Dogwood Picnic Area

 The Dogwood Picnic Area is a nice picnic area near the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. It features nice cliff views, some lovely color right now, a creek and quite a few group sites. It is a fee area, but we were just wandering around to enjoy the color so I think we were okay. We explored the 3 other picnic areas in the canyon yesterday, so I thought we should come back and check out the last one.

Quick Details:

Length: About 3/0ths of a mile for the main picnic area.
Trail Type: Loop
Difficulty: DR2, DR3 if you add the back trail.
Elevation Gain: NA
Restroom: Yes.
Dogs? No. Big Cottonwood Canyon is watershed.
Other Info: Fee area: $15.00 per site

To Get Here:

From Wasatch BLVD head about 1.1 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon. The picnic area will be on the right.

The Trail:

I somehow never noticed this layer of what appear to be volcanic rocks near the mouth of the canyon.

Some bright reds. Wow!

The area sign.

We walked down the the creek real quick.

Downstream.

Colorful hills.

Crossing over Big Cottonwood Creek. View upstream.

Downstream.

Into the picnic area.

Some bright orange.

Colorful hills.

Bright color.

It is a fairly big picnic area.

Loving the color in here.

Some climbers up on the old pipeline. I have been wanting to check that out myself, but I am pretty sure I would not be okay with that trail.

More color.

The peak on the other side.

Up canyon.

Colorful hillside.

Nice reds.

The creek again.

More reds.

We found a little trail back into the woods.

Nice oranges.

Cliffs, with some climbers.

Nope, nope nope nope. I definitely do not think that is a sport for me.

The cliffs again.

We decided to not be n the way and/or be underfoot, so we turned back.

Interesting rippled rock.

Nice orange.

Red.

Lovely woods.

Back to the picnic area with a nice view of the canyon.

More red.

The hills above.

The picnic sites are pretty nice too. They have tables, a good firepit, a grill and an extra stand for preparations.

There is a thinner back trail connecting most of the sites.

Another picnic site.

More color.

The hills above.

More reds.

Another picnic site that shows all the amenities better. Firepit, tables, grill, and stand.

Hillside again.

The bridge crossing Big Cottonwood Creek again.

Upstream.

More rock climbers.

The volcanic layers again.

Heading back down the canyon.

Interesting wispy plants.

Lots of them, wow.

More hillside color.

The volcanic rock again.

Wow, this is a pretty nice picnic area, and the fall colors are pretty great right now. It was also nice to explore a little bit of the mouth of the canyon.6 out of 10 squirrels today.

As for difficulty, the main picnic area is paved and pretty level, DR2 for that. The back trail is pretty flat and easy going but not paved. DR3 for that.

Dogs are not allowed in Big Cottonwood Canyon, so be sure to leave Fido at home.