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Ghost Falls is a small waterfall in Corner Canyon, Draper. The trail features a small creek, scrub oak forests, and of course a small waterfall. It is named Ghost Falls because it has been known to dry up and disappear in the warmer months. We tend to do this trail fairly often, and it was not my original plan for the day. But, the last trail we did ended up being a bust and this was nearby. Sometimes it’s nice to just do a trail you are familiar with. There are a couple ways to reach Ghost Falls, but this is my preferred way.
Quick Details:
Length: About 2.8 miles out and back.
Trail Type: Out and back. Several loop options.
Difficulty: There is a bit of a climb, but it’s pretty gentle. DR3.
Elevation Gain: About 480 feet.
Restroom: Yes, there are flush toilets at the TH.
Dogs? No. everything above the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST) here is watershed.
Other Info:
To Get Here:
There are a few trailheads to access this canyon. Today we will use the Coyote Hollow Trailhead.
Take i15 to 14600 south in Draper and head east. Turn right on Traverse Ridge Rd. Turn Left on Mike Weir Dr. Turn right on Pinion Hill Ln. an immediate right on Canyon Vista Dr. An immediate left on Gray Fox Dr. and an immediate right onto Cayote Hollow Ct. Take that to the end to the Coyote Hollow Trailhead.
I absolutely adore these signs.
The Trail:
You want the trail on the northeast end of the parking lot. To the right of the restrooms and trailhead kiosk.
You want to follow signs for Canyon Hollow Trail. So a left here. Also, I love this Clean up after your dogs sign.
Then a right at the next split.
The forest is greening up so lovely now.
Super green and lush.
Some kind of pea.
Right here. Left will also get you there, but as I discovered on the way down, it is dumb. I guess that is why the sign doesn't mention it.
Forget me nots.
The canyon below.
Phlox.
The Silica Pit.
Again.
I love the little lines of color against the white silica.
The previous split would connect here as well, if done right.
More forest.
Burnham Gorge.
More forest.
Choke cherry.
Closer. It smells amazing!
Ballhead waterleaf.
Forget me nots.
More forest.
Lots of forget me nots.
Pretty yellow flower.
More waterleaf.
Little stream coming out of Memorial Cove.
Super pretty in here.
Forget me nots.
Oregon grapes.
Oregon grape and forget me nots.
Memorial Cove. It is a fun little side adventure. It’s super short at less than 1/10th of a mile, but we opted against adding it today.
The creek coming out of it.
Again.
A bright purple waterleaf.
Continuing up and out of the cove.
Deer tracks. We almost always see deer in this canyon.
The corner of Corner Canyon.
Rounding the ridge and out of the cove.
Then the trail is along the old Lower Corner Canyon Road for a bit.
You can go this way, and it will definitely get you there. It crosses the creek and climbs along the other side of the canyon. However, I really don’t like parts of that trail so, since there is a perfectly fine alternate to the right and staying on the Canyon Hollow Trail I use that.
The worst of the climb is though here. But it’s not too bad.
You can take either split here. The Canyon Hollow Trail go to the left here. It is slightly longer, more meandering and therefore more mellow climb. Right stays along the old road, and continues the strait up slog. But it is a smidge shorter. We went right today, but probably should have gone left haha.
Continuing the climb.
Myrtle spurge. A particularly nasty noxious weed. It can cause rashes and burns so it is best avoided.
The first gate (from this direction). You want to go through this, if you use the gate remember to latch it behind you. But there is a pretty strong desire path around it to the left, so no need to mess with it.
Forest.
2nd gate. You want to swing left here.
The first of 4 bridges (from this route).
It is over a rather deep ravine.
Lots of forget me nots.
Going around another ridge.
The trail is pretty much lined with forget me nots here.
Trees.
Keep an eye out for this trail split. The sign is a little far back on the right. It says Ghost Falls is to the left, this time you want to follow it. I am not sure where the trail to the right goes.
More forest.
Old car in the ravine.
And a blue truck. Both are a little easier to see when it isn’t so green in here.
Starting to be able to see the creek.
Random bathtub.
Holy Oregon grapes, Batman.
The 2nd bridge.
With a little stream underneath.
3rd bridge.
Itty bitty waterfall underneath the bridge above it. We will not be crossing that bridge.
Downstream.
Immediately after the 3rd bridge there is a 4 way split. You want to hang left for Ghost Falls.
The 4th and final bridge today. The waterfall can be seen from the bridge.
Well, it can when the foliage isn’t so thick haha.
Closer. You can see the twin that blew itself out last year is still flowing. It might be a permanent feature now.
The cute, rustic welcome sign.
I have only seen poison ivy warnings here and in Hidden Hollow. That doesn’t mean it is not elsewhere around the valley, or state, but these are the only 2 places I have seen warnings for it.
The original waterfall hidden by foliage to the right. The overflow waterfall to the left.
Overflow waterfall.
There was a little path through the foliage that allowed us to get closer to the original Ghost Falls.
It is a little waterfall, but it is neat.
At maybe... ~20-30 feet it isn't a huge waterfall, but it is pretty.
The top.
The waterfall.
Downstream.
