Albion Meadows Trail

The Albion Meadows Trail is a great connecter trail that goes though beautiful rolling Meadows filled with thousands upon thousands of wildflowers (in the right season). And then some lush forests as well. I almost always see wildlife along the trail but the flowers, and the scenic peaks surrounding you are what make this trail great. It’s a great trail to add to the Cecret Lake trail (which we did today, but I will post that separately). And this way you don’t have to fight for parking, or wait for a shuttle.

We’ve done this trail several times before, but It really is spectacular so we decided to do it again.

Some of the great views and wildflowers along the trail..

A pair of moose.

Quick Details:

Length: 1.5 miles to the Cecret Lake Trail Head 3 round trip. You can also use the shuttle and only do 1.5 one way (or add the 1.5 mile round trip of Cecret Lake).
Difficulty: DR3 pretty easy climb.
Elevation Gain: About 1100 feet.
Pets: No. Albion Basin and Little Cottonwood Canyon is watershed.
Restroom: Yes, one at the Albion Day lodge (where the TH is) and one at the Cecret Lake TH.

To get here, drive all the way up to the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon to the Alta Albion Basin Gate. (its as far as you can drive without driving on a dirt road).

The trail is between the Day Lodge and the Restaurant, follow it down hill for about 30 feet, before turning left and heading uphill.

Looking towards Collins Gulch (DBP). Also a great trail.

Looking down Little Cottonwood Canyon from the trailhead.

I recently learned there is another short .5 mile trail from here to Collins Gulch call the lower Albion Meadows Trail. We might have to explore that one day.

This interesting butterfly, who did a nice little turn for me, is white on the underside, and bright orange on the top side.

There are also fun little wildlife interpretive signs to give your kids something to do, and learn along the way.

You’ll follow underneath a ski lift for part of the way. This used to bother me, but I donno, I guess I have gotten used to it. Plus, so many of my favorite trails are around the ski resorts, I guess I just appreciate being able to explore the beauty enough that I have come to accept it. And most of them, it isn’t for very long anyway.

Wild daisies.

Indian Paint Brush.

Bees on a coneflower.

Another species of Paint Brush.

Views of the mountains above.

More peaks. And showing the wide path you follow. Also, as you can see, even though there are some wildflowers to still enjoy, the blankets of them are not there this late in the year. June, July, and Early August are the best times for tons of wildflowers.

Here is a picture from last year. You can see more of it from last years post.

Still lovely hillsides.

Lupine.

Starting to get a nice view of Devils Castle.

Nice peak to the south.

Nice little waterfall.

There are still a few patches of flowers.

But most are fading, or have already done so.

Better view of Devils Castle.

I love the way this one turned out.

Such big eyes!

This guy was pretty photogenic.

Still another 1.6 miles ho boy.

About 3/4 of the way you will pass by Alfs Restaurant.

After that you leave the open meadows behind, and enter the beautiful forest.

And finally get a view of the creek. This is actually the early stage of Little Cottonwood Creek.

Wild daisies.

Short board walked section through a little swamp. This means you are almost to the end.

Another shot of the creek.

Monkshood.

The creek through the woods.

Almost to the Cecret Lake Trailhead.

And we made it to the top! Well, for this trail. We did decide to continue up to Cecret Lake you can follow that post here.

So, after we hiked up to Cecret Lake we will return down, where we ran across some great moose!

The main reason I decided to split the 2 trails into 2 posts is because this is a connector trail, that connects to several other trails I want to do. Also, this is a great trail by itself.

Neat split rock.

Into the woods again!

Fringed Grass of Parnassus… that is quite a mouthful.

Fields of small white flowers.

Small spring.

The creek again.

I love being in the woods.

Wild daisies.

The creek through the woods.

We were making a pretty good pace down when I spotted these guys off in the distance. Thank goodness I had my telephoto lens today!

Now you can see the smaller one. I didn’t think male moose hung out together.

They were kind of close to the trail, so we thought it best to wait them out. No matter, I am really enjoying watching these guys.

Now you can better see the two of them.

The bigger one started to wander off.

I’d like to just remind you, these were shot with a telephoto lens. We were still a good 200 feet or more away.

The bigger one disappeared into the woods and we were left with this little guy.

After a while we decided it was probably safe to pass by. I was still super nervous the big one was going to come crashing out of the woods at us, but we made it okay.

He did keep an eye on us though.

Big bird! Not the best shot. Some kind of hawk.

View down into the canyon.

There’s an old microwave tower up there.

Still a lot of wildflowers to enjoy. Just not the carpets of them.

Trees and peaks.

Little Cottonwood Creek carves a deep little canyon near the beginning of the trail.

Old mine car up at the trailhead.

There is one spot along the canyon road that offers a view all the way down canyon (DBP). I always try to get a shot heading down. One day we should stop.

Overall this is an exceptional connector trail. It is definitely worth doing all by itself, but if you are looking for more adventure there are multiple options including continuing up to Cecret Lake. All in all a great adventure, and particularly stunning when the wildflowers are in full bloom! Even without the flowers the views are stunning and it is quite a bit less crowded than the other trails. 9 out of 10 squirrels!

As for difficulty, there is 1100 feet of elevation gain but it’s pretty gradual mostly, with most of it being at the beginning. Also, for most of it, it is full sun with no shade. DR3.

Dogs are not allowed as Little Cottonwood Canyon is watershed.