Lisa Falls

 Lisa Falls is a small waterfall located up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Aside from the waterfall, the trail features some nice views of the canyon, and a beautiful forest. It’s also a super short trail to get to the falls. It's been a few years since we have been here, so after our previous trail didn't work out, we decided to stop by here again. It's kind of fun, Little Cottonwood has this short, easy to get to waterfall, and Big Cottonwood has Hidden Falls as a short, easy to get to waterfall.

Quick Details:

Length: About 3/10ths of a mile out and back.
Trail Type: Out and back.
Difficulty: DR3. It is a bit of a climb, but its super short.
Elevation Gain: About 100 feet.
Restroom: No. The closest I can think of would be in Tanner Flat campground.
Dogs? No. Little Cottonwood Canyon is watershed.

To Get Here:

Drive approximately 2.7 miles up the canyon from the electronic sign at the base of the canyon. The mile markers start quite a bit lower, so it is probably at about mile 6.7 or 6.8, if you hit mile marker 7 you went to far. There is a small parking lot on the left (north) side of the road that is not labeled. You will see a creek bed (which will likely be dry) on the lower end and the trail just a bit above that.

There is also a parking lot on the other side of the road, just a little bit lower. That includes a scamper across the road though.

The mouth of the canyon (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

We made an additional stop a little higher up and found some cute chipmunks.

Our original plan today was to hike to Gloria Falls but uh…

We got pretty fed up trudging through the snow and slush, that we totally did not dress for… which I am kind of surprised at myself for. I know what this time of the year is like in the mountains. Uhg. anyway, we turned back and decided that we still wanted to see a waterfall so Lisa Falls it is!

Heading back down the canyon we got stopped while they pulled a stalled camper out (PSP) but it gave me a moment to enjoy one of my favorite views. I really hope that I can enjoy this view for years to come, without gondola poles in the way. Please, please don't let that greedy company destroy our canyon.

The Trail:

Peak on the other side of the canyon.

Depending on what kind of slide activity happened here over the winter, the creek may be flowing down this creek bed, or the one to the west. However, I am pretty sure it has really established the west one after a major slide a few years ago.

But the trail follows this east creek bed up.

Speaking of slide area…

Miners lettuce.

More slide rubble.

Woo it’s really gushing today!

Incredible! The previous times we have seen it, its been little more than a trickle, so this is pretty awesome.

Slightly longer exposure.

Here you can see the narrow channel the waterfall comes out of.

View of the canyon.

Quick video of the falls.

The waterfall again.

From below.

Longer exposure.

You know, its a pretty cool waterfall.

The creek continuing downhill.

Peak across the canyon.

Some overflow falls, or this might be a side stream. Looks like one does join near here.

Panoramic.

Different angle.

The falls with some of the creek below.

The creek with the mountains across the canyon. I particularly like this shot.

You can see a couple of people sitting on the cliffs to the left, so that is a good reference for size. It seems smaller than it actually is.

Sanz people.

Longer exposure.

Detail.

One last parting shot.

Back into the woods.

Miners lettuce.

Dry east bed.

The dry bed again.

It has been quite a few years since we have been here, so I am glad we ended up here today. It was nice to see the waterfall in it’s full force, we even had it to ourselves for a minute. 10 out 10 squirrels today. However it was short enough that wanted to do more, so we went across the road and did the Little Cottonwood Trail.

As for difficulty, it is a bit of a climb, but it is super short so DR3.

Dogs are not allowed in Little Cottonwood Canyon, so leave Fido at home.