Wonderful intermediate family hike with a restroom at the entrance. We arrived late in the morning…read moreon Thursday and parking lot was packed with many people parked along the side of the road. The trail itself was challenging at the end since they are doing some trail repair but still doable with a 5 year old. The hike was worth the waterfall view.

I think I brought part of 7-Eleven with me after a quick pit stop there before the hike…read more This was one of the most interesting, fun, and confusing hikes I've done (early May). I didn't realize there'd still be so much snow, so I forgot long socks. It was sunny and in the high 70s, but I saw people hiking shirtless, in flip-flops with socks, shorts, snow gear, and even snowshoes. At that point, I gave up trying to figure out if I was doing it right and just went with it. Every step felt like a gamble. I had no clue what was under the snow or how deep it went. The trail is hard to follow with all the snow, so I recommend using the AllTrails app. My feet sank into snow that felt like a 7-Eleven slushy. I slipped on icy snow and even fell into a hole, but it was worth it, lol. Without snow, it's an easy hike. With snow, I'd consider it intermediate. It's -2 mi RT (3 hours with 1 hr break). You'll cross two small bridges (one with rails & one without). When you see the "Welcome to the Wasatch-Cache National Forest" sign, follow the water stream. It'll take you to Gloria Falls (~0.25 miles left). There's a parking lot and one restroom (separate stalls). parking was almost full when I got there late morning on a Thursday. I'd def come back when there's no snow to experience it differently.

This a pretty easy trail with a gradual incline. I would say it's rocky in parts, but over all a…read morefantastic trail for beginners. You can hike all the way up to the falls, the trail meanders, which is nice. You can take your time enjoying the scenery or hike fast to get to the falls. Bikes are allowed on this trail, and there are a lot of them. I just which they would use etiquette when biking. Let hikers know you are about to pass them (give hikers a heads up) most of them time you can hear when a bike is approaching, but not always, especially these days with the river water rushing so fiercely it's hard to hear.

Personally, I think this trail is way to short from the Lisa Falls trailhead, but that is my kids…read morepreferred route, less than 0.5mi to the falls if you park at Lisa Falls trailhead. The falls is very pretty and unique. It's a very popular family hike since it's so short and easy. That said, my preferred route is to park at Temple Quarry/Little Cottonwood trailhead and hike up Little Cottonwood trail. You will get to a point where you cross a private drive, but the trail continues if you just keep going straight and follow the signs. Then, eventually, there is a split. Little Cottonwood trail continues to the right and another trail goes uphill to the left - this will take you to the main canyon road, where you can cross, and Lisa Falls trailhead is right there. I don't know the exact mileage because we went all the way up Little Cottonwood Trail, and then back down to the split and that's when we decided to check it out and find out where it went. Either way you go, the falls is great!

This is a beautiful hike surrounded by lush, green trees and lots of shade. It's tucked up in a…read moreresidential community in Draper, but once you get to the trailhead, you wouldn't really know that there are houses nearby. There are several paths and trails you can take-some on foot, some by bike. I even saw clues that horses had been there! At the trailhead, there is plenty of marked parking along with bathrooms. It's easy to find via GPS and you can do shorter or longer trails-whatever floats your boat. Just keep track of where you are because without a map or sense of direction, you could easily get turned around!

This is an easy hike for little ones to climb up the canyon if they want to see an actual…read morewaterfall. As far as the waterfall goes, it's on the small side, but it is a nice little hike at Corner Canyon in Draper. The trail does have some sunny areas, but mostly it's covered buy foliage and it's quite shady on the higher end of the trail.

THE VIEW! THE VIEW! THE VIEW!…read more Oh sure, this has amenities like a cool playground with a gnarly walk-climbing wall, good restrooms, plenty of benches, walking trails, and a pavilion with plenty of picnic tables. But, in the end, it's all about the view. The name HIDDEN Valley is apropos because I live in Sandy but I've never heard of it until now. STUNNING mountain views that you'll want to see again and again. Bravo, Sandy City!

This is a review for the hiking trails starting on the northeast side of the main parking lot…read more The trail offers beautiful views during the whole trip. It is a well maintained trail using soft, tan colored dirt, so traction will not be an issue. The first half of the trail does not offer much coverage, so prepare appropriate sunblock as needed. Later you will hike a well-shaded area that is just great for water breaks and resting away from the heat. Trail is partially dog friendly and gets narrow as you head south. You will run into the watershed and want to hike on to enjoy the beautiful jagged cliffs and small canyon. However it is private property so you want be able access it.

It's starting to get way too hot in the valley, so I've been trying to escape up into the cooler…read moremountain temperatures for the past couple of weeks. What a stunning hike this was! We started the hike from a less populated trail starting near Solitude, but there's another, more popular trail that goes to this same viewpoint. I believe the route we took was called the Beaver Pond trail from Solitude. The wildflowers are starting to come out and the views are absolutely stunning. The lake itself was perfectly still and reflecting the beautiful aspens. We came here on a Friday night and lots of people were backpacking here and setting up camp around the lake. What a beautiful place to backpack, and a short little backpacking trip! I would definitely come back to backpack this sometime. The temperature was perfect, although it was a little bit buggy so bug spray was necessary. We even ended up needing sweatshirts on the way down. Our trail was about 4.2 miles RT, but the regular Willow Lake/Willow Heights trail is 2.5-2.8 miles RT. Definitely worth checking out right now as the wildflowers come out!

