Random Rambler

Willow Heights is a beautiful trail located near the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon. It features a beautiful mixed, but mostly aspen forest, a stream, wildflowers, a lake, and a good chance of wildlife. It is one of our go to trails from spring through fall, and sometimes winter. There are 2 options to do the trail, west or east, or you can do both and make a loop.

The wildflowers were popping, and we had a pretty good wildlife day, so this is less of a trail guide than normal because I was just enjoying everything else haha. Here is a better trail guide.

Quick Details:

Length: The west fork is about 9/10 of a mile. The east fork is about a mile, and the loop around the lake is about 3/4 of a mile total 2.65 mile loop. We uh… had some fun detours today and ended up doing 2.5 miles out and back.
Trail Type: Loop, Figure 8, out and back, your choice.
Difficulty: It is a bit of a climb, DR4.
Elevation Gain: About 650 feet.
Restroom: No. Closest would be at Solitude, or Brighton. Or if heading back down, Mill D is the next option.
Dogs? No. Big Cottonwood Canyon is watershed.
Other Info:

To Get Here:

Head up Big Cottonwood Canyon about 11.6 miles up from Wasatch Boulevard. It is just past the Silver Fork Lodge. About halfway between mile marker 13 and 14 there will be a boulder on the left (north) side of the road. If you reach Solitude you went too far, but don’t worry. the canyon ends at a loop that will easily turn you around.

Heading up Big Cottonwood Canyon (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

Below the S curve (PSP).

Above it (PSP).

Cliffs (PSP).

The Trail:

The dedication stone (PSP).

Pretty yellow flowers.

Geraniums.

Forest.

Lots of yellow flowers.

Closer.

Fallen trees.

The trailhead kiosk is set back just a little bit.

What in the world?

With a little help from google, I found that these are likely thatching ants. Famous for building dome-shaped mounds out of sticks, pine needles, and grass mixed with soil. The mounds can reach several feet high. Crazy!

This one is about 2-3 feet tall.

Wild rose.

Aspens.

Geraniums.

Closer.

Purple.

White.

Jacobs ladder.

Wild rose.

Rerouted trail on the left, old closed trail on the right, with a trail counter.

Mint.

Trail split. Left is the west fork, a little shorter, but a little more tough. Right is the east fork, it’s slightly longer, but a little bit easier. But it has a spot that I don’t really like, so left it is.

Larkspur.

Lower bridge.

Willow Creek is quite dry right now.

Mint.

Forest.

Pretty yellow flower.

Some kind of survey markers.

They appear to be official forest service markers.

Yellow flowers.

Paintbrush.

More.

Onto the switchbacks.

Skyrocket.

Lots of it.

Closer.

Penstemon.

Another.

Paintbrush.

Geraniums getting a super early jump on autumn.

Paintbrush.

The trail. Somewhere about here a younger couple who had cruised past us earlier came back down. I kind of jokingly said That was fast! He said uh, yeah, we didn’t make it all the way. There was a large animal on the trail. I said, oh wow, like a moose? He said no.. The girl piped in maybe a marmot? Then he held his hands out about 2 feet or so apart and said no bigger.. and I went, oh! Maybe it was a badger? (based off of what we heard from another couple last time) He said he wasn’t sure. So, we thanked them and continued up. I hope it’s a badger, I haven’t seen one of those before.

Little butterfly on some mint.

Stink bug.

Skyrocket.

Rose.

The first switchback.

Then… badger! I was right! And we got to see it! Hello cute guy!

I wish I had my telephoto lens in. Not the best images.

I am not sure why it scared the other couple off. Upon spotting us he immediately veered off into the underbrush. But I guess if you aren’t sure what you are dealing with, it might be better to turn back.

Quick glimpse of it in the foliage.

I decided to back track a little and see if I could see him on the trail below, and caught him crossing it. He’s a fast little guy!

Back into the foliage.

Well that was cool! My first badger sighting!

Penstemon.

Yellow paintbrush. In my experience finding a yellow paintbrush is pretty rare.

Lots of yellow flowers.

Closer.

2nd switchback.

Penstemon.

Short break from the climb.

Up canyon towards Brighton.

Silver Fork on the other side of the canyon.

Aspens and flowers.

Aspens.

Some other markers. These were not labeled.

More larkspur.

3rd switchback.

Geranium with a beetle. At a certain point it starts to feel like every geranium has a beetle. But, we aren’t quite there yet.

Mint.

With a bee.

Blue bells.

Geranium with an ant.

Yellow flower with an ant.

Lupine.

Smaller yellow flowers.

Paintbrush.

Mix of paintbrush and lupine.

Forest.

Flower and buds.

Pretty purple asters.

