Random Rambler: Big Cottonwood Regional Park

Big Cottonwood Regional Park is 1 of 4 parks in the same area, with the same name located in Millcreek. It was kind of confusing really but eventually I ended up where I wanted to. Afterwards I found the other 3 parks with the same name, have an addendum i.e. Big Cottonwood Reginal Park Creekside Park. Anyway, this park features a nice level walking path around a big field, through some forest and wetlands, while offering a nice view of Mount Olympus.

Quick Details:

Length: There is about a 1.25 mile loop around it, with some crossing trails to make it shorter if desired. We ended up doing about 1.7 miles.
Trail Type: Loop
Difficulty: DR3. It’s flat, partially paved, and like paved the rest of the way.
Elevation Gain: About 30 feet.
Restroom: Yes
Dogs? Yes, leashed.
Other Info:

To Get Here:

Take i15 to 4500 so. Head east to 13th east go right. Go about 6/10s of a mile and turn left on Murray Holliday Blvd. You can turn a little earlier, but it requires another left turn. Anyway, go about 4/10ths of a mile and turn left on 1590 east. You can go about .15 of a mile and park by the restroom, or go to the end of 1590 east.

Duck crossing sign (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

The Trail:

We ended up parking by the playground and restroom. But, as you will see the trail will pass by the other trailhead shortly.

Some very faded color.

It is a nice trail through the woods.

Little clearing.

Random almost perfectly round wetland.

Nice view of Mount Olympus.

Here is the Big Cottonwood Regional Park Trailhead.

Supposedly there is a path under the snow here.

Mountains to the north.

Better view of Mount Olympus.

Panoramic.

This part of the trail goes around this field/flood plain.

Another panoramic.

A little creek of some sort.

Mountains.

The field we are going around.

The moon rose early.

Heading back south.

Robin.

Mount Olympus.

This part of the trail is next to a farm.

Nearing the wooded section again.

Oh, what do we have here?

A fox! yay!

Before long he disappeared into the bush.

Then another one appeared.

By the time I got the telephoto lens out, another one had shown up to the left. Hello guy!

One of the nice ladies that lives nearby said she has seen upwards of 16! 16?!?!? Before now, I have only ever seen them alone.

They are being quite skittish today. The lady said this is unusual as sometimes they will follow her to the parking lot. She has even named a few of them.

Back to the right one.

Ahhh! They are so darn cute.

Look at those pretty eyes!

The right one is still hiding behind some brush.

Now the left one is sitting it out.

Back to the one on the right.

I have no way of sexing them, but for some reason this one seems female to me.

The fox experience made this entire trail worth it!

Both of them.

The one to the left retreated a little further back.

Meanwhile, the one on the right decided to lay down.

Is she actually going to fall asleep in front of us?

Haha, no of course not.

Fun clouds.

The guy on the left again.

I think this lefty on the move.

.Considering me once again.

And he’s off!

It’s all a little fuzzy, but I think the right one emerged, or another one joined in the mix.

Oh my gosh. This is the most magical wild animal moment ever.

I guess she decided that was close enough.

And she’s off!

After she took off we decided to complete the trail.

Nice view of Mount Olympus.

Forest.

Mount Olympus again.

The wetland area.

Toilet shaped stump with interesting art.

Wetland.

Mount Olympus again. Loving the view of it from here.

The trail heading back into the woods.

Little stream heading into the wetlands.

More wetlands.

Sign explaining the restoration project they are doing here. Looks like they plan to expand the pond and remove invasive weeds and trees.

Approaching the observation decks.

A very frozen pond.

Another nice view of Mount Olympus.

If I am understanding the sign properly, removing these invasive phragmites will assist in restoring the pond to it’s original size.

Frozen pond.

With Mount Olympus.

This is right next to the parking lot we parked in, so it just about completes the 1.25 mile loop. However, I wanted to go see if the foxes were hanging around again so we took one of the many shortcuts across to the back end of the trail.

A fun poem about cleaning up your dogs poop. I wonder if it was created by the same person or group that made the one at Crestwood Park. Its different, but similar.

The pond again.

Fun forest.

We found a fox friend.

Of course by the time I got the telephoto lens on he was making a hasty exit. This is the behavior I am accustomed to with foxes, and why I don't have many great shots of them.

We found another one at the next clearing.

With this shot I feel like I understand why foxes are referred to as sly.

Super glad we came back to see them again.

He or she was on a mission. Well, I was happy to have another sighting but we decided to head on back.

Little wetland again.

Another quick run by.

Mount Olympus again.

Took another one of the cross trail shortcuts to get back to the car quicker.

Trees and wetlands.

Through the woods.

Mount Olympus from the parking lot.

Little bit of sunset on the way home (PSP).

Covered up by storm clouds (PSP).

BONUS CONTENT: Big Cottonwood Regional Park - Big Cottonwood Area

I mentioned there are (at least) 4 parks in this area with a very similar name. Well, that caused us to end up at the wrong place when we first arrived. So, here is some bonus content, since I don’t foresee returning to said park.

A bunch of geese hanging out on the baseball fields.

There was a little paved path heading up the hill.

Neat gathering area.

Neat old pavilion.

Some gaming spaces. Looks like possibly hopscotch? Or maybe multi use.

Neat pavilion again.

Interesting. The last person to reserve it was Governor Cox back in October. I wonder what for?

Mountains. Eventually it became obvious that we were not where I was expecting to be, so I pulled up my map and discovered we were at a nearby, similarly named park. So we worked our way to the other one.

I kind of wonder if the original, or maybe the eventual plan was/is to connect them all? Or if it is just a weird coincidence. Anyway, I do want to come back and explore the other 2 parks, so maybe the next “avoiding the mud” day.

Anyway, regarding the main trail we did.

The trail itself was pretty nice, and I enjoyed the different environments we walked through. Not terribly busy either, and it might be fun to see how the restoration project goes on. However what really sold me was all the foxes we saw! Yay! I have seen a fox or 2 before in our adventures, but they are usually fleeting sightings, so I really enjoyed getting a couple pretty nice shots of them. I’m going to take 1 squirrel for the confusing mess of parks with the same name.