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

Dog Lake is a beautiful hike accessible from both Millcreek Canyon and Big Cottonwood Canyon. It's…read moreparticularly lovely during the autumn when the leaves change and the aspens are brilliant gold. It's also a beautiful hike in the late spring and summer when the wildflowers bloom. You can hike and mountain bike to Dog Lake, and if you approach it from Millcreek Canyon, dogs are allowed.

There are a variety of trails to go up to Dog Lake. It was a very beautiful trail with a lot of…read morewild flowers and butterflies. Bikers and dogs can go on the trails. Even days bikers can go on the trails. It was a relatively cool weather even though the weather in the valley was over 90 degrees. Parking can get a little crowded after 9, it could be because there were many bikers going on the trails. There are overflow parking that's a little farther away from the hiking trails.

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.

Similar to the Big Water Trail, this one winds around the mountain at the end of Millcreek Canyon…read more In truth, all of these trail are interconnected and if you hop on one you can probably hop off onto another. The Little Water Trail, in fact, is often combined with Big Water for those hikers tat don't want to cover the same territory twice, and would rather die in the wilderness than catch an out-and-back trail. You can go out on Little or Big, and come back on the other, to form a loop, with the usual destination being Dog Lake. The two trails converge within a quarter mile of the lake and it's easy to go up on one and back on the other without feeling like you're going too far out of your way. Both trails leave from the Big Water Trailhead. Big Water goes directly south, while Little Water heads east before turning uphill and winding up the next canyon over. Little Water is pretty heavily trafficked, as are all of the trails in Millcreek Canyon, pretty much. Note that on odd days of the month, dogs are allowed off leash and bikes prohibited; on even days bikes roam free.

This is a pleasant 1.8 mile hike up to little Dog Lake at the top of Millcreek Canyon. Although…read morenowhere along the trail do you get the stunning valley views that other canyon hikes may provide, this hike is nonetheless pretty spectacular when it comes to scenery. The hike is relative easy (we did it in about 45 minutes at a moderate pace), and there is plenty of shade on the trail. There are a couple of steep inclines, but no dangerous cliffs--it's a good family friendly trail. One word of caution--the parking lot at the trail head is not very large so finding parking at the top of the canyon can be a little tricky. Enjoy!

Fun hike with good elevation gain (7 miles with 2,600ft gain) and a spectacular payoff. I did…read morethis on probably one of the hottest day in SLC metro history but it was slightly cooler out this way. It has gradual ups and running down is possible. It was such a clear day and the views were amazing. Bring some friends and pack a lunch for this adventure. Two small parking lot that fill up quickly so I parked out in the main road. Please come and create your own adventure.

Lake Blanche Trail definitely made me question some of my life decisions at various points on the…read morehike up but I made it! The trail is mostly steep and rocky, with a few stretches here and there where you get a much-needed break from the elevation gain. It was about 7 miles round trip. The mountain views, red rock formations, and wildlife were easily the highlights of the hike. There was always something interesting to look at, which helped distract from the climb. The lake itself was a little underwhelming--it's tucked between these massive, dam-like walls, so I found the surrounding mountain scenery much more impressive than the lake. Still, the views at the top made the effort worth it. It took me about 2 hours to make it up, while the descent was much quicker at a little over an hour. Definitely a challenging hike, but one I'm glad I pushed through!

Trail starts at the end of a dead end street. There isn't a sign to mark the trailhead, but you can…read moreclearly see where the trail starts. This trail is rated Easy, and meanders for 3.3 miles in and out, with an elevation gain of 20 feet. If you are looking for a nice leisurely walk this is a good one. We were the only ones on the trail this morning, but I could see bike tracks, and some makeshift hills for mountain bikes. This trail would be a good trail for runners as well.

I always get confused because there's so many trail heads and trail names that I don't always know…read morewhat trail I "technically" did. I originally thought the area I went a lot off of Wasatch blvd was Grandeur Peak, but after more research it seems to me that is another whole area and hiking vicinity. I'm pretty sure this is the trail I'm thinking because it's not far and you can access it pretty quick off of the freeway, yay! Dogs are allowed and It is free and you get a good view of Parleys Canyon and the freeways. There's a ton of different trails once you wonder up, so you could definitely do a different direction each time. It's a super good work out and some of the areas are quite steep so depending on the kind of work out you want! There's also areas that are mostly flat as well in this trail area. You have to go straight up initially no matter what so this isn't for the faint of heart. You can get good pics and some of the steeper areas are shader and surrounded by trees but most of this hike is in the sun, so keep that in mind! It gets hot unless you goat sunset timing.