Itty bitty white flowers.

Patch of lupine.

These are usually pink or purple. Not sure if they are different or just not mature yet.

Paintbrush.

Bumblebee.

Butterfly.

Paintbrush.

Forest, with another flatter part.

Geranium.

Deer friend.

Looks to be a young buck.

Boing boing boing.

Okay, byeee!

There is an alternate route I have found that gets us there a little quicker. It is now my preferred route because I don’t have to cross the creek on wobbly logs.

It is a little more thin, but it is definitely a path, which someone is maintaining since trees have been cut out of the way.

Paintbrush.

Closer.

Just as I spotted this dark shape, it bellowed. I have never had a moose bellow at me before. So, we took the warning and stopped, and started to back up a bit.

Oh, she has a baby with her. That explains it. We were cruising along, I guess she just wanted us to stop.

Better view of the baby.

Munching on some leaves.

Little better view of momma. These are zoomed in a bit. Obviously we are far enough away since momma is pretty unbothered by us.

I just love me a good moose sighting. We didn’t have very good luck last year.

You can kind of see their faces here.

Again.

I decided to swap out to a longer lens. Hello momma.

And baby.

Both.

Again.

Momma.

Both.

Momma.

Momma and baby.

Baby checking us out.

Then back to foraging.

So cute!

Well, they are not moving much and are right next to the trail. I am not going to get much closer to a momma moose, luckily the alternate path isn’t too far back, so we opted to go back that way rather than trying to arc around through the dense foliage.

Paintbrush.

Pretty purple flowers.

The upper bridge.

Geraniums above the dry bed of Willow Creek.

Paintbrush lined trail.

Closer.

Geranium.

The big meadow.

I love the cone shaped peaks up here.

More on the other side.

Little depression. A little earlier in the season this is a little pond.

Geraniums.

The crossroads. The main east and west trails intersect here before going around the lake. I prefer going left along the west side. It has better views of the lake, plus a nice little beach on the west side.

Potgut squirrel “prairie-dogging”

Through the aspens.

Mixed flowers.

Penstemon.

Pretty forest.

Stupid wobbly log bridge.

Another small clearing.

Geraniums, with their leaves getting a super early jump on autumn.

The lake.

Reflection. And a beaver lodge.

Down to the beach.

Panoramic.

Closer to the water.

Another panoramic.

A beaver! Yay.

The lake was created, or at least enhanced by a beaver dam after all. So it's a bit of a surprise we haven’t seen them here before.

He seems to be working on the dam.

Closer.

You don’t often see much more then just the top of their heads. Fun.

So cute.

Super cute!

I loves him.

The dam.

Beaver again.

Little closer.

Again.

I kept missing him dive in.

Heading back towards the dam.

Eventually we realized we weren’t just watching 1 beaver, there were 2… then 3… then possibly even 4. Whoa!

Again.

Closer.

Again.

He dipped under water next to the dam.

Then back the other way.

I just love watching them swim around.

Closer.

Then this momma duck decided to bring her babies to see us.

So cute.

Closer.

No really, they came right up to us.

I still had the telephoto lens in, so not the best shots, but oh my goodness this is cute. Sorry guys! I didn’t think to bring anything to feed you today.

Quick PSA: Bread is bad for them. It does not meet their nutritional needs, and it pollutes the water. Good alternatives are: cut Seedless Grapes, Cooked Rice, Birdseed, Peas, Corn, Oats & Chopped Lettuce.

These guys are obviously used to being fed though.

While the ducks were distracting me one of the beavers started to get out of the water. That was the evil plan all along!

We can see the tail here.

Again.

Then back to gather more material I guess?

So cute.

Closer.

I caught a dive! Yay! it’s like a mermaid.

Another beaver on the other side of the pond.

Oh I caught him dive too.

Er well.. he’s doing something over there. Either gathering or building I imagine.

The closer one again.

Closer.

Sorry I am going crazy with the pictures. Beavers are just not an animal I see often.

Closer.

The one on the other side. I wonder what he is doing.

One over at the dam. That is definitely 3. I think I saw another one so I am leaning towards there being 4.

I don’t know what he is doing but, he’s hard at work doing it.

Then he is off.

Another one.

And another. See, I have lost track of all of them, but I am pretty sure there are at least 4.

2 of them.

Well, we decided it was getting late and we should head back so I switched my lenses out.. and suddenly…

Well hello there! I guess we will stick around a little longer.

Back to the telephoto lens. Hello cutey!

Getting a drink.

A little dribbling never hut anybody.

Then a nice refreshing dip in the water.

I love all moose sightings, but there is something special about seeing them in the water.

