Sunday, March 29, 2020

Ghost Falls And Memorial Cove

Ghost Falls is a neat little waterfall located in Corner Canyon in Draper. The trail goes through some pretty forest and follows a creek for a while. It also features a couple really interesting things to see along the way. There is a HUGE mess of trails which can be a little confusing and frustrating. However, they have improved signage and if you keep a copy of the map (external link) on your phone that makes it easier. Last time we went up on the north side of the canyon, today we went up via the Canyon Hollow Trail, and then the Ghost Falls Trail. We ended up coming down the Canyon Hollow Trail. This ended up being a excellent option to get a hike in while safely social distancing. We didn’t see very many people.



Quick Details:

Length: We did about a 2.8 mile balloon.
Trail Type: Balloon, can do out and back, or several loop options.
Difficulty: DR3.
Elevation Gain: about 690 ft.
Restroom: Yes. However I don’t recommend using them right now.
Dogs? No. Everything above the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST) is watershed.
Other Info: They strongly ask to not use the trail if it is muddy. If you can feel yourself sinking in, and/or are starting to collect mud on your shoes you are damaging the trail and should turn around.

To Get Here:

From i15 take the Bangerter Highway exit 289 go left. on 13800 S. About 1.7 miles turn right on 13th E. Go under the bridge and turn right onto Highland Dr. Take the first left onto Rambling Rd. At the traffic circle, take the first exit onto Mike Weir Dr. Turn left on Pinion Hill Ln. Turn right on Canyon Vista Ln. Turn left on Gray Fox Dr. Turn Right onto Coyote Hollow Ct. Go to the end and park.

You want to use the trail to the right of the restroom and TH kiosk and then immediately go left.



Looking into Corner Canyon with Potato Hill on the right (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP).

The Trail:



Trailhead kiosk. The trail starts to the right of this.



The first trail split. You will want to go left, following signs for Canyon Hollow. Right has a few options, including taking the BST up to or around Potato Hill.

Also, I absolutely love that Draper has embraced the random ‘There is no poop fairy’ signs we have seen on random trails. This is the first one I have seen with an official city logo on it.



Very quickly after turning left you will come to the next signed split, you will want to go right here. Left will take you to several different options including taking the BST out towards Bear Canyon Suspension Bridge.



No dogs allowed above the point. If you brought Fido along, you will need to stay on the BST.



Into the woods! I was a little concerned the trail would be muddy and we would have to turn around so I did have a back-up plan in mind just in case. But so far, so good.



I’m not sure where the lower trail to the left goes, it does not appear to be on the map. I suspect it is just an alternate path that might eventually connect again, however, we followed the sign towards Canyon Hollow on the right.



Nice, wide open trail.



View of the canyon below.



Scrub Oaks.



The Silica Pit.



I love the different colors of rock against the white silica.



Back into the forest.



View down canyon. You can see Antelope Island from here.



Burnham Gorge. The Ghost Falls, and Rattler trails will go through that.



With more of Mount Jordan.



Gnarly wasp nest.



Crossing the Rush Trail. Keep your eyes open for bikes coming down quickly here.



Some fun crazy trees.



Little side stream below. This is coming out of Memorial Cove so it is a good sign you are near there.



This is a lovely little side gully.



At about 7/10ths of a mile you will reach Memorial Cove. It is super short, at less than a 10th of a mile so take a second to check it out.



I like the little rock staircase welcoming you in.



This is a lovely little side gully.



Well hello little fellas.



They must be use to all the humans in the area. They know we are down here and are keeping an eye on us, but they don’t seem to be terribly concerned.

We saw deer last time we came through here so it’s a good spot for them.



Back to the cove.



Whoa! Check out that gnarly bridge!





That is a way cool bridge. I wanna call it the witches bridge.



Luckily the base isn’t as rickety. Although that would have made it even more cool.



Looking down stream.



Is there a term for this kind of structure? I have seen them on all sorts of random trails.



A little closer.



I guess this is the memorial of Memorial Cove. I found the obituary, he was a member of Drapers Parks and Trails Council for 8 years, was a mountain biker, and skier. In lieu of flowers, his family asked for donations to be sent to Draper City in his name, to be used for the improvements made in Corner Canyon. Sounds like he was an upstanding member of the community who deserves the recognition.



End of the line. Right above here is that down hill bike trail, so you don’t want to keep going anyway. The entire little side trail is less than a 10th of a mile.



Looking down into the cove again.



The deer are still hanging out.



I promise we won’t hurt you, just trying to get back to the main trail.



Back down to the Canyon Hollow Trail.



The creek continuing down.



Back into the woods.



The canyon below.



A couple trails cross through here, but it is well signed.



Before long we reached the trail split for the Ghost Falls Trail.

