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Quick Details:
Length: 2.8 Miles one way. We only went about 1.5
Trail Type: Out And Back.
Difficulty: DR3 its a climb, but its pretty gradual.
Elevation Gain: 1090 Ft.
Restroom: Pit toilets at the trailhead.
Dogs? No. Little Cottonwood Canyon is watershed.
To Get Here:
Head to the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. If approaching from 9400 south, just before the stop sign to turn onto the canyon road, there is a small lot on the right hand side. If coming from Wasatch BLVD. you will turn right where the 2 roads merge, and then immediately left into the small parking lot. If you pass the Park and Ride Lot you went to far. The trail is on the east end (heading up canyon).
I love the distinct U shape of Little Cottonwood Canyon (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).
You can also see the results of a rare, but not unheard of, June snow storm.
The first thing I noticed after arriving was this pair of ephemeral waterfalls.
Ephemeral: Lasting for a short period of time. When attributed to waterfalls it is usually from snow melt, or rain water.
The Trail:
Trail information sign.
The amazing cliffs above and some ephemeral waterfalls.
Everything is so green!
Another ephemeral waterfall.
We thought we were already seeing snow, even this low. But it looks like it was probably actually hail that has somewhat melted.
More of the amazing cliffs.
South side.
North side.
I’m pretty sure that’s the Mormon records vault. Looking at google maps, oh sorry its the Granite Mountain Records Facility.
Looking up canyon.
You can see the snow line here.
The trail crosses through a neighborhood. Look for the ‘<- at="" first="" go="" left="" p="" signs.="" split.="" the="" trail="">
And right at the 2nd split.
More of the cliffs.
You will pass by the power plant.
Then to the left of this gate.
Super green and pretty.
Pretty little clearing.
Little Cottonwood Creek is absolutely raging right now! Between it being run off season and being right after a pretty big storm.
Some rapids.
The first bridge.
The creek again.
Quick video to really get a feel for it.
Looking down stream.
Another one.
So much green!
The creek again.
The cliffs through the trees.
One of the big boulders up here.
As sad as I was to learn that they tore down the old pavilion up here, it does seem to have reduced the vandalism up here. That or there was a recent clean up effort and I just had good timing.
There is a little waterfall through this gap. But when the creek is raging this much its hard to tell.
More forest.
Mossy rock.
Another big boulder that has also been cleaned up.
It looks like they started to try and split this boulder and then changed their minds. You can learn more about this old process at The Temple Quarry Trail which shares a parking lot with this trailhead. I actually planned on revisiting that today but uh.. that didn’t happen.
The trail split to where the old pavilion once stood.
Oh good. They have the area closed of for re-vegetation.
That’s cute.
The area where the pavilion was.
I’ve shared this before, I have fond memories of the pavilion. Me and my friends used to hang out here. We did the things teenagers do, but we never tagged, and I am proud to have been part of a group of spirited teenagers that didn’t destroy property. Unfortunately, even back then (and who knows how far back) up until it was torn down there were those groups that did. The vandalism moved from just the pavilion to the surrounding boulders and even trees. So, even though I had just rediscovered it before it was torn down, I agree with the decision. I hope over the years, with no where to hang out, perhaps the vandalism will stop.
The higher up we go the more of the hail accumulation we are seeing, and the colder it was getting. I don’t remember where it was but I do remember at some point becoming aware I could see my breath.
Another mossy rock.
The creek again.
The big pipe.
We had originally planned to turn around at the old pavilion site, but decided to push on to a nice round 1.5 miles. Here we are. We were starting to get a little cold anyway so it was good we turned back.
Back down near the old pavilion site. Here is the pipe.
Another mossy rock, that also shows signs of drilling.
A rather gnarly burl.
More drilling.
Mossy boulders.
I noticed a little side trail, so we decided to see what was up there.
Pretty forest.
I know it is hail, but it is still weird to see what looks like snow with this much green.
Looking up.
Super pretty back here, but we didn’t want to get too far off track. So, time to turn around again.
More hail accumulation and check out the burls on that tree!
Pretty forest.
Back on the main trail.
The creek again.
They tried REALLY hard to split this rock.
Fun rock knob above.
Back down to the first bridge.
Pretty cool view here.
Pines.
Old stone wall. I kind of wish I had explored this a little more, but I knew we were approaching the area with some private property so I didn’t want to trespass.
The cliffs and the knob again.
Peeling bark.
Looking up.
More greenery. Also, still side note, but it looks like all or at least most of the power poles were recently replaced.
Fun rocks.
Neat old pipe.
On the back of the power plant there is this little patio. Those benches sitting precariously over the creek would make me super nervous.
I was just starting to think it was a really good thing we turned around when we did. Those clouds are looking pretty ominous.
The clouds obscuring the cliffs is pretty cool though.
Really cool.
Fun clouds.
At some point we did start getting rained on, but it wasn’t too bad.
At some point we did start getting rained on, but it wasn’t too bad.
It was worth it for some of these fun shots.
I quite like this one.
The other side.
Really enjoying the cliffs.
The other side again.
The rain started picking up a smidge so, maybe I should stop dilly-dallying with the pictures and get us back to the car.
That happened. :-p
Ephemeral waterfall and storm clouds.
A little closer.
Almost back down to the trailhead.
Another waterfall.
With the cloudy cliffs.
I had planned on re-exploring the Temple Quarry Trail, but the rain really picked up, so we’ll have to come back and do that some other time.
This is a great little trail, and really the best way to enjoy Little Cottonwood Canyon. It is a popular trail, but the rains chased of most of the crowds today so it wasn’t too busy. I really enjoyed how green it was, and the bonus ephemeral waterfalls And there are a lot of interesting things to see along the way as well. Going with 8 out of 10 squirrels.
As for difficulty, DR3. It’s wide, a generally a gradual climb. A couple rocky parts, but not too bad.
Dogs are now allowed in Little Cottonwood Canyon, so leave Fido at home.
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