North Canyon – Fall

We wanted to do a hike, and hopefully see some fall colors. The mountains above look like they are turning already, so we decided to do something nearby. It’s been a few years since we did North Canyon so we thought we would try that one again.

To get here, take the bountiful 2600 s exit. Head east and turn right on 500 west. It merges with 400 w. Immediate after the merge, turn left on 3100 s. Turn right on Indian Springs Dr. Turn right on Canyon Creek Rd. Drive to the end. If you have a truck or a vehicle that can handle a pretty rough dirt road, keep going for about a mile to the trailhead. If not, park before the dirt road and hike the dirt road for a mile.

The beginning of the dirt road.

View of the creek.

Pretty fall leaves.

Cute little house in the woods. Last time we hiked this it was up for sale. Looks like they either sold it, or changed their minds.

Starting to see some color.

Pretty little butterfly.

And even more color.

The hideous pipeline scar. The grasses etc. seem to be filling in, but it is still obvious and ugly.

More pretty colors.

The stream has taken over this little side road.

And this one.

Water running down the road.

Caused by this little spring.

We have seen a few cars today. Keep your eyes open.

Colorful hillsides.

This entire road is riddled with private property signs. This one, the road doesn’t look like its been used in years. It makes you wonder if the private property still has any living owners, or if its gone back to corporations.

Some more fun colors along the road.

The road gets a lot thinner, and a lot bumpier here.

Puddles. Probably from the recent storm.

Big one. We had to traverse the mound on the right to stay dry.

Nice little meadow.

More fun color.

Really rough road through here.

Some nice yellows, and a neat looking stump.

More color.

Pretty flower.

And we finally reached the trail head! As you can see there is a pretty decent sized parking lot lot, and SUV’s and trucks have made it this far.

It’s still a good wide trail.

More wildflowers.

A little bit of color popping up amongst the pines.

Some more. Even though it seemed like we were just now really getting into the color we decided to turn back. It’s a hot day, the dog is not feeling it, and we are not feeling it either. Not sure if it was just the heat, or if its been a while since we have done a good long hike, but it was kicking our butts and we decided to head back.

This trail eventually leads to a ridge that has great views of Salt Lake and Davis counties. If you really want a challenge it also connects to Mueller Park, but I believe that adds an additional 13 miles.

Some more color.

These flowers come in a lot of different colors. I like this light purple.

More color.

Back to the weird stump. After learning about “wonder stump” in the redwoods I am wondering if this is something similar (a tree that grew over some logs) or if they were just really low branches. Either way it is kind of interesting.

I came up for fall colors and well, there was some. It was just kind of fleeting.

Bowing trees.

Nice meadow.

Freshly fallen leaves on a gross muddy puddle.

I  like this close up I took too, with the trees above reflected in the water.

Leaf littered forest.

More fun colors.

Dark tunnel.

More color.

Colorful hillside above.

Bright yellow tree.

The creek.

I took this to compare a standard Utah clover against a standard coastal clover.

Clover in California for our recent Redwood coast trip. I think I covered the size comparison alright.

More color.

Cute shot of two of my favorite things walking down a path.

More colors.

Back to the cabin along the path.

Last time we were here it was for sale. It is a shame the new owners are having such difficulty. I guess this a something to consider purchasing a cabin up in the canyons.

This tree absorbed an old barbed wire.

And a couple last shots of the road back down.

Well we didn’t make it to the top like last time, but we had a fun adventure, and got to see some nice fall colors. There were a lot more people this time, more cars, motorcycles, etc. But it was still a great peaceful adventure in the woods. Even if the majority was a bumpy dirt road. I am only removing one star for that.

As for difficulty. This is another example why I feel rating systems are somewhat flawed. Last time we were here, we came in early spring, made it all the way to the top and felt it was fairly easy. Today, with the heat, it was just really tough on us, and we probably didn’t even make it halfway. Aside from the heat, going with a DR3. It was rocky trail up, but wasn’t too difficult.

As for dogs, when the trail guide I find to locate the trail doesn’t mention anything about dogs, I always take a second to review all signs at the trail head just to make sure. There were no signs banning dogs, so I assume they are allowed.