Rocky Mouth Falls - Winter

 Rocky Mouth Falls is a beautiful waterfall located in Sandy. The trail features some nice forest, some views, a creek, and of course a pretty waterfall. The trail is super short, but is quite the climb initially. Historically they closed this trail during winter, so I haven’t bothered with it in winter. However I had seen some reports of people doing it in winter recently, so with a backup plan in place, I thought we’d give it a try. I guess it no longer has a seasonal closure, hooray!

Quick Details:

Length: About 8/10ths of a mile out and back.
Trail Type: Out and back
Difficulty: I mentioned that is a bit of a climb in the beginning, but eventually it levels out DR3.
Elevation Gain: About 450 feet.
Restroom: No. Closest one I can think of would be at Hidden Valley Park to the South, or the new Bell Canyon Preservation Trailhead to the north.
Dogs? No. Big Cottonwood Canyon is watershed.
Other Info: I definitely recommend having your micros spikes on hand.

To Get Here:

From the north take i15 to 90th south. Head east to Wasatch Blvd, turn right. Go about 2.1 miles and the trailhead will be on the left.

From the south, take 123rd south and head east and turn right on Wasatch. Trailhead will be on the right.

Note: Do not park in the neighborhood. Use the small parking lot off of Wasatch. 1125 S Wasatch to be precise.

The Trail:

Trailhead kiosks.

You start with the staircase of doom! Seriously, it is a long staircase.

I hate that the city feels the need to put in so many signs. Seriously, take 20 seconds to check the kiosk if you are not sure.

Fun clouds.

Then we trek through this neighborhood for a minute.

The canyon we are heading towards.

Where the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST) switchbacks it way up as it heads towards Big Willow Canyon.

Before long we reach the gate to the trail. This was the original trailhead, before the people who bought big houses next to a beautiful natural feature complained about people wanting to access said beautiful feature. 

For a second I thought I was going crazy that there was a seasonal closure, there are no signs indicating that at all! However I finally found another blog or 2 that confirmed that it really did use to be the case. It does still close at 9:00 PM though. So be sure to plan accordingly.

The second staircase of doom! Seriously, it is quite the climb! And definitely not as smooth and even as the lower staircase.

Nearing the top.

Then it levels out a bit. Phew!

View of the valley below.

Little bit of color. I’m pretty sure they are dead and just haven’t fallen yet.

Trail split. The waterfall is forward, and the BST is to the right, heading south towards Big Willow Canyon. Eventually the BST should head north from here across Dry Canyons to Bell Canyon.

Some color and the mouth of the canyon.

Starting to see some snow.

Neat bridge across the creek below. We will explore that a little more closely on the way down.

Striped rock.

Little cave. It’s not very deep.

The creek kind of looks dry.

First glimpse. It looks frozen, hooray!

The lower falls are completely frozen as well. This made getting up the the waterfall a little sketchy, but I found a path that was safe without needing to pull out the micro spikes just yet.

It is kind of neat though.

Not the most impressive frozen waterfall we’ve seen, but still pretty cool.

So pretty.

The entire narrow gorge is completely covered in ice.

Top of the waterfall.

Mossy cliff.

Eventually I put on the micro spikes and braved it across the ice.

I was still walking very gingerly, but the spikes seemed to help.

The lower tier.

The full thing.

Looking out of the narrow gorge.

Top of the waterfall.

Super neat.

Hole in the ice. I’m not terribly concerned about that as it isn’t very deep and I have waterproof boots on. We did manage without punching through ourselves through.

Vertical panoramic.

Icicles.

Eventually we made our way back out across the ice and removed the micro spikes.

Looking back at the waterfall through the narrow gorge.

If you feel more mountain goat than I do, you can continue up here. I haven’t done it since I was a teenager lol. However we did see someone making their way down

Down canyon.

Frozen stream.

Old closed off mine.

Pretty forest.

The little cave again.

Little bit of color.

View across the valley.

We decided to see the bridge below a little closer again. Access along the BST. This will add about 2 tenths of a mile out and back.

More color.

Neat bridge.

The creek.

It’s a simple design but I love it. Gives some character.

Little closer.

2018. Not very old. We decided to head back.

Leaf littered trail.

View across the valley.

The upper stairs of doom.

Back down to the gate. Now we just have a jaunt through the neighborhood.

Random deer stamp on the sidewalk. I can’t quite make out what it says.

Looking back at the canyon.

View to the north.

There is an old mine cart in this yard. Nice homage to the mining in the area. I wonder if it was found nearby, or if it was added later.

The lower stairs of doom!

Some faded color.

Uhg. Some people are absolute animals. What pisses me off the most is there is a garbage can in the parking lot. I’m not saying it was them, but there was a truck full of teens/young adults next to this. I am sure they were making out or what not, I mean, why else park at a trailhead parking lot and not hike? If it was them, I hope I made them feel at least a little guilt while I gathered it all up to throw it away. If it wasn’t them, sorry I made your make out session awkward, but hopefully I set a good example.

I get it, I was once a teen/young adult. My friends and I spent a lot of time in the canyons and foothills just hanging out and getting into shenanigans, but none of us ever littered or graffitied.

Little bit of a sunset as we head home (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

I was really excited that I could finally come and see this waterfall while frozen! I am glad that I decided to come check it out again. It was not terribly busy today. The ice sheet was a bit of a concern, but bring micro spikes and you should be okay. It’s also super short so it’s a good after work option. 10 out 10 squirrels today.

As for difficulty, it is short, and there are stairs, but it is quite a climb! DR3.

Dogs are not allowed due to watershed restrictions. Be sure to leave Fido home.