Devils Castle Trail

The Devils Castle Trail in Little Cottonwood Canyon is an amazing trail that offers some great views of Devils Castle, Sugarloaf Peak and the cirque below. The wildflowers are plentiful right now, though we might be on the tail end of it. The Albion Meadows below seemed to be just about fizzled out. This trail features a lovely forest and a couple spring fed streams as well.

Note: my camera died on the previous trail we did, and I am still shopping for a new one, so these were taken with an older camera. Not the best quality but it did the trick.



Quick Details:

Length: About 1.8 miles.
Trail Type: Loop
Difficulty: DR4 There is a bit of a climb.
Elevation Gain: About 460 ft.
Restroom: Pit toilets at the TH and in the Albion Basin Campground.
Dogs? No. Little Cottonwood Canyon is watershed.
Other Info: Fee Area. $8.00 per car to use the Summer Road. Otherwise you will add 1.4 miles hiking up Albion Meadows from the Albion Base. The shuttle is not running for the 2020 summer season.

To Get Here:

Drive to the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Stop at the ranger gate and pay your use fee. Continue about 1.6 miles up on the summer rd. Park at the Cecret Lake TH.

You can go either way, but the trail split off of the Cecret Lake Trail is not marked. So if you are unfamiliar, it is easier to find the right route by going up through the Albion Basin Campground. I also think this is the easier route.



Heading up the Summer Road (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

We got to experience this road on foot on our last trip up to the Albion Meadows.



As far as thin, high elevation summer roads go, this one isn’t bad at all (PSP). Of course, follow the speed limit and stay alert, but it’s not bad.

The Cecret Lake TH parking lot, and the overflow lot are pretty much a zoo. We couldn’t find parking on our first pass through, but lucked out on our 2nd.

The Trail:





The parking lot gave me some hope that the wildflower season is not quite over yet.



From the parking lot, you will want to proceed past the gate for the Albion Basin Campground and continue up the road for a while.



Heading up the Albion Basin Campground Rd.





Holy fireweed, Batman! I have never seen so much fireweed before!



Hummingbird!



Little Cottonwood Creek. Fun Fact, the headwaters of Little Cottonwood Creek are Cecret Lake, and numerous springs up here.



Fireweed.



With some daisies.



Continuing through the campground.



Lupine, fireweed, and a couple others.



Paintbrush and daisies.



Fireweed and paintbrush.



Look for this sign. You will take the road to the right just after it, rather than continue along the Albion Camp Ground Loop. It is just before the loop curves back around.



There is a trail marker.





Lots of lupine.



Lupine and paintbrush.



Lovely mix.



Sugarloaf peak.



Devils Castle. I don’t know if that patch of snow technically qualifies as a glacier, but it is always present. I have never seen it not be there.



Paintbrush and lupine.



Thistle.



Fireweed.



Flowers and rocks.



More fireweed.



Section that goes past some cabins. You are still on a dirt road through here.



More flowers.



Lupine and Devils Castle.



Paintbrush.



Look for the trail marker to stay on the Devils Castle Loop. I am curious what may lay further up the road, and might explore one day, but another time. For now we wanted to keep along the loop.



More paintbrush and fireweed.



Lupine and fireweed.



Flower lined trail.



Lots of fireweed.



With a view.





Lupines and paintbrush.



Still climbing.



A nice view of Devils Castle.



Lupine and something yellow.



Starting to be able to see the little cirque. At least I think it’s a cirque.



Western coneflower.



Devils Castle again.



Lupine and daisies.



I love all of the random strewn large boulders.



I have never seen lupine in the seeding phase. I love the fuzzy little pouches.



Lupine and paintbrush.



Eventually the trail starts to level out a bit. Still heading uphill, just not as quickly.



Devils Castle.



Nice mix of flowers.



Lupine.



Sickletop Lousewart.









More flowers.



A deer off in the distance.





More flowers.



What the….



White lupine?



I have never seen lupine be white so I thought I had stumbled upon something interesting, like albinism.

Turns out, lupine does indeed come in white. Its just less common in the wild.



It is kind of pretty though.





Paintbrush.



Getting up close and personal with Devils Castle.



More flowers.



A view of the cirque below.





Hooray! Some columbines.



Devils Castle.



The cirque below.



Mine tailings.



A patch of snow, in August!



More paintbrush.



View across the canyon. This is the high point of the trail.



Panoramic.



Parry's primrose.



Fireweed with the view.



Fireweed. Seriously, I have never seen so much of it before! Loving it.



The mine tailings again.



The mine is almost directly below the peak.



More fireweed.



The cirque below with the scree field and boulders.



Again.



The trail cuts across the scree field, but it well packed down.



Looking up towards the peak.



Pica.





Not the sharpest photos, but I love these action shots. These guys are fast!



Looking across the cirque.



Climbing crag.



Columbine.



More mine tailings.



Then we go back into the woods.



Looking back on Devils Castle.



Lupine.



Paintbrush.



Western coneflower.



Devils Castle and some lupine.



Wildflower lined trail.



Lovely wildflowers.







Lovely forest.



Western coneflowers. I am pretty sure these have the most petals I have seen!



You can see the crowds of people hiking on the Cecret Lake Trail.





More flowers.



The long descent.



Pretty forest.



Daisies.



Lovely forest.



The first little spring has dried up.





Pretty columbine with the back petals a lovely shade of blue.



Trail split. Last time we went left, so today we decided to check out right. Now that I have done both routes, I think Left is the official trail. Right leads to a spiderweb of trails.



We found another spring.



It is pretty through here.





Pretty forest.



Trail T. I imagine right goes back towards the mountain, so we went left.





I love all the giant boulders through here.



Devils Castle again. Oddly enough I think this is the route we took up the first time we tried this trail from the other direction.



Another of the springs.



More flowers.



Paintbrush.



Fun family tree.



Lupine and paintbrush.





More flowers.



The little stream again.



Yellow monkey flowers.



Devils Castle again.



Eventually you will hit the Cecret Lake trail for the last oh… 1-2 tenths of a mile. I did confirm we popped out at exactly the place we started the first time we did this. However, as I mentioned I think the official loop is a little further up.



More flowers.





More fireweed.



With a hummingbird!



Another one.



Forest and flowers.



Little Cottonwood Creek.

Well, that concludes the trail, but since we drove up here today, I thought I would see if we could snag a spot at the Catherine Pass TH and check out the upper meadows.



Devils Castle and Sugarloaf Peak.



Hrm. The Albion Meadows below the Catherine Pass TH seem to have surpassed peak. Well, no reason to climb down, so we didn't.



Little patch of blue.



Looking down Little Cottonwood Canyon.



At the bottom of the summer road looking back towards the Albion Basin.



Heading down Little Cottonwood Canyon (PSP). Don’t mind the dirty windshield.

I really do enjoy this hike! It’s not very busy, it offers incredible views, and the wildflowers were excellent today. Only taking 1 squirrel due to the fee. 9 out of 10 squirrels.



As for difficulty, I’d say a DR4. There is quite a bit of a climb no matter which direction you go.

Dogs are not allowed in Little Cottonwood Canyon. So leave Fido at home.