Bell Canyon: Lower Waterfall

Bell Canyon (also referred to as Bells Canyon) in Sandy, Utah is a wonderful trail system that offers a number of different things to explore. The trail to the lower reservoir is short and faily easy and appears to be most peoples destination. The trail to the lower waterfall and beyond is very steep and very rocky, but the waterfall is spectacular. My 2 brothers that live out of state were in town for the holiday weekend and wanted to hike with us. I had some other ideas for them, but with other obligations we got a little bit of a late start, so I figured the reservoir is good, but one thing led to another and we found ourselves climbing. Todays post will be a bit shorter as I somehow forgot my camera and only had my cell phone. So if you are looking for a trail guide, check out my post from 2014.

Quick Details:

Length: 1.4 Miles out and back to the reservoir, 4.7 Miles out and back to the waterfall.
Difficulty: DR3 to the reservoir. DR5 to the falls.
Elevation Gain: 1784 Feet
Restroom: Pit Toilets at the trailhead.
Dogs? No. Bell Canyon is considered watershed. Some maps make it look like they are allowed but trailhead signs say they are not.

To Get Here:

There are 2 separate trail heads. The Boulders Trailhead is .5 miles to the reservoir and is a bit steeper. The Granite Trailhead is .71 miles and is a bit less steep. I decided to try the granite one today. This trailhead is just east of the intersection of Wasatch Blvd. and Little Cottonwood Canyon rd. Quickest directions are: from i15 take the 9000 s exit. Follow that east as it turns to 9400 s, then Little Cottonwood Canyon rd. After you cross Wasatch Blvd. look for the small parking lot on the right. If you enter the canyon, you went too far. If the parking lot is full there is overflow parking a little further up the road. You can no longer park on the road.

The Trail:

Lower Bell Reservoir. It is super, super low on water right now. Not sure if they are doing maintainance, or if it’s just being used before being refilled.

From the shore.

We decided to follow the cascades up to the trail above.

The creek again.

After a little bit of debate on if we could make it to the waterfall before dark, we finaly decided to just go for it.

Trailside Christmas Tree. I don’t know why, these always make me smile. So long as whoever does it comes back to collect the decorations after Christmas. Otherwise it’s just littering.

The best trailside Christmas Tree is the Ogden BST Christmas Tree. Nobody knows who does it, but it’s been happening for years.

Old sign has a bit of damage. Oh, they have also added tons more signage! It makes the hike a little more enjoyable knowing how far along you have gone, and knowing you are taking the right turns.

After this sign the trail starts to work it’s way UP. After you cross the creek once, and then meet up with it the trail starts to get seriously up, and very rocky.

This sign is definitely new and is very helpful. The first time we were here we wouldn’t have known to take the side trail here except somebody warned us.

Almost there! There is a very steep mound you have to work your way down if you want to see it better.

And we made it!

Wow, so different at the end of the water season vesus run off.

I would never be able to get this close during run off.

2017

And from our spring trip in 2014. Not the exact same angle, but close enough. This mist was absolutely incredible that day!

Amazing view down canyon. If you have more daylight left than we did, head a little further down trail and it is an even better view. At this point we knew we’d be hiking after dark and wanted to get past the steep rocky section before then. So it was time to head back.

The city lighting up is incredible from here.

Panoramic from a little lower.

That was a tough, but incredible hike! I am still mad I forgot my camera, but we’ve been here before so it’s not the end of the world. My brothers seemed to enjoy it and we had a great time catching up. The trail is crazy crowded on the way to the reservoir, but the crowds thin quite a bit afterwards. Last time we were here we gave it 8 squirrels losing 1 for crowds and 1 for steepness. I think that rating still holds true today.

Dogs are not allowed due to watershed restrictions.