Do you ever feel like you just need to spend some time outdoors? Some might call it woo woo, but…read morewith the cooler temperatures, I have not been out on as many adventures as usual, and my spirit definitely required a reconnection with nature. It hit me acutely about a week back, and, while I have my trusty standard hikes (I swear I visit Bell's Canyon near weekly!), I wanted to go somewhere new. Willow Heights popped up while searching Alltrails in an attempt to locate a different hike in the same area. The one I'd originally had in mind didn't feature a lake, so Willow Heights quickly won over my interest. At just over two miles, it is a great option for those seeking a quick hike. Located a ways up the canyon, and though not super well marked, if you utilize GPS and watch for cars parked along the road, it is not too difficult to spot. There is a small etched boulder that serves as the trail marker. The path starts with some incline, but nothing too challenging. There are aspens EVERYWHERE, and, in the early morning light, their bare branches and trunks appeared so starkly white against the blue sky. It was incredibly striking! As elevation is gained, more pines start to sprout up, though with no loss of aspens. We did not see any, but moose are said to be common hiking companions. Eventually, you will reach a large open field (I imagined it full of wildflowers mid-summer), and then the trail breaks off into a wide loop around the water. It's a small lake, but it's still a lake, so I'll take it, even frozen, as it was at this time. I found a raised spot on the west side, and settled in to enjoy the perfect silence and view of surrounding snow-topped mountains. And speaking of snow, in November, there were spots with plenty, though more ice than anything else. We brought crampons, but didn't bother to use them as the bottom of the trail was entirely clear, and my hands were too frozen to maneuver crampons over my boots once we reached the more slippery spots. It was okay without, but further into the winter you will certainly want 'em. There were also areas that, with several inch deep shoe prints, clearly get pretty darn muddy once warmed by the sun. It was cold enough that the dirt was frozen for us. Because Big Cottonwood is a watershed, dogs and swimming are prohibited. Camping is allowed, but I don't think fires are (though we saw what was very clearly a fire pit near the lake). I could see this being a popular hike during other seasons, though, on a cold Sunday morning, we only happened upon one other group right as we exited the trail.

The trailhead starts in the Timpooneke campground parking lot in American Fork Canyon. The cost is…read more$6 per car. You can pay at the parking lot- there are self-pay envelopes. If you don't have cash, like us, we stopped at the little guard shack at the mouth of AF canyon on our way out and paid. We hiked to the summit August 1 2018. Weather was perfect. We started the trailhead at 5AM and made the summit around 8:30. We hiked quite quickly and large groups or inexperienced hikers would definitely take longer. Average is around 4 1/2 hours to reach the summit. We took 3 liters of water each and it was more than enough. If it had been warmer we may have needed more- but we were back to our car by noon. The hike down took about 2 1/2 hours. We had read that it normally takes a little longer. We also took snacks- which were needed! Snickers bars and peanut m&ms were perfect. The hike wasn't technically difficult so much as just long. It definitely takes endurance. It's not for the faint of heart. I'd recommend being in good physical shape- 7.2 miles each way. The views were breathtaking. Only the last mile from the saddle to the tippy top had some scary heights. If you're afraid of heights, the last mile will be a little nerve wracking. However, it wasn't incredibly dangerous. I'm not a risk taker and I felt pretty safe. It got a little hot on the way down. I wouldn't recommend starting much later than 5am because it can start to get pretty hot as the day goes on and you'll be tired . And the top of the summit can be quite cold in the morning. I had a sweatshirt with me and was grateful for it!

this large trail goes through cottonwood canyon, and the river follows all along the trail. i don't…read morewalk all of it, but took a small walk towards the trail once i parked in sure the trail is long, beautiful and great experience to have in Utah. i loved just the views alone

Close to SLC, and it's A great little trail to punish your preteens - on five gold stars!!read more

Rocky and steep! Definitely a harder to moderate hike…read more We brought a baby and a three year old . I don't recommend that young of kids yet I don't regret it. We had a great time. Definitely took our time. Such a great workout with lots of little creeks running through. Loved it! We went to the lower view of the falls and that wa a enough for us.

Another uphill hike - with upper and lower trail options. Feeling a bit ragged after the first 1/4…read moremile uphill hike, we chose the lower route and have no regrets! Never having crossed a log bridge quite like this one - it was a good portion of the thrill! Add to that the glowing, pre-sunset kissed, fiercely and beautiful surging river below - full of rapids and mini-waterfalls. This made for a very happy hike! It felt like hiking in an Alpine version of Fern Gully - light filtering through the tall pine canopy - it felt like there was a special nature magic/spirit in this place!