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Waterfall Canyon is a great trail that leads to a really tall (200 ft.) waterfall that falls over the high cliffs at the end of the canyon. Even with low water this waterfall is pretty darn impressive and makes this moderate 1.5 mile climb worth it.
Quick Details:
Length 1.5 miles to the waterfall, 3 miles out and back.
Difficulty: DR4 long segments without shelter, rocky climbs
Elevation Gain: 2073 ft. (According to my new pedometer app)
Pets: Yes. Please ensure you clean up after them.
Restroom: At trailhead
To get here head to the 29th Street Trailhead on Ogden. Basically head east on 29th St. Until you hit the mountain. Mind you, Ogden High school is smack dab in the middle of 29th St. There are signs guiding you around it, but if you want to avoid the detour, take 28th St. Until after you pass the high school then scooch over to 29th. Bonus here is this will give you a stop-light across the busy Harrison BLVD.
After a quick jaunt up a smaller trail, you very quickly hit the Bonneville Shoreline Trail which you will follow the rest of the way into the canyon.
Uh, this is new. I am almost 100% certain this wasn’t here the last time we hiked up here.
I knew there was some private land in the area, but apparently the entire canyon is part of it! It’s nice that they have continued to let the public hike here, but this is a bit much! Asking for ID? really? Now that I think about it, I remember a news story a few months ago about people being concerned about it
But, as we will see, graffiti, and waste are a problem on a lot of our trails including this one. Some people really are jerks! And I am concerned if it continues to happen they may stop public access which is a really scary concept! I would suggest maybe investing in some cameras, adding signs saying the area is being recorded. (I looked at the page listed above lots of requests for info on new graffiti) Maybe then you would have some kind of evidence of these jerks doing it. Of course the property owners shouldn’t have to do that. They shouldn’t have to have their employees asking for ID either. Come on parents, teach your kids to respect nature!
Anyway, we weren’t harassed at all and had a great trip today.
Old water towers.
Wild Snapdragon.
Waterfall Canyon.
For most of the first mile there is not a whole lot of shade. And on the 100+ day that was really rough on us!
But eventually you reach the stream and the forest and have more shade.
Water Skeeter you can see the surface tension of the water in the shadow.
After the first bridge the trail splits 3 ways. they have added a sign to direct you to the left, and have since added a barricade to the trail going forward. this leads to the Via Ferrata climbing trail which sounds interesting, but is not for me with my heights issues. Please note, this is a pay for guided trail. Pay attention to their no trespassing signs. You don’t want to get prosecuted for trespassing, or worse, hurt or killed. To the right leads down the other side of the canyon.
Old wooden pipe.
The second bridge is about a mile up. Only a half mile to go.
Short landslide section to climb through.
And then the rocky section starts.
Starting to get some great views.
The small creek.
Lovely forest tunnel.
The peaks above. We are getting close.
Spider webs.
And well, a gnarly looking spider!
Appreciating the really shaded sections.
I have dubbed this Dr. Seuss Peak because it looks like something out of one of his books. Anyway, you just have to get around that and you are there!.
First glimpse of the waterfall.
And here we can start to see the full thing. (My Dr. Seuss Peak to the left).
A little bit more water than last time we were here, but not much. This is a stitched photo. It is so big, and you are just, right next to it, so it is hard to get a full shot of it.
I love the crescent canyon it comes out of. You know, this waterfall is weird, the cliffs are so tall, it is really easy to forget, there is still a lot of mountain above this. So it just kind of looks like this waterfall is coming out of no-where. When Abby asked me where it was coming from I didn’t really have a great answer other then well, there must be a stream up there. So, when we got home we looked at google maps. And, not really surprising at all, just like pretty much any other waterfall, there is a creek winding it’s way down the mountain before it plunges over these cliffs.
Close-up of the water towards the top.
Looking up from the base.
Sometimes when the wind picked up a swirl of mist would come off the waterfall, resulting in it raining down on us when we weren’t near the base of the falls.
The most active part of the falls.
Most of the waterfall.
View of the city below.
Another stitch, I think I actually got the full thing in it this time.
I believe this is a Yellow Monkey Flower. Originally I thought these only grew near geysers in Yellowstone, but, upon additional research, they do grow here too.
Like father like son. Landis like to climb up rocks and cliffs, and it would appear Tanner does too!
This is why the property owners are doing weird things. If jerks continue doing stuff like this we might lose access to this awesome trail altogether. Please don’t tag our pretty natural areas.
Different angle of the falls.
Various plants growing in the wet cracks.
The wind is making a mist again.
Which falls down like rain a little further down.
One last parting shot before we head down. We got lucky and actually got quite a bit of time with the waterfall to ourselves. I really imagine that is not common.
Another bright yellow flower.
with the flowering tree below.
Heading down the rocky trail.
Another pretty flower.
Back to the lower bridge.
Where the only of the many, many butterflies we saw along the way decided to hold still long enough to get a shot of.
Another view of the valley below.
Quick panoramic.
Back to the water towers.
Cacti!
Ben Lomond peak.
More wildflowers.
Malans Peak. Another short peak that we need to do one day.
Ogden Canyon.
Well, that was a tough hike on this hot hot day. As I mentioned, we have done it before, but didn’t find it as tough as this time, even though we did that one in August it must have been a cooler day because today just kicked our butts! However, it was wonderful to get to cool down in the waterfall! The kids had a blast and so did we. We even got the waterfall to ourselves for quite a while! So, going with a 9 out of 10. Only losing one for the miserable climb in the hot sun. This is probably a trail best left to early spring, late fall.
As for difficulty, this one is tough. The first mile would be easy if it were not in full sun on such a hot day. The last half mile is rocky and strait up. So I am going with a DR4.
Dogs are welcome! Please clean up after your furry friends.