So, we ended up doing the exact pathway that I had planned by looking at the map, but not exactly what I had planned to do in my head haha, but it still worked, and got us to the intended destination.



Clearly signed.



The creak sounded a lot bigger than it looks here.



More difficult. Yeah, it is a little tougher, but not horrible. I will say, if you are squeamish about thin trails on steeper slopes, it it probably better to return to the Canyon Hollow Trail. It’s a little bit longer, but stays at the canyon bottom mostly.



Things are starting to green up on this side of the creek.



New willow growth.



This trail is a bit more thin.



Little side creek.



Peaks across the way.



It’s not the thinnest trail on the steepest slope but it did give me pause in a couple sections. But, we made it.



Looking down canyon.



View up canyon.



Back to the thin trail.



This trail split lets me know that we are almost there, .07 miles according to the map.



Short downhill section.



Not much further we reach the side creek for the falls. The bridge offers the best view of them.



Ghost Falls.



A little closer.



Quite a few warning signs for poison ivy. So, be aware.



The waterfall again.



As for the name, from what I can tell, it is known to dry up and disappear, like a ghost. Nothing spooky.



It’s not a huge waterfall, but it is lovely.



From the side. If you want, you can scramble to the top and see another small tier, but personally I didn’t find it to be worth the scramble so I didn’t bother with it this time.



Back down to the bridge. Eventually some other people showed up so we decided to take that as our cue to head on back. I was pretty pleased we had it to ourselves for a long as we did.

We decided to go down the Canyon Hollow trail.



Don’t let this sign fool you. There is a Ghost Falls Trailhead at the top of the canyon too. So, you want to go right and cross the lower bridge.



Tiny waterfall under the upper bridge.



Lovely forest.



Another bridge.



The little stream it is over. I lost track of how many streams come together in this canyon.



A little muddier on this upper section of the Canyon Hollow Trail. Luckily there was a dry shoulder to walk along and not cause any damage.



Random bathtub. o.O



The creek.



Smashed up truck.



Gnarly tree tunnel.



Another smashed up truck.



Looking across the canyon at the Rattler Trail (upper) and the Ghost Falls Trail (lower).



View of the valley below.



Another bridge.



The creek has worn quite a deep little gully here.



More helpful signage. I think this is where we screwed up last time and accidentally ended up on the downhill bike path. They were doing some construction up here and we got a little discombobulated. Anyway, do not go forward here.

I am not 100% sure, but I THINK you can use the dirt road for a more direct route and shave a couple 10ths of a mile off the hike. We used the windy trail just to the right, or north of it.



Back over the creek.



The creek through the woods.



Unlabeled trail split. I mistook where we were on the map and decided we should go right. But, looking at the map again, I think forward is the shortest route. Either way I think both get you back down.



Looking up.



The creek again.



Through the woods.



Where the trail connects to the dirt road again.



Heading down the road.



Where we split off for the Ghost Falls Trail. If I did my math right, the Canyon Hollow Trail is only about 3/10ths of a mile longer, but if you can use the dirt road, it might be closer to the same.



Looking across the canyon towards the Rattlesnake and Ghost Falls trails again.



Burnham Gorge.



View down canyon again.



Panoramic.



Enjoying the trail.



Back to where the stream comes out of Memorial Cove.



Thick forest.



Up the ridge.



I just love me a good forest.



The side stream below.



The downhill bike track above. Look how high up that bank goes. Whew!



You can see the Aquariums giant claw from here.



One of many games trails you might see.



Mount Jordan with Burnham Gorge to the left.



View down canyon again.



Back to the Silica Pit.



I really love the various colors of rock against the white silica.



Particularly the purples!



The back of the pit.



The lower canyon.



Expensive houses below Potato Hill.



Faint solar halo.



Almost back to the trailhead.



Well hello again. Well actually I have no idea if its the same group or not. Probably not.



Lovely little tree tunnel.



It looks like the Bonneville shoreline trail goes through that gully before connecting to Potato Hill. I'm not 100% sure, but I think that gully is Coyote Hollow.



The creek from that gully.



Well this is new. Designated hiker parking? I guess people visiting the temple use this parking lot enough to warrant reserving spaces for hikers. Rude.



Fun storm clouds on the way home. (PSP).

I am glad we came back out to explore the canyon. There is a whole lot more trail to explore, but I think we have visited most of the interesting stuff. It was fairly quiet today, didn’t see many people, and even had the waterfall to ourselves for a good couple minutes. I also enjoyed Memorial Cove. It is a lovely little area. And we saw quite a bit of wildlife which was nice as well. Going with 9 out of 10 squirrels. Taking 1 for the confusing web of trails.



As for difficulty,it was a pretty mild climb, so DR3.

Dogs are not allowed above the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, which is like, 99% of the trails you would use to see the waterfall or the cove, so leave Fido at home.













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