Leppy Hills Loop

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This is the only trail system in the Wendover/West Wendover area. It's easily accessible from town. The trail is wide and made of hard-packed gravel, so it's a fairly easy ride even for beginners. The terrain is mostly flat, with some uphill and downhill sections, with a total elevation gain of about 520 feet. The only challenges are a couple of areas with deep gravel that can make for a difficult uphill ride (where you cannot get enough traction) or a slippery downhill ride if you hit your breaks too hard. There are many interesting rock formations to be seen.

Access: From the intersection of Wendover Boulevard/Exit 410 near the Peppermill Casino, proceed to the north side of I-80 passing the west-bound on-ramp, approx. 0.2 miles. Make a left turn and head west on Frontage Road, approx. 0.2 miles. Make a slight right turn onto a gravel/dirt road and head north for another 0.3 miles. You'll see a sign for the Leppy Hills trailhead on the left; turn left and head about 0.3 miles west until arriving at the trailhead parking lot.

The Leppy Trails system's largest loop is about 4.91 (shown here as 5.1) miles. The trail starts at the parking lot of the trailhead, which has a restroom, a water fountain, and some picnic tables. The trail is wide and hard-packed gravel, so it's a fairly easy ride even for beginners. The terrain is mostly flat, with some uphill and downhill sections, with a total elevation gain of about 515 feet. The only challenges are some areas with deep gravel that can make for a somewhat difficult uphill ride (can't get enough traction) or a slippery downhill ride. There are many interesting rock formations to be seen. The steep ridges on the eastern side of the Leppy Trails are formed of 300-million-year-old limestone and sandstone.

One of the many things you can distinctly see while on the upper portions of Loop C looking south (to the so-called 9 Mile Mountains) is the horizontal shoreline of the ancient lake carved along the upper portion of those mountains. In the spring (April through June), there are several flowering desert plants, such as Prickly Pear Cactus, Spinny Hopsage, Globemallow, Purple Larkspur, and Horsebrush. The various animals that can be found around the Leppy Hills are chipmunks, different kinds of lizards, jackrabbits, gopher snakes and pronghorn antelope. I have even encountered a reddish-brown tarantula making its way across the trails!

The Leppy Hills were an island during the waning years of the last ice age over 15,000 years ago when Ancient Lake Bonneville existed. Lake Bonneville covered most of western Utah and a portion of eastern Nevada and southern Idaho. By surface area the lake was nearly as large as present day Lake Michigan covering more than 19,000 square miles, but was much deeper at over 1,000 feet deep.