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Rocky Mouth Waterfall is a pretty waterfall located in Sandy. The short trail features a beautiful lush green canyon, a creek, a waterfall, and soaring cliffs. After a short jaunt through a neighborhood. It is a tougher hike, but it is super short, so it tends to be a busy trail sometimes.
We had a late night last night, and so we ended up getting a super, super late start to the day. So I didn’t want to drive too far, or do anything too long, so here we are.
I have been hiking to this waterfall since I was a teenager, so it is one of my absolute favorite hikes, even with all of the changes.
Quick Details:
Length: It is about 4/10ths of a mile, but depending how much you explore will probably end up being about a mile out and back.
Trail Type: Out and back.
Difficulty: It is short, but man is it a climb! DR3.
Elevation Gain: About 500 feet.
Restroom: No. The closest one I can think of is to the South at Hidden Valley Park, or to the North at the Bell Canyon Preservation Trailhead.
Dogs? No. This is watershed.
Other Info:
To Get Here:
From the north take i15 to 90th south. Head east to Wasatch Blvd, turn right. Go about 2.1 miles and the trailhead will be on the left.
From the south, take 123rd south and head east and turn right on Wasatch. Trailhead will be on the right.
Note: Do not park in the neighborhood. Use the small parking lot off of Wasatch. 11248 S Wasatch to be precise.
The Trail:
Trailhead signs.
Starting the first set of stairs.
No dogs.
At the top of the stairs you reach a neighborhood. An expensive neighborhood.
Sign pointing you to the right.
Continuing up.
I noticed the marked up spots for the uneven sidewalk are gone, and it is pretty flat now. It pays to live on the east benches I guess. I am sure there are sidewalks a lot further west that have been messed up for years.
Rocky Mouth Canyon.
This new house finally looks about done.
Another sign guiding you to the trailhead.
The canyon above again.
The original trailhead. You used to be able to park up here, but I guess the rich assholes complained, so the new trailhead went in below.
Balsamroot.
The 2nd set of stairs.
Itty bitty purple flower.
More balsamroot.
The stairs again. They still suck, but it is an improvement. Wayyyy back in the day it was just a steep climb.
At the top of the stairs we get a short break from the climb.
The valley. Yuck, it is quite hazy today.
Forest.
Trail split. The Bonneville Shoreline Trail to Big willow Canyon to the right, Rocky Mouth to the left.
Neat bridge below. We decided to go see that closer on the way down.
The creek below.
Into the lovely wooded canyon.
Little side cave.
Random leaf art. I mean, it is better than just tagging, but still. Take your art elsewhere, not in our natural areas!
Continuing up.
Little bit of overflow coming down the trail. It is not so bad, we have definitely seen worse!
Short rocky part of the trail.
Old closed off mine.
First glimpse.
Wewt! We have it to ourselves for a minute. That doesn’t happen very often.
There is a way above the steep cliffs, but uh, it is super steep and rocky. I haven’t done it since I was a teenager.
Back to the waterfall.
In the towering cliffs.
It is definitely not flowing as strongly as it should be this time of year, but there is a bit more water than I was expecting, considering the lackluster winter we had.
The top.
Longer exposure.
The lower tier.
Upper tier and main drop.
Lower tier again.
Longer exposure.
Well, our serenity was short lived, another family showed up. So I made my way out to let them enjoy it too.
Last look.
Beautiful hanging gardens.
More.
Looking out of the alcove.
The other group spent a few minutes climbing all over it, and even getting under the waterfall haha. It confirmed my memory that there is a pool above the lower tier that is probably about 4-8 inches deep or so. I used to climb up that, but I don’t trust my mountain goatedness anymore to try again. Anyway, after they scrambled for a minute they actually left. So we got a couple more seconds with it before the next group came in.
The full thing.
Longer exposure.
The main drop with more hanging gardens.
The lower tier.
Last look.
The creek heading down.
Fun square shaped rock.
The mine again.
Closer look.
Looking back towards the falls.
Forest.
The creek below.
The lower cave thingy.
Again.
I’m not sure if this is residue from fire, or bat guano, or something else entirely.
The creek again.
Back down to the trail split. We decided to take a quick side quest down to what I call the Knights Bridge.
Balsamroot.
Forest.
What I call the Knights Bridge.
It is a really simple bridge, but with some fun artistic knights on each end.
Closer. I am sad that people feel the need to vandalize them.
The creek.
The other side of the bridge.
After here, the trail switchbacks up a few times to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and continues south towards Big Willow Canyon and beyond.
I was not doing that today. I just wanted to see the neat bridge again.
Another close up of a knight.
The creek again.
Tree stars!!! Actually, they are thimbleberry bushes.
Forest.
The valley again. I think that is some sort of water tank below.
Back down the upper stairs of doom.
The valley.
More stairs.
Some kind of pea.
Balsamroot.
Back through the neighborhood.
The lower stairs.
Again. Ooph. I mean, I guess it is better than just scrambling up the hill, but oh boy is it a workout.
Well, that was fun! I love this waterfall, like I said, I have been hiking it since I was a teenager. Before it was officially named, I called it Andrew’s waterfall. Surprisingly, the trail wasn’t too busy today, and we even got a few minutes alone with the waterfall. 10 out of 10 squirrels.
As for difficulty, it is short, but a pretty consistent climb! I am not sure if the stairs really make it much easier. DR3.
Dogs are not allowed due to watershed restrictions.