OH the stairs, the stairs. They can be a blessing or a curse. Stairs were put in to help with the…read morevery steep elevation gain going up to Mount Olympus or Bonneville Shoreline Trail. Personally I like hiking just on the dirt trail, even though there is a very steep elevation. Because it has been so dry this trailhead is very slippery. I didn't use any poles coming up here, and thought maybe I should have to help me from slipping every which way. This is another busy, busy trail, and is narrow in parts which makes it hard to pass. There is no shade on this trail if you turn off on the BST, except if you hike all the way down to the subdivision right towards the end there is a bit of shade, but for the most part there is none. This is also a very noisy trail, and you hear traffic all the way along the trail, unless you go further up closer to Mount Olympus. There has been no parking for years except on the street, so I was glad to see that there is a small one being built right by the trailhead. **Dogs are allowed on this trail, but please pick up after them. ***No bathroom available

Nice easy trail to hike. You can see the creek bed/waterfall flowing with water right away as you…read moreenter into the trailhead. Fairly easy, park and walk in - probably 15 minutes.

The Mill B South Trailhead is the home of two trails, commonly known as the Lake Blanche Trail and…read morethe Broads Fork Trail. One trailhead. Two entirely different trails. There seems to be some confusion about this, so let's clear it right up. Lake Blanche Trail This trail is by far the more popular one at the trailhead. As you enter the trailhead parking lot, it's the one found near the end of the long, paved walkway to the left past the restrooms. Strictly speaking, it's the Forest Service Lake Blanche Trail #020, sometimes you hear it referred to as the Mill B South Fork Trail. It's pushes up the Mill B South Fork River to Lake Blanche, Lake Florence, and Lake Lillian, and you can actually hike on to Dromedary Peak to approach it from the northeast. To Lake Blanche it's about 3.5 miles and you gain over 2700ft. in elevation on the way to a beautiful mountain lake and canyon views. It's listed separately on Yelp and you can get a lot more info about the trail here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/lake-blanche-trail-salt-lake-city Broads Fork Trail As you enter the parking lot, this is located back to the right, and has much less fanfare than Blanche Lake. Technically, it's Forest Service Broads Fork Trail #055. It's just as rigorous as Lake Blanche--maybe moreso--as you gain over 2000ft. on your way up a narrow-ish canyon, just over 2 miles to a small pond area. You can push beyond that, and many cairns exist to lead to higher adventure. It's also listed separately on Yelp, but doesn't currently have any reviews. You can be the first! https://www.yelp.com/biz/broads-fork-canyon-trail-salt-lake-city Trailhead Amenities Look, there's not enough parking to meet demand. There's just a few rows and it will always fill up on weekends. You can park a hair up the road in the overflow area, or you can park along the highway. Busy weekends will have lines and lines of cars along the highway. It's a really popular trailhead. Weeknights less so, weekdays even better. There's a small restroom facility near the info kiosk at the southeast edge of the parking lot. Beyond that you don't get much in the way of amenities. It's fine; what else do you need? Trailhead Season This trailhead is only open seasonally (closed by a gate across the entrance) but you can access it year-round. In this case, it only means the amenities are closed seasonally, typically from sometime in October to sometime in May or so, weather depending. In winter, it's a snowshoe trail, or you can slog it out without them, again, depending on how heavy the snow has been. Getting There: From the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon (this is where 7200 S/Fort Union Blvd Becomes Big Cottonwood Canyon Rd/Highway 190 as it crosses Wasatch Boulevard) you will drive east up Highway 190 for about 4.3 miles. The trailhead sits right at the base of the big "S-Curve" in the Highway. If you do the double hairpin, you've gone too far. A Few Thoughts Less popular trailheads exists, but if it's avoiding people you're after, you've got a much better chance of it on Broads Fork than Lake Blanche. But you should do Lake Blanche at least once. I did it this weekend again; it seems like it had been forever since I was here. The leaves have already dropped. It seems I was just a bit too late to get the beautiful reds I remember from before. Bittersweet, but just being here, being close, that was enough. Bring your camera, DON'T bring your dog (forbidden in this canyon), don't bring your campfire (also prohibited), do bring your sense of adventure. No matter what path you take from this trailhead, you'll enjoy it!