Oktoberfest at Snowbird

 From Mid August to mid October, Snowbird hosts Oktoberfest every weekend from 12-6 PM. It features a lot of beer, German food and music, vendors, fun kid activities and more. They have been hosting it for 51 years. It’s been a few years since we have gone to s wee decided that even though every time we have passed by it, it looks like it is crazy busy, that we were going to do it again this year. We learned some friends were going this weekend so we decided to go with them.

Quick Details:

Length: Lots of wandering around, plus however far away you park.
Trail Type: Wander.
Difficulty: NA - Just be aware you are on paved mountainous terrain.
Elevation Gain: NA
Restroom: Flush toilets in the main building, they also brought in a bunch of portapotties. I noticed a group by both entrances.
Dogs? No. Little Cottonwood Canyon is watershed.
Other Info: It is free to attend, however parking is now $12.00 a car. Unless you find road side parking.

To Get Here:

Drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon. near the top, Snowbird will be on the right. You will know you are there when you see a million cars lining that side of the road.

The mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)). Looks like the trees are really getting started with the color change! Also, it looks like we might get rained on.

Some color (PSP). Yes, those are raindrops on the windshield.

Whoops, too much rain to get a decent shot (PSP). But it is kind of fun.

Gotta get a quick shot between the wipers (PSP), Lots of pretty color!

Tons of road side parking (PSP).

The Trail:

We were honestly planning to pay to park and just not hassle with it. Well, it appears all of the lots were full, so we found an open spot on the bypass road that was only about 3/4 of a mile away.

Looking down canyon from the bypass road. You can see all of the cars parked along the main road.

You know, we have been saying we want to check out the bypass road before, and well, now we have, well, part of it anyway.

Little bit of color across the canyon. I wonder if there is a trail up that gulch. Those are the Hellgate Cliffs to the right, and I know there are some climbing areas on those. So, meh, maybe worth investigating someday.

Oh, you can see Hidden Peak from this vantage. Fun.

Closer view of the tram as it makes it’s way down from Hidden Peak.

Closer view of Hidden Peak.

View down canyon.

Sign telling people how to park in these side lots. Always need a sign. I don't know I thought it was amusing at the time. But it made a bit more sense coming back.

Then we continue down this little dirt road for a bit.

Forest.

Ski lift.

I didn’t get a picture of the back entrance, since its pretty non-descript. But here is the front entrance after we finally got out hands on some beer and found our friends (you can't take your beer outside the area, but our friends watched them for a minute).

Some color across the way.

Super, super busy!

The Snowbird logo with some art on it. Fun.

Another one that is still a work in progress.

Little bit of color on the hillside.

The back side of the front entrance.

We dipped into the forest for a little bit.

Looking up.

Ferns.

The crowded vendor area again.

The main event tent. This is where most of the action is, the live music, and of course the German food! I had my heart set on trying the Jaeger Schnitzel this year, but there was another long line and we were just about done with lines at this point. Still a little bummed I didn’t get to try it though.

Shortly after we saw an ambulance come up and they escorted some dude down. He was walking, but was definitely being propped up by the EMT's. I told Landis, if this ever happens to me, I am absolutely done drinking.

The main event tent is also called the Oktoberfest Halle during Oktoberfest.

Fun rug.

Inside the Oktoberfest Halle, with the live music.

Fun little statue. A chicken on a pig on a sheep on a cow.

Colors across the way again.

View down with a wall of clouds.

More broody clouds. We did get rained on a little more, but it was pretty mild.

One of the vendors had these amazing dinosaur skull casts. I really want the T-Rex one! But it was quite a bit outside my budget.

Nearing the end of the event the crowds start thinning out quite a bit.

At this point we parted ways with our friends and started to make our way back to our car.

Neat statue. I feel like this might be kind of new.

Little Cottonwood Creek.

The back entrance.

Starting the climb back up. Oi. I am not sure what is better, climbing back up to your car, or climbing back down to your car. I think after having down both, climbing back up might actually be better. Yes, it kind of sucks, but I think it is a little more stable to walk uphill vs downhill after a few beers.

Down canyon.

Heading under the canyon coaster. We did this once, and it was fun. I thought about doing it again this year, but it just did not happen today.

Up canyon.

The Hellgate Cliffs again.

The side parking lots have cleared out considerably. And now the sign I posted earlier makes more sense. There are no lines for the individual parking spots, so you know you gotta tell people what to do otherwise it'll be a complete free-for-all.

View down again.

Again.

Well we made it back to the car without incident. Phew. I am actually glad we decided to go with our own car and a DD. Our friends Uber’d up here and had planned to take the courtesy shuttle down. Apparently when the shuttle arrived, there were 50+ people expecting to use it, and it only has like 14 seats and a actual brew-haha broke out! My friends, not being violent people bowed out, even though they were there first. Elise, being the smartest person I know, and a problem solver, managed to convince one of the venders to take her and her group back down to the bottom of the canyon where they could secure another Uber to get them back home (getting an Uber up the canyon is no issue, although kind of expensive, getting one down is a huge no go, as there are not any drivers at the top of the canyon). I tell you what, if I am ever in a tight spot, I hope I have Elise by my side cause she is definitely a problem solver!!!

I am not sure what I would have done in this scenario. I am also generally non-confrontational, but I am also a general “rules are rules” person. Cue George Constanza’s: “WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY” kind of person. I imagine Landis would have dragged me out before I got my ass kicked. But, I am glad I didn’t have to find out.

Heading down the canyon (PSP).

The sun setting behind the mountains (PSP).

Little bit of sunset clouds (PSP).

Well, that was fun. I am glad we decided to do it again, even if it is super crazy busy. We got our steins, found some art we liked. and had some fun with our friends. It was a little pricy though. Lets see, the steins we got (liter) were 18 bucks, with each fill being 17 bucks. I seem to recall the stein purchase including the first fill in previous years, but I might be mis-remembering that. We found a few shirts we liked too, so that was nice.

All in all, we had fun. I liked hearing my friends account of the drama, and glad I missed it as well. I had plans of doing some of the things that made me nervous, like the roller coaster, and even the tram, but it just never happened, and well, I am okay with it. We had a fun day. We might come up again this year. 8 out of 10 squirrels, losing one for crowds and 1 for the “courtesy shuttle” not being enough for my friends, or well, all the other people waiting.

As for difficulty, well it's not really a hike, but is a lot of wandering around on mountainous terrain (although mostly paved). Depending on how far away you parked it may be a bit of a challenge getting back to your car.

Dogs are not allowed in Little Cottonwood Canyon so be sure to leave Fido home.