Cecret Lake Via Albion Meadows Detour Route Winter

Cecret Lake is a really pretty lake located at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon. When the Summer Road is open it is a super short, relatively easy hike so over the years it has become increasingly popular. However, when the summer road closes, the short hike is extended by about 1.5 miles so not a whole lot of people make the effort. I love Cecret Lake and do hike it often but its popularity made it not a good option for us to do this year, but with the colder weather and the road closed, I thought we would check it out. Worse case scenario, we have to find another option.

Quick Details:

Length: About 4.8 Miles round trip.
Trail Type: Out and back.
Difficulty: DR4. Lots of up!
Elevation Gain: About 1100 Ft.
Restroom: There are flush toilets at the Albion Base and pit toilets at the Cecret Lake TH. Not sure if either of them are open during the winter season.
Dogs? No. Little Cottonwood Canyon is watershed.
Other Info: During the summer, the summer road is $8.00 to use. They also normally (not this year) offer a shuttle and last time it was $5.00 per rider.

To Get Here:

Head to the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Park outside the gate for the summer road. I am not sure if the main trail is still closed, as I knew the detour route so we just did that again. Which includes walking up the summer road. The non-detour will involves walking down to the Albion Base parking lot and heading up from there.

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

Waterfalls along the way (PSP).

Looks like there was an avalanche through here (PSP).

The Trail:

The Albion Basin and the Albion Base below. The original trail picks up between those 2 buildings below.

The Summer Road with the winter gate.

Naked aspens.

Looking back down Little Cottonwood Canyon.

There is some snow up here, but not enough to make us turn back.

The Summer Road.

At the first hairpin turn you will see a gated road off to the right. In the summer it is signed, but apparently not so in winter.

Snowy ridge. Hope we don’t run into too much of it.

Now the climb! Oi.

Looking back down.

Devils Castle and Sugarloaf Peak.

Closer look of Devils Castle.

The new trail up to the Catherine Pass trailhead.

Devils Castle again.

Eventually we realized that MOST of the snow were were seeing was around the snow machines. Not sure if they are just testing them out, or setting a base layer?

Frozen waterfall.

Short snowy and icy section.

The Alfs renovation looks to be coming along nicely.

Little Cottonwood Creek.

Entering the forested area.

The creek again. Quite a bit of ice on it.

Frozen waterfall.

The creek again.

More forest. I think we are now on the Cecret Lake Trail.

Snowy road and Sugarloaf Peak.

Devils Castle.

Again.

And again. What can I say, I am particularly fond of this peak.

Again.

Sugarloaf Peak.

We kept going back and forth as to if we should turn around or not. We were worried about getting caught after dark and not being bundled up enough. We adjusted our firm turn around time a few times and I finally decided that 4:30 was my final answer as that should allow us time to get back to the car before dark. I hate this time of year with the daylight getting shorter and shorter.

Frozen creek.

Snowy forest.

Another frozen creek. All of these little creeks combine and become Little Cottonwood Creek. I am not 100% sure, but I believe this is the one that comes out of Cecret Lake.

Frozen waterfall below Cecret Lake.

We made it to the scree field. Not much left to go.

You can see signs of glacier activity.

This part is quite rocky.

More glacier scrapes.

Now we just have the switchbacks. Oi.

Last light on Devils Castle.

A little mine.

Rockfall. I first noticed this last year but it seems to have expanded some.

The second switchback.

The third and final switchback.

Then the final ascent.

We made it! And we have it all to ourselves! That is kind of super rare in recent years.

Panoramic.

Little bit of ice on the lake.

Looking over towards Devils Castle.

Nice reflection of Sugarloaf Peak.

Another Panoramic.

Is that a rock out on the ice?

Oh there is one person way up there on that trail. Speaking of which, I never noticed that trail until now. I knew you could summit Sugarloaf Peak and Devils Castle, but I guess I just assumed it was done from the ridge.

Another look at the lake.

Hear that? Nothing but the wind. Its amazing to have the lake to ourselves. 

If you ever find yourself on a newly frozen lake, skip a rock across it. It makes the coolest noise.

Well, we decided we were probably pushing our luck if we wanted to get back to the car before dark.

One last parting shot.

Oh neat. The shadows of Greeley Hill, a small sub peak and Sugarloaf Peak (right).

Devils Castle again.

Glacier scrapes.

Snowy forest.

Devils Castle.

Sugarloaf Peak.

We were about to overtake a slower moving group ahead of us, so we decided to take the alternate path I learned about doing the Devils Castle Loop.

More forest.

Split rock.

Frozen creek.

I think this is now the main creek. Who knows how many little side creeks join up until it is the raging Little Cottonwood Creek.

Down to the new overflow parking lot.

Another split rock.

The little spring is kind of blah this late in the year.

Back on the main trail.

Here is where 2 side creeks join the main creek, I never noticed the 2nd one until today.

Individually.

The main creek below.

Back down to the remodeled Alfs.

Piles of snow around a snow machine.

Looking Across the basin.

Huh. Last time we were though here it looked like they were permanently closing this route, but it appears to be open again. I don’t know maybe they closed it for constructions purposes.

Greely Hill.

Devils Castle.

Sugarloaf Peak.

The new split off that heads up to the Catherine Pass Trailhead.

Another patch of snow around a snow machine.

Another view across the basin.

More snow around a snow machine.

Oh, the detour route is forward, normal route is left.

I’m not a skier or snowboarder, so this is my only experience with different types of snow machines, but it seemed the snow quality was better with this machine. More fluffy and snow like. The other one we walked through was more icy. Of course I acknowledge there could have been other factors at play like, how much sun each pile got, meaning  how much is melted and refroze.

Oi. The parking lot looks so far away! But in reality its just about a half mile.

Back down to the summer rd.

Looking down canyon.

The summer rd. again.

Looking down canyon again.

Again.

Looking back into the Albion Basin.

We made it back to the car with plenty of daylight left. Phew!

Down Canyon again.

There is a certain part on the way down the canyon that offers a great view down the canyon showing it’s perfect U shape (PSP).

This is a great trail, and particularly enjoyable when it is not as crowded as it normally is in the summer. The extra 1.5 miles and the additional climb is a bit tough but it can’t really be avoided with the summer road closed. However, it does mean the crowds are severely diminished. I really love that we got the lake to ourselves again. We often see wildlife on this trail, including moose, but not today. Going with 10 out of 10 squirrels.

As for difficulty, It is certainly a climb! DR4.

Dogs are not allowed as Little Cottonwood Canyon is watershed. Please leave your furry friend at home.