Alpine Loop Summit

Part ofUtah Valley

The 8,000-foot high point of the Alpine Loop, face to face with Mount Timpanogos

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Best Season

Summer to fall

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Fun Fact

The ice on Timpanogos's flank, long called the Timpanogos Glacier, is really a rock glacier and perennial snowfield rather than true glacial ice — though it can hold snow through the whole summer.

The Story

The Alpine Loop Summit is the top of the Alpine Loop, where UT-92 crests near 8,000 feet between American Fork Canyon and Provo Canyon. It is the moment the drive pays off: the forest falls back and the rugged, glacier-carved east face of Mount Timpanogos stands up directly across the way, close enough to pick out the cirques and snowfields that cling to it well into summer.

The summit is also a crossroads. The paved spur to Cascade Springs drops away to the east here, and several of the loop's best trailheads — including Aspen Grove, at the foot of Timpanogos on the Provo Canyon side — are within a few minutes' drive. There is little at the top itself beyond a small parking area and the view — which is rather the point. Bring a layer; even in July it can run twenty degrees cooler up here than in the valley below.