Big Fill Trailhead - Golden Spike National Historic Site
Posted by: 
Volcanoguy
N 41° 38.231 W 112° 29.466
12T E 375809 N 4610568
Trailhead for the Big Fill Trail at Golden Spike National Historic Site.
Waymark Code: WMTN5A
Location: Utah, United States
Date Posted: 12/15/2016
Views: 0
The Big Fill Trail is a mile and a half round trip walking trail at the Golden Spike National Historic Site. The trail follows the original Central Pacific railroad grade out to The Big Fill where the Central Pacific built a large fill across a large ravine. The Union Pacific built a large wooden trestle (The Big Trestle) across the same ravine a few hundred feet downstream. The return trail follows the original Union Pacific grade back to the trailhead.
There is a parking lot and sign at the trailhead. Text of sign:
Big Fill Trail
Look down this path toward the sharp V-shaped notch in the shoulder of the mountainside ahead. Walking the Big Fill Trail, you can still see some of the violent fury of the final days of the race to Promontory, carved into unyielding limestone.
Although the Promontory Mountains don't look as formidable as the Wasatch Front of the Sierra Nevada to modern eyes, your hike here will show you the toughest grade for a train to pull along the entire transcontinental route from Donner Pass to the Missouri River.
This 1.5-mile round-trip route leads to the Big Fill and Big Trestle site. The grade is easy to walk - just 1.6 percent - thanks to the limits set in the Pacific Railroad Act in 1862.
Before You Hike
*Hiking time - about 1 hour
*Take drinking water
*Metal detectors, firearms, and artifact collecting are prohibited
*Wear a hat, there is no shade
*Watch your step. Slopes off the grades are loose and rocky.
*Prepare for mosquitoes and ticks.
*Rattlesnakes have the right-of-way.
Trailhead/trail website: [Web Link]
Trail allowances or restrictions:
Trail type: Crushed stone
Parking: Not Listed
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Visit Instructions:
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