Gloria Falls

Gloria Falls is an absolutely stunning waterfall located in Little Cottonwood Canyon. The trail features a beautiful mixed forest, wildflowers, a creek, a waterfall, and possibility of wildlife. The falls are an offshoot from the main Red Pine Lake Trail.

We had no idea what we were going to do with our extra day off (observed 4th of July) so when my friend randomly texted me asking if we wanted to join them on this hike I jumped on it, This trail has been on my radar for a minute, but for some reason we just never did it. So yay, double win. A hike I have been wanting to do for a minute, and with friends. A random funny thing is, it happens to be the friend we did the Red Pine Lake Trail with, what are the odds?

Quick Details:

Length: About 2.8 miles
Trail Type: Out and back.
Difficulty: DR3. It’s mostly easy, but the last quarter mile has a couple quick scrambles.
Elevation Gain: About 500 feet.
Restroom: Yes, there is a pit toilet at the trailhead.
Dogs? No. Little Cottonwood Canyon is watershed.

To Get Here:

To get here drive 5.5 miles up Little Cottonwood Canyon. On the right side of the road there is a signed parking lot for the White Pine Trailhead. Yes this is the right place, Red and White share the trail for for first mile. If you hit Snowbird, you went too far.

Fun clouds above Mount Olympus (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

The Trail:

Old trailhead kiosk. I would put this somewhere in the 70’s maybe?

The rail starts out a little thin.

However before long it connects to an old service road, you will be hiking up that for the majority of the way.

Thimbleberries.

Little Cottonwood Creek.

More modern trailhead kiosk. We aren’t doing either of the lakes today, although we kept joking about doing them for the poor non hiker in the group. It’s our group dynamic, we weren't really picking on him, and trust me, he can dish it more than the rest of us.

Little Cottonwood Creek, downstream.

Upstream. And do you see it?

We have a moosey friend. I have never seen one in this area before. Not that I have spent a considerable amount of time here.

Not the best sighting we have ever had, but still fun none the less.

Little side stream.

Not much better of a view from over here. She’s too far back in the foliage.

So we decided to resume our hike. If it was just us, I might have waited her out a little longer.

Lots of thimbleberries.

Forest.

Mint.

Starting to hit some willows.

There are some climbs along the main trail, but they aren’t too bad. Though with the heat, we did need to take a couple of breaks today.

Pretty aspens.

Lovely view of Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Tiny side creek, or spring.

View across the canyon.

Fireweed. Yay. We didn’t see any yesterday.

Wild rose. I think it might be bristly rose.

I absolutely love these old forest road trails. They are super wide and generally have a gentle incline.

View across Little Cottonwood Canyon again.

Lovely mixed forest.

Another little side stream/spring. These side springs ended up being perfect spots for taking a break from the climb.

Butterfly.

Oh my! Look at this stunning beauty. I think it might be a Weidemeyer’s Admiral.

Short of climbing the tree, I wasn’t going to get much of a better picture of it haha.

From the side again.

More pretty forest.

Heading into White Pine Gulch.

Looking down Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Caterpillar.

Forest.

Trail split. You want to stay on the Red Pine Trail to the right.

I didn’t get any pictures, but the trail continues up on the left side of the creek for a little longer, and becomes a little thinner.

You will cross over this bridge over white Pine Fork. Then, immediately, swing left.

White Pine Fork.

Ferns.

I didn’t really get any pictures to show what the trail looked like through here, which is honestly a little weird for me considering that is kind of my schtick. I strive to show how tough, and/or scary a trail might be because, well, honestly I think that is something that is lacking in most local hiking blogs. I LOVE hiking, and if you are a regular visitor to my blog, you know I am scared of heights (which kind of sucks, considering it’s my favorite hobby). So I tend to try and show how it is for people like me. So yeah kind of failed in that part today.

Anyway, It was a little bit steep in spots, but it wasn’t a horrible long steep accent like Ferguson Canyon. I really don’t mind a few short scrambles, as apposed to long scrambles where I feel like one misstep could lead to a long slide down.

The creek again.

Small lower falls. Trust me, keep going.

Longer exposure.

Looking up creek.

Pretty forest, after a short scramble it is nice to have a little bit of a flatter area.

First glimpse of the falls.

The magnificent Gloria Falls. It is quite a bit taller than it seems in pictures.

With people to help demonstrate the size.

It is a spectacular waterfall! I think we need to come back earlier in the year sometime.

Super pretty.

So I am no expert, at all, however this appears to be signs of glacier activity.

Waterfall again.

Fun plants growing out of the rocks.

Top of the waterfall.

Waterfall with the surrounding canyon. This shot really makes it seem smaller than it is.

One last shot before the next group of hikers came up.

View downstream.

This kind of shows how steep and narrow the canyon is through here. The trail is not bad though.

After resting and catching our breaths we decided to head on back down.

The creek below.

The forest.

The creek again.

So, there is kind of a messy network of trails down. I chose not the best path, haha. But we did pass this spring. Keep your head on a swivel, you want to keep an eye out for the bridge, and not head back down too far.

Back down to the bridge.

The creek.

.

Yellow columbine. I have seen these only 1 other time, and didn’t get a particularly good picture.

The creek again.

Under the bridge.

Pretty butterfly. I think this is a California tortoiseshell.

Pretty forest.

It looks like the old road originally switchbacked here, but has since been allowed to grow over.

White Pine Gulch to the left, Little Cottonwood Canyon to the right.

Thick forest on either side of the trail.

View across canyon.

Columbines. These are the ones that I see quite a but more often.

The upper side creek/spring.

The other side of the canyon with a clearing below.

Monks hood.

The lower side stream/spring.

View across again.

A whole wall of thimbleberries.

Entering a section of aspens.

A bunch of bent willows. Looks like maybe an avalanche scar.

Back down to Little Cottonwood Creek.

Unfortunately our moosey friend is gone. Honestly, I didn’t expect her to still be here, but you know, there is always hope.

Some peaks above the parking lot.

That was a nice trail, and an extraordinary waterfall! I can’t believe it has taken this long for us to come and check it out. On the observed holiday, it was a little bit of a busy trail, but not too terrible. The wildflowers were great, and the completely unexpected moose sighting really made it today. 10 out of 10 squirrels today.

As for difficulty, most of the trail was pretty easy peasy. The final quarter mile has some scrambles. DR4.

Dogs are not allowed in Little Cottonwood Canyon due to it being watershed. So be sure to leave Fido at home.