Green Pond

Green Pond is a nice trail system located on Snowbasin Ski Resort above Ogden. It is an easy walk through a pretty forest. The trail is signed pretty well except for the main feature, Green Pond. You have the short and easy option of just going to the pond, or you can continue up to the ridge and back, or you can do a longer loop as well. We ended up going up to the ridge and back.

Quick Details:

Length: 1.7 mile Balloon trail to and around the pond, or 3 mile out and back to the ridge.
Difficulty: DR3. Super easy mild elevation gain.
Elevation Gain: About 150 to the pond 259 to the ridge.
Restroom: No. Not sure where the closest one would be. Likely Snowbasin.
Dogs? Yes. Leashed. Please clean up after your furry friend.

To Get Here:

Head up Weber Canyon take exit 92 for UT167. Go under the overpass and turn right. Follow the signs for snow basin with a left to stay on 167. Turn left on UT226. About 1.3 miles the pull out will be on the right.

Heading up Weber Canyon (PSP (Passenger Seat Photography)).

Some nice color up here (PSP).

Little bit of color, and a little bit of snow on the peaks (PSP) Oh and a little bit of construction.

After turning off onto 226 we get a nice view of the peaks again (PSP).

We stopped at the East Fork Overlook.

Quick panoramic.

The peaks above again.

The Trail:

Not far above the overlook is the Green Pond Trailhead. The pull out is on the right side of the road, but the trail we want is on the other side of the road.

The trailhead offers a nice overlook as well.

Colors and peaks above.

After crossing the road we found the actual trailhead.

Nice little boardwalk.

Little bridge.

Little bit of color left up here.

Really pretty forest.

Another little bridge.

A lot of the leaves have fallen, but there is some color to find still.

Another little bridge.

Some of the oaks still hanging on.

Pretty gnarly burl.

More color.

Pretty maple leaves.

This is one of the windiest trails we have done! It just snakes along back and forth. But I guess that is what makes it more easy going so, I’ll take it.

A little bit of color.

And some more.

Little bit hanging on.

For the most part the trail was okay, but there were a few muddy spots.

Leaf littered trail.

Little bit of snow, but not a lot.

Glimpse of the peaks above.

I was really impressed by the signage on this trail… that is except here. If the pond is what you are after, this is the fork you want to take.  It is just under 3/4 of a mile to here. But, we didn’t want a picnic and thought the pond was about 1.5 miles up, so we kept going.

Some more color.

A nice little view.

Some color and some pines.

Trail split. If the pond is what you are after, you came too far. Otherwise you can go up to the ridge to the left here.

Well, the sign signaled we were still on track so we kept going.

Little bit of color.

Hitting the conifers.

Gnarly tree.

Little maple tree.

This was the first sign that we probably made a wrong turn, before eventually deciding it must be a side pond. We were wrong, this was in fact Green Pond.

Pretty forest.

Itty bitty side pond.

A little further up is a bench with this slightly obscured view of the pond. I was starting to feel like this was what we were after, but we pushed on anyway.

Little bit of color above a switchback.

Color and peaks.

Lit up leaves.

Oh, found a nice band still holding on.

More color.

Little bit of snow.

Now we are in the shadow of the mountain.

Well, the pedometer put us at the 1.5 miles were were expecting, and no additional pond. We pushed on a couple more feet to the next switch back and double checked the map we used. Well, we are at the turn around spot. So, the trail does continue up. it looks like you can take it to a peak, or connect with another trail to make a loop back down. We decided to turn back.

Some more color.

This tree looks like it lost it’s top, and then a branch took over as the top.

Shadow of the mountain again.

Hiking in fall problems.

More color.

Back down to the overlook.

Tree tunnel.

More color.

View across the way.

Back to the trail split. If you do the longer loop, this is where you’d come back.

Back to the picnic area. This is the way to the pond.

Color and a peak.

Green Pond, finally! Unfortunately it is now in the shadow of the mountain, so not the best lighting. But, we can always come back.

Panoramic.

The other couple that was already here came up and asked if we by chance had binoculars with us, because they are seeing something in the water. So.. telephoto lens out.

Definitely something out there. It was way out there and hard to see at the time. They were between beaver and otter. I said the water isn’t clean enough for otters, so I was between beaver and muskrat. Now since I couldn’t see it very well before going through my pictures, and considering I NEVER see beavers, I decided it must be a muskrat, and informed the couple of that. However…

Now that I can zoom in and clean up the image a little bit I am now thinking it is a beaver. So, if you were at the pond and some idiot convinced you it was a muskrat, I apologize. you were right, I was wrong.

‘

I don’t know for sure. It’s really hard to tell beavers and muskrats apart, particularly only being able to see it’s head. I feel it’s too blocky for a muskrat, so I am still leaning towards beaver, but accept it could be a muskrat as well.

Didn’t get a picture of it’s tail as it started to swim away, but I see ears! Another feature that leans more towards beaver.

It’s a shame the lighting wasn’t better. But, beavers are primarily nocturnal, so we might not have seen it if it was lighter out.

The final piece of evidence, what appears to be a beaver lodge.

Eventually a family with kids came up, and the kids, well being kids, started throwing rocks in the pond, so whatever it was took off. I wanted to say something, but you know, they are just being kids so I didn’t want to be a jerk. I thanked the other couple for pointing out the wildlife to us. I wish I could have seen it better while we were there and shown them what I did capture, but I guess there is a chance they will see this. We decided to wander around the pond.

Nice reflection.

Another panoramic.

Neat old stump.

More reflection.

From the far end.

The other side.

Cracked mud.

Looking towards the front end.

Little bit of color above the pond.

The pond and peaks above.

Nearing the front again.

The front again. It was about a quarter mile around.

One last shot before heading back down.

Some more color.

Pops of color.

Crescent Moon.

Messy forest floor.

View across the way.

A little bit of color.

Naked forest.

Color on these oaks.

More color.

Black leaves.

View from the parking lot.

Panoramic.

The peaks above again.

Heading back (PSP).

Ray of light (PSP).

Snowy peaks (PSP).

That ray of light is lighting up one particular spot on the mountain (PSP).

Deer on the road (PSP). After a near miss in Yellowstone a few days ago I felt the need to announce they were there, even though we had plenty of space. Yeah, Landis saw them too. No need for alarm.

They were well out of the way before we got to them (PSP). But hey, better to be overly safe than to have an issue.

Nearing the mouth of Weber Canyon (PSP).

Well, that was a fun little adventure and I enjoyed it. I still kind of suck at chasing the fall colors, but we did see a little of it today. The trail was super easy, but I note we could have skipped about half of it, but I did enjoy the adventure. I liked the signage on this trail for the most part, but wish the Picnic Area sign also included Green Pond on it so we didn’t walk past it and keep going. We didn’t see many people above the pond, and only 2 other groups at the pond so it was a nice peaceful adventure in the woods. Going with 9 out of 10 squirrels. Removing 1 for confusing signage.

As for difficulty, the whole section we did was a pleasant slow climb up the mountain and we barely noticed the climb. Going with a DR3.

Dogs are allowed, leashed. Please be sure to clean up after your furry friend.