a grant from the Utah State Parks, they, and a small group of other believers, started marking the trail on the ground. As they constructed it, their hope was that people would come., Some of the early "Movers and Shakers" that saw the benefits of Clyde and Linden's dream, included Carma Thomas (Sevier County Director of Tourism), Ron Bushman (Mayor of Marysvale), Sherry Ashworth (Millard County Director of Tourism), Roger Foisy (Riding Enthusiast), Max Reid (Public Service Staff, Fishlake National Forest), Stan Adams (BLM, Richfield District Safety Officer), and Fred Christensen (Area Manager, Coca-Cola). Many others have also worked to help to develop, market, and manage the trail system over the years. The dreams and hard work have transformed cow trails, old mining and logging roads into the Paiute Trail - the best mountain trail riding experience anywhere in the United States and beyond., Today, the Paiute Trail is a well marked 238 mile loop trail that crosses three mountain ranges, passes through four rural Utah counties, four small communities, and ranges in elevation from 5200 feet to over 11,400 feet. There are 639 miles of additional trail that connect a total of 16 participating communities into the system. Each year more than a hundred thousand riders come to Central Utah to enjoy a one of a kind riding experience., Our hats off to Clyde and Linden and all those who have, over the years, worked so hard to develop and maintain this great riding experience., Captions , (Photo #1) Clyde Lay , (Photo #2) Linden Romine