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We’ve done this one a couple of times, but I just wanted to do a shorter trail and get some color in before the weather turns this afternoon. So, we planned on getting to Bonnie and Clyde Car today.
Quick Details:
Length: 1.3 miles to Bonnie and Clyde Car. 1.5 to the waterfall, and 1.8 to Sunset Campground. All one way.
Trail Type: Out and Back
Difficulty: DR4. It's a constant climb but it's not too bad.
Elevation Gain: About 800 ft to the car, 1000 to the waterfall.
Restroom: No. There are some at nearby Farmington Pond.
Dogs? Yes. Please clean up after your furry friends!
To Get Here:
Take the Park Ln exit from i15/hw89 and head east. Turn right on main street, turn left on 600 N (this is kind of weird, it is almost like going forward because main street curves here). Turn left on Farmington Canyon Rd. Keep right at the fork. From the fork it is about 1.4 miles up canyon to where the hairpin turn is. There is a parking lot at the elbow of that hairpin curve. Also, this is where the road goes from paved to dirt so if you find yourself driving on a dirt road, you went too far. Trail is at the NE corner of the parking lot.
Note: Farmington Canyon road is very, very narrow. Just be cautious of passing vehicles.
Heading up Farmington Canyon (PSP).
The Trail:
Some color on the hill side above the parking lot.
Quick warning, this post is going to be heavy on the fall color pictures! The canyon, while being on the down slope from prime, was still spectacular today.
Great color!
Farmington Cave. We’ll explore that a bit more on the way down.
A little bit of color.
There are seriously some great pockets of color up here, but.. probably not for long.
I almost always miss all the reds so I am happy to see some red color!
Some nice orange too.
Farmington Creek below.
With more of the canyon.
Looking back out of the canyon. Pretty decent view of Antelope Island from here.
Little pockets of color on the mountain.
Looking up canyon.
More lovely red leaves.
There is also quite a bit of dead and shriveled leaves hanging on.
Entering a particularly vibrant section.
Pretty color.
I love when I find a trail that is particularly vibrant this time of year. The window is so short that it is rare enough that it almost feels alien walking around it.
The first little stream crossing. This one does not appear to have a name.
Some more great color.
Looking up.
Just a beautiful, bizarre, colorful world up here.
Yea.. I went a little picture happy today haha.
But its just so beautiful and colorful.
Nice little tunnel.
This might be the shot of the day for me! So pretty.
Looking up.
Another shot of the day contender.
Looking up again.
Sometimes doing a trail this time of year the falling leaves pose a bit of a problem as they can obscure the trail. But, just the way this trail is that is not an issue here.
Close up.
A couple more spots have some nice color, however it is starting the diminish a little the further up we go.
Little patch of color across the canyon.
Well, actually it keeps going down the entire little gully.
Hitting some more dead and dried sections.
However there are still some good patches.
More color.
Some color.
Neat rock formation just before the small side canyon we will be dipping into with the 2nd creek crossing.
Some great color in here.
The 2nd side creek.
Nice color through here.
Looking up.
Small patch of aspens.
Looking back down the trail.
The 2nd side creek has a pretty nice waterfall. This is called Halfway Creek and yea, I would guess it is about halfway.
Also, the 5th car that we discovered, but 1st car on the trail is above here. We will discover that on the way down though.
Also, this means you are getting close to Bonnie and Clyde Car.
More aspens.
A couple wildflowers still hanging on.
Some more color.
Looking down canyon.
With a nice view of Antelope Island.
Some color in the side canyon we just came out of.
The neat rock pinnacle again.
Looking down canyon.
From a little further up.
Looking up canyon. We just need to get up to the next bend.
The creek below.
Short little slide area.
Woohoo! We found the VW Bug! This was the 4th car a commenter informed me about. It was a little further along the trail than I thought. I think the reason we have missed it before is it is a little bit off trail and surrounded by thick trees. If they still have their leaves it might be impossible to see from up here.
The trail down to this is super, super steep. So, I decided I would think about going down there on the way down. Spoiler, that did not happen haha.
It has been trying to rain on and off for the last 3rd or so of the hike.
Some more lovely color.
The mountain above.
That giant boulder looks like a face.
More of the trail.
Looking down canyon again. That storm cloud seems to be strengthening.
