Willow Heights

Willow Heights is a great short hike up through an aspen forest to a pretty little alpine lake. Located near the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon. I would recommend this hike for summertime or fall. I normally wouldn’t attempt such a high elevation hike this early in the year, but with the strange dry winter we had I thought it should be ok. Nope, snow, lots of snow! It may be short at only .75 miles, (to the lake) but it is pretty darn steep. With it being so short it is probably still a good family friendly hike though. However, I should warn you, every single child I passed that was on the way down was begging to be carried.

Looking towards Mill D South (towards the Donut Falls TH) (DBP) The snow levels are really, really sad. Comparing this to May of 2008 when we attempted Donut Falls.

The snow was over Landis head! This is closer to normal conditions and why I don’t go high elevation too early.

The trailhead sign. You know, I thought Willow Heights sounded like a subdivision name, rather than a trail. Looking at the sign, with how recently it was designated makes me wonder if it was originally planned to be a subdivision. No evidence to back that up, however after a quick google search, it looks like it was up for sale in 2001 and zoned for development until Salt Lake purchased it to keep it pure and open. Really happy to see that. We need more open wild areas.

Bare aspens this early in the year. This is why I think summer or fall would make this hike amazing.

The trailhead sign is a little ways back on the trail.

Starting to hit some snow patches. I was hoping that since this was on the north side of the canyon there wouldn’t be too much, and I was right for the first half of the trail.

Before long the trail goes from slightly up, to almost straight up the side of the mountain. It is really steep, and rocky. Probably even steeper than Bell Canyon, but luckily, not as long.

Aspens as far as the eye can see, and all the way up. This reminds me of Guardsman Pass which isn’t too far from here.

Looking across the canyon.

Hitting some more snow. The trail is still up, but not as steep as it was for a minute.

More snow.

Nekkid aspens and blue skies.

A lot more snow. it is a good thing this is a pretty popular trail or there is no way we would have been able to find it. There were still a few spots that I wasn’t 100% sure we were following the trail, but we made it.

Although, aspens, nekkid or not, look kind of pretty in the snow.

For the most part the snow held our weight. We had well, a few instances of suddenly going down about a foot, foot and a half. got some snow in the boots, but it was a warm enough day that it didn’t ruin the experience.

Nearing the clearing. We passed a very loud obnoxious family that thankfully was leaving the area. Unfortunately, they had been and were continuing to make enough noise to scare off any wildlife within a 5 mile radius. Guess we won’t be seeing any moose today.

Huh, is the lake under snow? The couple above told me to prepare to see the biggest lake ever! (sarcastically) then no, no it is really small.

Uhm. That is really small. This can’t be it, can it?

Fantastic view anyway.

Quick 360 panoramic.

I decided to hike up to the ridge.

This is seriously a great view!

Okay that is seriously disconcerting. Cool, but scary.

Just beyond the ridge we found these bright plants.

Ah hah! This is the lake! The smaller one below, after looking at google maps, is just an extra little pond. Still covered in snow.

Another panoramic

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I like the way the clouds look here.

I wanted to explore some more, but I didn’t know where the shore ended, and as warm as it was, possibly falling through the ice didn’t sound enticing. So we decided to go back around the ridge to the other side.

A look at the peaks across the canyon.

Crossing Willow Creek below the lake.

A closer look at the bright orange plants. I think these might be the willows.

Drier trails!

Another angle of the lake.

Landis’ hiking pole makes these fun hollow snowballs.

Bunny tracks.

View back.

I wanted to go back a little further but the snow was just a bit much for us so we decided that can wait for a return trip in summer or fall. We decided to head back.

More bunny tracks.

Back to the small pond.

A view down Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Heading back into the aspens.

A horizontal one.

Aspens and pines.

Well, all in all this was an amazing adventure! Considering the blah winter we had, I actually kind of enjoyed tromping through the snow today. Of course, it being a nice warm day might have helped with that as well. 9 out of 10 squirrels losing 1 for loud obnoxious families ruining the serenity of the trail.

As for difficulty. Well, most of the trail is not bad at all, but there is a long stretch of just going strait up the side of the mountain that was quite strenuous. So even though it is a short trail, it is quite the workout! Going with a DR4.

Big Cottonwood Canyon is watershed so dogs are not allowed.