Deaf Smith Canyon - Partial

 Deaf Smith Canyon is a thin and steep trail located in Sandy. It features a creek, a forest and wonderful wildflowers. The beginning of it is located on private property, and is marked as such, but I have seen a few guides so I figured as long as we are respectful we can head up it. There are 2 forks as I understand it, the south fork there was a creek crossing that didn’t look very safe today, and the north fork just got way to thin and steep for my liking. So, maybe I might come back and try the south fork again, but right now, in my opinion, it is not worth the effort. Even if it was quite pretty.

Note: for whatever reason in 2019 I chose not to publish this post. I typed it all out, just didn't publish it. Now I have found myself attempting to reference it a few times since then (and I gaslighted myself into thinking maybe we hadn't done it) so, I am publishing it only you know, 6 years later haha. I am keeping the original publish date though so, it’s likely nobody but me is going to see it.

Additional note: This trail has been in the news recently because the property owner was planning to develop the land. So it may or may not even be accessible anymore.

Quick Details:

Length: We did 1.6 out and back, but it did keep going (the trail guide I used says 2.6, so we only had another half mile I guess).
Trail Type: Out and back.
Difficulty: DR4. It was steep and had several rough creek crossings.
Elevation Gain: We did about 550, but as I said, it keeps going (guide says 1207).
Restroom: No
Dogs? I am not sure.
Other Info: This trail starts on Private Property and is marked as such. So, be respectful and stay on the trail.

To Get Here:

Take i215 to 6200 South/Wasatch BLVD. Heading east, the road curves to the south. Follow it to Kings Hill Dr and turn left. Follow that to Golden Oaks Drive and turn left again. Take that to the end. Park on the street.

The Trail:

The trailhead. Posted as Private Property.

We are currently experiencing the Painted Lady Butterfly migration (after a super bloom in Southern California. Related article (outside link)) and it is incredible! They are absolutely everywhere. However, they don’t particularly sit still for very long so it was hard to get a decent shot of one.

So far the trail is pretty easy going.

Nice view of the valley.

Panoramic.

Heading around the corner towards the canyon.

Nearing the canyon.

Well, the trail just kind of gave up to this road. WTF? Uhg. so after looking at the map on my phone I determined we are definitely in the canyon I wanted to be in… so we followed the road for a minute.

Oh yay. The trail continues at the end of it.

Pretty forest.

The creek is raging!

The creek again.

Glacier lilies.

Nice bunch.

Holy crap! I have never seen so many glacier lilies in one spot before!

Lining the trail.

Closer shot.

Creek crossing.

The trail thins out a bit after the creek crossing.

The forest is really greening up.

The creek again.

Side creek.

Mossy rock.

Crazy mess of a forest.

What looks like old mine tailings.

Finally opened up enough to see the ridgeline.

Forget me nots?

Whatever they are there are a ton of them up here.

The trail is getting quite thin.

The pines on the other side of the canyon.

Whelp, the trail got way to thin on too steep of a slope for my comfort, so I was not enjoying it anymore. So, we called it and turned around. I really was hoping to see the rock fort, but oh well.

I did give it a good healthy go though.

View down canyon.

There was another trail but that required crossing the creek here which didn’t look very good at the moment.

Scree field.

Hooray! One of the painted ladies sat still for me.

View out.

Pretty forest.

Possible cocoon?

Crossing the little side creek again.

Where they meet.

The creek again.

Forest again.

Glacier lilies.

Creek crossing again.

Down at the bottom of the creek.

Just have a little bit left along the front of the mountain.

Mountains to the south,

Another of the painted ladies sat still long enough for a picture.

A red tailed hawk above.

It was hanging around long enough that I decided to pull out the telephoto lens.

We also saw a turkey vulture on the prowl.

Fun clouds.

Meh. This hike was more trouble than it was worth. I am still not 100% sure if we were allowed to be here, and it was super thin towards the end. So much so that we did not complete it. I am glad we explored another canyon, but, meh. I didn’t love it. 3 squirrels.

As for difficulty, it was a little steep, and had some rough crossings. DR4. As I understand it it gets even more thin and steep above so I think that would bump it to a DR5.

Dogs I am not sure, I generally err on the side of caution and leave them home in this case.