Killyon Canyon Left Fork

Killyon Canyon is a very pretty trail system located in Emigration Canyon above SLC. While thinking of where might be a good place to find some good fall color this popped in my head as a good option. Last time we were here we did the right fork so today I decided to do the left fork.

Quick Details:

Length: The guide I used said it was 3.9 out and back. We did not reach the end and did 5 miles out and back, so longer than that.
Difficulty: DR3. The elevation gain is so gradual you barely notice it.
Elevation Gain: The guide said 1043 feet. We did about 950.
Restroom: No. The closest public restroom I am aware of is in Rotary Park at the Mouth of Emigration Canyon. Or, if you want a nice meal you can stop in at Ruths Diner.
Dogs? Yes, leash required. Please clean up after your furry friend.
Other Info: There is no parking at the trailhead. You will need to park at the bottom of the street.

To Get Here:

Head approximately 7 miles up Emigration Canyon. At the first hairpin turn there is a road called Pinecrest Canyon Rd. On the left. About 3/10’s of a mile you will see a small parking area on the right (signed), and a little overflow area just up on the left (not signed). This is just before the road forks.

Heading into Emigration Canyon (PSP (Passenger Seat Photography))

Some nice color up here (PSP).

The Trail:

Look for the small pull out on the right with this sign.

Now you have to hoof it up the road for about .6 miles. Be sure to take the first right here.

Some nice color above.

6/10ths of a mile later we reach the trailhead.

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

The hills above look great.

This is probably the steepest part of the entire trail system. It’s not bad at all.

Leaves.

Nice blend of color.

Itty bitty waterfall.

With the color above it.

Couple of wildflowers hanging on.

I don’t now why, but I love when the leaves dot the trail.

Little band of aspens. Some with the neat golden orange.

Yellow and purple.

Yeah, this post is gonna be a lot of trees.

At about 9/10’s of a mile you will reach the Killyon Canyon Conservation Preserve Marker.

Area rules and the little poop fairy sign. A cute little reminder that there is no magic force removing your dogs poop, so pick it up!

A very loud squirrel!

Another small waterfall at the first creek crossing.

Good color here.

Little pool.

Lots of color.

Closeup.

Pretty.

I have decided willows are the most colorful plants. Purple in the fall, green in the summer, orange or red twigs in winter and spring.

More color.

Another pool. I think both pools exist because this used to be an ATV trail and there were the spots the ATV’s crossed.

Just below that is the 2nd bridge.

More color.

Different leaves dotting the trail.

One of the side effects of hiking this time of the year.

Great color.

Looking back down the canyon.

Giant fir trees.

at about 1.25 miles (from the parking lot, .65 from the TH) you will come to the trail split.

The sign has a bunch of stuff pointing to the right fork, and nothing listed for the left fork. This is why we decided to go right last time. So I decided to go left today.

The left fork crosses the creek again.

The right fork was dry so all the water coming down is from the left fork right now.

Some great orange.

The hills above.

This trail is quite a bit more thin than the right fork but it is still easy to follow.

A lot of the leaves have already fallen, but some haven’t even turned yet.

More leaves dotting the trail.

I can’t believe the size of some of the trees up here. Freaking huge! I mean, they obviously are no Redwoods, but still pretty darn big.

Weird mess of trees. Kind of spooky looking, like a shrunken head.

Thin trail but mostly fairly flat.

The leaves made it a little difficult to find the trail at times.

Alright this is getting ridiculous LOL. My walking stick picks up leaves fairly often in the fall, but usually only 1 or 2 before the fall off again.

This canyon has some narrow, and quite overgrown sections but it was still traversable.

There were quite a few broken trees.

Leaf littered trail.

Golden hillside.

Another gnarly broken tree.

Looking up.

Starting to turn.

Beautiful forest.

Creek crossing. At least right now at the end of the season it was super easy to step across. I can’t imagine it would be much bigger even during runoff though.

Looking downstream.

Some nice color.

Neat cliff wall.

Particularly colorful section.

Neat rock formations above.

I love the bright reds.

This is almost exactly the fall hike experience I have been looking for. It’s like being on a different planet completely surrounded by all this color.

A bunch of felled trees.

Well, the trail continued and I was really enjoying myself but we agreed to turn around so that we could make it back to the car before dark. We went exactly 2.5 miles. It looks like the trail might continue on to Lookout Peak, but I am not sure.

Looking up.

Occasionally you can’t see the trail at all.

Raindrops on a leaf.

Back to the really colorful section.

Looking up.

Nice blend of different trees.

Mossy rocks.

Some more color.

A tree burl.

Back to the creek crossing.

I just love being in the forest.

More leaf littered trails.

More reds.

Leaves decorating the pines like a Christmas tree.

Some more color up on the hills.

This pretty fallen leaf was caught in a lower branch.

Getting back to the main canyon, almost to the main trail again.

Quick panoramic.

Fallen tree filled with leaves.

More color.

With the overcast conditions most of the photos today aren’t the best, but I was having good luck taking the pictures from below.

Back to the main trail. just 1.25 miles to go!

Looking back at the good patch of color.

Looks like there was a fire up here at some point.

Oak leaves.

All over the ground as well.

The hill above.

Some good color here too.

Looking down canyon.

Another type of leaf littering the ground.

Ah, found the tree they came from.

Orange and purple.

Crossing the creek again.

More good color.

Another closeup.

Yellow and purple.

Another pretty wildflower.

The skies are getting pretty ominous so I am happy to almost be off the trail.

More color.

Hillside above.

Closeup of the willows.

Back to the trailhead. Just another 6/10ths of a mile to the car.

I still can’t believe how many leaves my walking stick picked up! Must be the fresher leaves.

Heading down the road.

Leaves starting to turn.

I LOVE this!!! A local resident offering a helpful solution to a problem, rather than just complaining about it. I wish more people would do simple things like this. I commend this homeowner.

If we had brought the pups along today I would have appreciated this even more (although we are not above driving home with a poop bag either. pro tip: add a washed sour cream or butter container (or bigger if you have bigger dogs) to your bag to store used poop bags in. It keeps the smell at bay).

Back to the car, with plenty of daylight to spare.

Heading down Emigration Canyon (PSP).

Smidge of sunset (PSP).

Near the mouth of the canyon (PSP).

That was a great trail. I was actually kind of feeling lazy today and planned on coming up maybe a mile or so, just to get some color in. But it was so gradual and pretty that I just wanted to keep going. We didn’t run into too many people either, which is always nice as well. We didn’t reach the end, and thus, no great end prize, but I really enjoyed the hike in the woods. Normally I wouldn’t rate a trail we did not reach the end of, but for what we did I am going with 8 out of 10 squirrels.

As for difficulty, Very gentile climb, hardly notice you are climbing. The main trail is wide, the left fork trail is thinner and has some really thin spots but is not bad at all.

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