Wild Rose To Lookout

The trail to Look Out from Wild Rose Park is a great trail with fantastic views. We have done it quite a few times, but I wanted to do it again today because our inversion is particularly bad and I wanted to get up above it.

Quick Details:

Length: We did about 1.5 miles, but it appears to keep going.
Difficulty: DR4 It has a couple steep parts, but overall it is generally easy.
Elevation Gain: We did about 730 ft.
Restroom: At the trailhead
Dogs? Yes! Please clean up after your furry friend.

To get here take US 89 in NSL to Eagle Ridge Dr. Go up the hill about 2 miles and turn right on Eagle Point Dr. Turn left on Sky Crest Ln. and you will find a nice community park. The trailhead is up past the picnic tables.

There are quite a few trails in this park, but for the lookout stay on the mail trail for almost a half mile until you come to a 3 way split. Follow the sign to the right, going up to the ridge.

Some of the peaks above from the trailhead. And the weird little observatory looking building I noticed last time I was here.

Into the woods! As you can see, the trail is popular enough to be pretty packed down, but not so popular that it isn’t quiet.

Frosty trees.

Already seeing the wall of smog.

And heading up the ridge.

Starting to really see the funk. It’s like a bowl of water.

Reaching the ridge offers the first great viewpoint.

Antelope Island, looking like an even smaller island.

It would seem we had a good frost this morning, and some of it is still hanging on in the shady areas.

And a lot of it has fallen off the trees, but mostly holding it’s shape. Kind of neat.

Fun textured snow.

The inversion is really a bizarre beast. Nearby ridges are sharp, and then not much further and the smog seems like a solid wall. Also, that ridge is Sunset Point which is another great viewpoint.

Now we just have to climb this steep slope.

Quick panoramic from just above the viewpoint.

Looking into the canyon below.

What is this? A fox? a cat? a fur hat? It didn’t seem to be moving…

Oh! It’s a porcupine! I have never seen one in the wild before. Cute little guy!

Ack… okay, okay no need to point those at me. Backing away.

Okay, he/she is wandering off now. I didn’t realize they were so slow. Still cute, even if they can totally ruin my day. No quills to the face though! So, my first encounter with a porcupine went well. Honestly I am a little surprised this is the first time I have seen one, since we spend so much time out in the wilderness.

Stopping to catch our breaths. Smog in the background.

Antelope Island again.

Heading out to my favorite viewpoint.

Plane rising from the airport, which is under all that smog there somewhere.

Fire ring.

Smog.

Another panoramic.

Striped mountains and smog. Also you can see the Bonneville Shoreline Trail below.

Southwest over the Salt Lake Valley. There is a sprawling city underneath all that.

Northwest over Bountiful and towards Ogden.

Taking in the view.

Heading back uphill.

The smog seems even thicker than the last time we hiked up here this time of year.

Another plane.

The trail was a bit tough and we kept slipping through to our waists so we decided to go back to the main trail.

Back to the main trail. My goal was the first ridge above.

Through the woods again.

And up the steep slope. Hindsight being 20/20 I wish I had continued up the other trial. This one is quite a bit steeper and tougher!

Almost there.

Shadow.

Ridge and smog.

Antelope Island again.

Another panoramic.

It really is bizarre.

There is a city under there somewhere.

Radio towers.

Antelope Island some smog, and a cloud or two.

Looking northwest ish towards Ogden. The smog kind of looks like a lake. Landis mentioned this might be what it looked like when Lake Bonneville was here. It is a bit above the benches, but yeah, I think that is a good relative comparison.

This panoramic from the cell phone shows that pretty well. The ghost of Bonneville.

After struggling up to the first ridge, we decided to head back down along this ridge.

Another example.

Another panoramic.

Another inversion shot.

Again, it really does look like a lake.

Striped hillsides.

With a person.

I like this shot up north particularly.

Another panoramic.

The ridge across the valley with people.

Heading back down we found our porcupine friend again. I was not aware they were tree climbers.

Still a cute little guy.

The smog with a likely supplier.

Heading down the steep part again.

Ben Lomond.

Ice crystals.

The mountain bike trails on the other side.

Leaves hanging on.

Through the forest.

The main trail split.

The forest again.

Trees on the hillside.

Inversion below.

Frosted trees.

Inversion below again.

Ski lines.

Heading out through the trees.

Frost!

Inversion on the way home.

And back down into the funk.

This was a great adventure and I am super happy we did it. Lots of fun stuff to see up there today. Even if we have done it several times, you never know what you might find.It shall retain its 8 rating.

As for difficulty, for the most part the trail is pretty easy, but there are definitely some steeps spots and a lot of it is in full sun. Going with a DR4.

Dogs are allowed! Please remember to clean up after your furry friends!