Before long we reached Bonnie and Clyde Car. Of the now 5 cars we have found in this canyon, this one is by far the most interesting. Its super old and has suicide doors!
I was really hoping the fall color would be good around the car, but alas no.
From the front.
The suicide doors.
From inside.
Looking out of where the windshield would have been.
Part of the engine.
The front again.
One last parting shot.
Honestly, if you made it this far, you might as well continue up to the waterfall. It really isn’t much further. You will also find the truck just a smidge up from here on the left, and the station wagon is at the next creek crossing, just slightly uphill from the main trail. You can see more on those here. We decided with the weather starting to turn on us that it would be wise to head back down.
Heading back down.
Looking down canyon.
A couple more wildflowers.
Down canyon again. I am glad we didn’t push on to the waterfall as we are getting what feels a little like freezing rain.
Some pretty colors.
The side canyon for Halfway Creek. You can see the dirt road above here.
Some wet leaves.
There was a group advancing upon us from behind so we took this little side trail next to halfway creek to let them pass. Different view of the waterfall. This side trail continued up so.. well, I followed it up a little ways.
This is where we found the 5th car for us. First car if you count from the bottom of the trail.\
With another little waterfall.
A couple little cascades above it.
I can make out the word Cherokee on the side. I know there is a Jeep Cherokee but was not aware it looked like this, but some googling and I guess they did.
The cascades above. I wish I had kept going a little bit cause I feel like there might be a bigger waterfall up there, but I don’t know for sure. Next time I will check it out.
Front of the car.
Back down to the main waterfall.
There used to be a random tire embedded in the creek, which you know, should have been a clue to the car above haha. But, the tire is gone now.
This canyon is really pretty.
More pretty leaves.
Little patch on the other side of the canyon.
Reds
Yellows
And oranges.
Even a hillside full of fallen leaves is pretty.
Little side canyon full of color again.
More color.
Looking up.
Orange, red and yellow.
Nice Halloweenie looking tree.
Back to the colorful tunnel.
Just pretty.
Looking up.
Another contender for shot of the day.
Another colorful section.
I’ve seen some ferns change color, but these are just dying.
Back down to the first, unnamed creek crossing.
More pretty.
I wanted to see the color near the creek so we took a side trail down. Unfortunately, the trail we chose didn’t have much color by the creek.
A little bit of color on the mountain on the other side though.
Well what are the odds? We chose the same trail down that we did last time when we found this truck bed. I don’t know for sure, but I think it might be the truck bed that goes with the front of the truck located above Bonnie and Clyde car. Though, this is significantly further down canyon.
Some color down here too.
Looking up.
Back on the main trail.
Colorful mess on the ground.
A colorful mess still attached to the trees.
Looking up canyon. Yep, storm is definitely coming in!
Down towards the creek.
Looking down canyon. You can see Farmington Cave.
Looking out of the canyon.
The creek below.
From the other direction.
Short landslide section.
The creek below again.
Nearing the mouth of the canyon.
Nice patch of color.
Closer.
Farmington Cave. As we noticed last time we were here, there has been a fairly significant collapse.
Looking in. Obviously this is a popular teenager hangout.
Inside looking out.
Little bit of color by the cave.
The cave again.
More of the great color down here. I doubt it will last through this weekends storm.
The hairpin turn next to the trailhead. Note: paved on the downhill and unpaved on the uphill.
Heading down the canyon road (PSP).
That was a great choice today to try and enjoy some fall colors. This is definitely one of my favorite nearby hikes. The trail is great, not too much work, and not many sketchy parts (unless you want to go down to the waterfall, or that 2nd car). I enjoy seeing the wrecked cars as well, so I am thrilled to not only have found the fourth that I had heard about, but a fifth as well. It surprisingly is not a busy trail either. Only passed a couple groups of people. As I mentioned if you make it to Bonnie And Clyde Car you may as well continue up to the waterfall, and if you are feeling adventurous, you can keep going up to Sunset Campground. I think the trail will retain the 9 squirrel rating from last time.
As for difficulty, it is a constant climb, but pretty gradual. DR4. However if you want to get down the the 2nd car, or the waterfall, that's going to be more of a DR5.
Dogs are allowed. Be sure to clean up after your fury friend!
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