Crestwood Park

 Crestwood Park is a nice wild area along Little Cottonwood Creek in Cottonwood Heights. The trail features a creek, some nice mountain views, and a nice mix of open fields and forested sections. It’s pretty flat and hard packed earth so it is pretty easy going. Yucky weather was expected all day so I wanted something not too far away and a little shorter, that we could make a mad dash back to the car if needed so this was a good option for that. This is starting to be one of my go to spots for days like this.

Quick Details:

Length: We did about a 1.35 mile loop today. There is a longer, and several shorter options.
Trail Type: Loop.
Difficulty: DR3.
Elevation Gain: About 50 feet.
Restroom: Yes, but I am unsure if they are open in winter.
Dogs? Yes, leashed. Please clean up after your furry friends.
Other Info:

To Get Here:

Take i215 to the Union Park exit. Head south on Union Park Ave. Turn Left onto Creek Rd. Turn Left onto Keswick Rd. Take that to the T on Siesta Dr. It is on the other side of it.

The Trail:

Park sign. The natural area is accessed to the right of this.

Little Cottonwood Creek. A couple other spots to enjoy this creek are The Quail Trail, Wheeler Farm, Murray Park, and the Little Cottonwood Confluence.

Into the forest. We decided to go right and counterclockwise this time.

The creek again.

More forest.

The creek again.

Mountains shrouded in clouds.

Reaching the open field.

More mountains.

Slushy trail.

Back into the woods.

Gloomy trees.

Oooh! Ground mist.

The open field again.

The farm to the east has these interesting deer. I thought reindeer at first, but for some reason that doesn’t seem right now.

The field again.

Mountains.

Landis spotted a large bird in the tree.

It looks like a red-tail hawk.

These guys don’t often sit still for very long so this was nice.

Just scanning the area.

Almost looking at me. Hopefully not considering my dogs for dinner.

Feathers ruffling in the wind.

The field again.

The low mist again.

More field.

Obscured mountains.

Option for a shorter loop, otherwise keep right.

Mountains again.

Random utility shed.

Trail connecting to the neighborhood above.

Different sign asking to clean up after your dogs.

I usually take the extended loop to the right, but today we kept to the main loop.

More forest.

Eventually it loops back towards the creek.

Upstream.

Downstream.

The trail.

Mountains.

Across the gully.

Neat bridge.

The creek again.

More trail.

Back to the main crossroads.

Trail sign.

This is a different little dog poop sign than used to be here. I guess it got moved to Big Cottonwood Regional Park - Holladay Lions Area and this one came here.

“When you take your dog on a stroll
Remember you are on poop patrol!”

Crossing over Little Cottonwood Creek again.

On this side is a more developed part of the park.

With a fun looking playground and a swimming pool.

Tennis courts.

Well that was fun, and we finished up just in time as the rain that was a really barely noticeable drizzle had started to become more substantial. So I am glad we ended up doing a shorter one today. Its a popular park, but still wasn’t super busy today. 7 out of 10 squirrels.

As for difficulty, it’s mostly flat and hard parked earth, DR3.

Dogs are allowed, but should be leashed at all times.