The bottom.
Moss and algae.
The waterfall again.
Back to the new twin.
Cliffs above.
The twin waterfalls again.
Some pretty purple flower just coming up. It looks like some sort of daisy type flower.
Found a random annual honestly, or money plant. I love these guys so much I put one in my garden. It is doing super happy there right now. I don’t have much of a green thumb, but my garden is mostly inspired by what I see along the trails around here. And yes, I know they are not native, but I do see them on our trails.
The creek below the falls.
The bridge.
Now you can go either way and get back down to the trailhead. As I mentioned I don’t like the other route that is now to the right. So we went back the way we came to the left.
The twin waterfalls again.
This trail leads to the upper Ghost Falls Trailhead. I have been meaning to check that out, but just haven’t made it happen yet.
Back to the 2nd bridge.
With the little stream.
More pretty forest as we head down.
More.
The lower car crash.
Short bit of up back to the Canyon Hollow Trail.
This plant still thinks it is autumn. I think it is another Oregon grape.
We found a sign says this is a heavy use area, slow down. I think it is due to mixed use trails merging here.
More forest.
Forget me nots.
The valley.
Tree tunnel.
Waterleaf.
Back to the 1st bridge.
Back to the old road.
Continuing down.
Short detour to the bridge that is on the alternate Ghost Falls Trail Or maybe we should call it the North route?
Corner Canyon Creek.
Back to the trail, and the next junction. You can go the way we came up, left, along the Canyon Hollow Trail, or you can go down the Lower Canyon Road to the Crossroads and back up to the trailhead. Ultimately, we kind of ended up doing something in between today haha, but we went left.
The view down again, with the corner of Corner Canyon.
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Panoramic.
Continuing down.
The stream coming out of Memorial Cove again.
Another random annual honesty.
Below the little cove.
Again.
Itty bitty waterfall.
Neat tree arch.
More forest.
The stream below again.
More forest.
Around a ridge.
Young, pink forget me nots.
Compared to the blue ones.
More pretty forest. Man I just love the foothills this time of year.
Forget me nots.
The valley.
Here the downhill Rush Trail crosses the path, which if the name doesn’t imply so, is a fast downhill bikes only trail. So far in my experience every single biker I have encountered here has stopped here. But, that is not guaranteed. Keep your head on a swivel.
More chokecherries.
Closer.
More forest.
The valley.
Approaching the Silica Pit.
More chokecherry.
Forest.
The Silica Pit.
We decided to check out the trail below because we “knew” it connected to the main trail again a little further down. So… what the heck lets check it out. Spoiler: We did not end up where I thought we would, but it did eventually lead to the trailhead, so not a big issue.
Neat color against the white silica.
Below the main pit.
Neat rock formations above.
Heading down.
The crossroads below.
No red flowers today, so how about a patch of rust red… moss?
Continuing along.
We almost always see deer in this canyon, and today was no different. Hello cutey!
That faint trail past the water structure of some sort is the trail that connects back to the Canyon Hollow Trail from the split I was expecting. But, I didn’t know that at the moment, and I just saw a thin, steep trail and decided against it. Meh, either way would have been about the same distance and elevation.
Deer friend.
Well, the random side trail eventually spit us out onto the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST). I know that will get us back to the trailhead, so, not the end of the world.
The little side creek is dry.
Continuing up.
Well, I am sorry that I happen to need to go the way that you are going!
A 2nd one.
On the steep hillside.
For whatever reason today, these gals did not seem to want to climb the slope to get away from us.
Eventually they waited us out and crossed over behind us. Oh good. Seriously I was not trying to chase them, but we kind of inadvertently were while trying to get back to the trailhead and it was stressing me out feeling like how much we might have been stressing them out. Oi.
Continuing up. I don’t think our random detour added very much.
Green forest.
Not much longer and we have reached the trailhead. With one of the lights on in the restrooms, we assumed (correctly) that they were open. Which was good because we needed it.
They moved the “There is no Poop Fairy, please clean up after your dog” sign to the other side of the trail. I love the idea of using humor to try to get through to people.
The restroom are really nice! 2 individual stalls with flush toilets and running water. However, there appears to be a problem.
They appear to have the same problem at Alien Tower. Come on people. A) don’t use the trail if it is muddy. B) Why the fuck would you wash the mud off in the sink here? Would you wash the mud off in your bathroom sink? and C) There is a mud scraper at the trailhead.
Said mud scraper.
Parking lot.
Random house at the top of this cove.
The valley below as we head back down (PSP).
Well, that was absolutely not what I had planned today, but it was a nice hike anyway, even if we have done it quite a few times. The trail is quite busy this time of year, with hikers, joggers, and bicyclists but most people are respectful, just do try to ensure you stay on appropriate trails for your preferred activity. Like the Greater Avenues Area the city has done a great job of providing a good mix of bike only, hike only, and mixed use trails. However there is a huge spiderweb of trails, that while mostly well signed can be a bit confusing. 8 out of 10 squirrels today.
As for difficulty, this is a very mild climb, but it is a climb DR3.
Dogs are not allowed due to watershed restrictions. So please leave Fido home for this adventure.