Generally if a moose stops what it is doing to look at you, you are too close. However, moose, like everything else, like to take in their surroundings and will look at you sometimes. I do take notice when this happens, and if it doesn’t immediately go back to doing moosey things then I will start to move back.

See, just taking in his surroundings.

So majestic. He appears to be a young bull.

Oh! He has a friend! Or sibling?

He also appears to be a younger bull.

Almost chest deep.

Again.

I loves him.

Getting a drink.

Both of them.

Now it is his turn to take a dip.

This is awesome.

Amazing.

Just doing moosey things.

Cooling off and exploring.

Moose are the giant beast of the woods. I think they have a general attitude of “I’m bigger than you” so you know, most things tend not to fuck with them.

But then….THWAPP

Look at them scamper!!!

Apparently the beaver don’t take too kindly to them being in their pond. Have you ever heard a beaver thwap it’s tail against the water? Its LOUD. And it scares the moose!

I almost forgot about the beavers until now.

Then they stop to investigate.

Well, one does. The other one is a little more wary.

Moose and beaver.

Again.

Quick video. Sorry it's so shaky. It is hard to keep a long lens still without a tri-pod. I am sad, I was recording when the beaver thwapped the water a 2nd time, scaring the moose again but I wiggled out of frame. Poop. I don't know if I will ever get to witness that again. But hey, I got to see it, twice!

Back to doing moosey things.

With another beaver.

Again.

Wading.

Again.

Such an amazing sighting.

So fun.

Alright. It was getting late so I managed to peel myself away from this amazing sighting.

Normally we would do the loop around the lake, but we spent too much time watching the wildlife and were losing light. So, we decided to just head on back down.

The woods above.

One last look.

Closer.

Another deer friend. She’s a biggun!

I decided to head down the alternate route, hoping to see mamma moose again, but hopefully a bit away from the trail this time…. that was a mistake.

Forest.

Larkspur, in purple.

Blue.

Itty bitty white flowers.

I was keeping my head on a swivel knowing mama and baby moose might still be in here.

When we came around this tree and she was RIGHT THERE. It has been a long time since I have had to screech to a halt. And then like, suddenly back up. Shit shit shit.

A quick WTF look…

Then back to moosey things.

We debated about going around her, but… we can’t see the baby. The foliage is tall enough that if it laid down, it could be anywhere! So… we opted to turn back again. Haha. Not too big of a detour though. Plus hey, another moose sighting.

Geranium leaves getting a jump on autumn.

The deer friend is still hanging out. Sorry lady, we’re just passing back though.

She watched us, but didn’t bolt. Good. I always feel bad when they do that.

Wobbly log bridge.

Beaver damage.

That is my next goal, to see a beaver gnawing on a tree. I have seen one gnawing on a log before, but not a tree.

Pretty forest.

Back to the crossroads. Left leads to the east side of the lake, forward the east trail down, and right, the west fork down. We decided to just head down the way we came, the west fork.

The dried lower pond.

The big meadow.

Panoramic.

The dried up lower pond again.

Continuing down.

Geranium.

Forest.

Paintbrush.

Crossing over the dried Willow Creek.

Aspens.

Pretty white daisy like flower.

Mint and lupine.

Purple flowers.

Mint.

Daisy like flowers.

Western coneflower.

More forest.

Rose and paintbrush.

Penstemon.

Little yellow flowers.

Bigger yellow flowers.

Forest.

Larkspur.

Flowers and forest.

Silver Fork on the other side of the canyon.

Yellow flowers.

Skyrocket.

Orange paintbrush.

Penstemon.

Forest.

More skyrockets.

Different shades of penstemon.

Keep your eyes open for this signed split and go left. Forward will lead down to a neighborhood. It’s not the end of the world, but its not the best.

Aspens.

Flowers.

The lower creek crossing.

Final trail split. Right will lead back down to the trailhead. Left goes back up the east fork.

Perfect little trip hazard. Yikes.

Trail counter.

Wildlife camera.

Forest.

The thatching ants again.

Digital crop. I didn’t want to get much closer. I am glad I didn’t because they are very defensive, and have a painful bite.

Fallen trees.

Back don to the road. Phew!

Pretty yellow flowers.

Peak on the other side of the canyon.

Heading down the canyon (PSP).

Silver Fork Lodge and Restaurant (PSP).

More canyon (PSP).

Sunset (PSP).

Again (PSP).

The route we took. You can see our backwards C shaped detours we took haha.

Well holy crap! That was an amazing adventure! I can’t think of the last time we have seen so much wildlife on one hike! 4 moose, 4 beavers, 2 deer, and my first badger! Wow! The wildflowers are popping, the forest is lovely, the lake looks great. It also wasn’t super busy today. This is definitely a 10 for 10 day!