Parking is avail along the main street on Wasatch Blvd. Just a heads up, the residential area on…read moreEagle View Drive has signs saying no parking if you're there for the trail. Once you park, you'll walk thru the neighborhood to reach the trail entrance. I actually enjoyed the walk and checking out the beautiful homes along the way. There are no public restrooms btw. The trail starts with 60+ stair steps, then it levels out into mostly flat gravel. Closer to the waterfall, there are some small rocks, and light water streams run over them, so just watch your step to avoid slipping. I climbed up the big rocks to get a closer look at the upper waterfall stream. Overall, it was an easy hike, but I spent a good few hours there soaking in the quiet nature during the week. There were only a handful of other hikers. On the way back, I did a short detour onto the Bonneville Shoreline Trail for about 30 mins in before I turned around since I wasn't familiar with that route.

I wouldn't say this was an easy hike, but more of a short hike, with a pretty cool waterfall at the…read moreend for kids. No parking anywhere close to the trailhead. This tail is in a neighborhood therefore there is no parking on the street in the neighborhood. There is parking out on the main road. After you find parking you have to walk through the neighborhood on the sidewalk up a steady incline. The trailhead starts out with stairs which are hard to climb for little legs. After the stairs the trail get easier but is rocky. After you get to the waterfall, if the water is low, you can actually stand underneath it, or really close to it. On the decent down if your shoes are wet be careful. It can be slippery over the rocks, and then there is a patch of trail that is really sandy. Slip, slide... There is a part of the trail where you can head south on the BTL, but we just headed back to the car. On the way down walking through the neighborhood there was a house that had two deer running around their yard that was gated. I have no idea how they got in there as the house has a very tall fence. Good trail for the little kid, but trail is narrow, and very crowded. I would suggest going in the late afternoon, as there isn't as many people.

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.

Lake Mary is a classic trail to adventure if you want to show off some of Utah's finest nature. I…read morelove doing this trail and have often done it solo. Depending on the time, it can be quite busy, but once you arrive to the lake, you can treat yourself to a panoramic view on one of the many rocks and sitting areas. It's one of those places you want to just put your phone away and lose yourself in thought. Pro tip: bring a hammock and a good book!

Beautiful scenery. If course bot allowed to swim. Lots of cute squirrels. It is just so scary for…read moreme when we pass swarm of mosquitoes. The people said it is normal there. I didn't have any jacket and repellent and I got bitten so badly.

An absolutely beautiful area with a gorgeous and LONG hike to the Mount Timpanogos summit. We…read morecamped in the official Timpanooke campground so that we could start our hike around 3am from the trailhead. 12 long hours later we arrived back to where we started, but we did it! There were deer, smaller wildlife, and mountain goats. We did not feel threatened by other wildlife.

I was able to do an overnight Timp hike. It's 15 mile round trip, with a 35lb pack…read more Here are some of the amazing pictures and videos if you haven't been up there. The weather was calm and hot and the night was vibrant. They now have cell service at the top and along most of the trail, which gives a sense of safety. There were hundreds of people hiking the entire night long. I camped in the meadows area.

Strictly speaking, the Brighton Lakes Trail leaves from Brighton resort and goes up to Lake Mary,…read moreLake Martha, and Lake Catherine. There are other lakes in the area, and you can leave from the Solitude Nordic area (Silver Lake) and visit those lakes (Solitude, Twin Lakes), which you might mistake for Brighton Lakes as they are, y'know, lakes around Brighton. But for clarity's sake, this is the trail that takes you right up the ski slope before veering off and climbing up to those three lady lakes. The trail is a popular one, and that means you won't be alone. As a kid, I remember my dad taking us here one Saturday and we had the place to ourselves. Martha has a tiny island and I remember it seeming so big and so far out there... but as an adult I realize it was just my kid brain and kid memory. It's a nice lake, but Mary is the really big body of water up there. As an adult, too, I see that on a Saturday especially you won't have the place to yourself. In fact, these days as many have cancelled their summer vacations and are staying home, you'll need to be on the trail by 7am to have only moderate crowds. If you wait until 9 or 10am it will be a constant stream of people. Parking at Brighton is currently free, but any other hike in the canyon will be totally packed if you wait until after 7am. The trail itself is quite wonderful. You go up the slopes, and then veer off before gradually climbing up to the trees and large rocks. It never gets crazy steep or scary, though if you have to traverse in the snow you might be a little sketched out. It's only a couple of miles, although if you want to push on beyond the lakes you can hike up the ridge and beyond and it adds more miles. There are fish in the lakes, and we saw some kiddos out dunking a worm beneath a bobber. I don't think that's a main draw, but there were some fly fisherman giving it a go, too, so it does attract all kinds. The vast majority, however, are just out to stretch their legs and take in the views. All the hiking warnings apply--be prepared, pack lots of water as it does get hot, even though some of it is in the shade. Wildlife abounds, but give them plenty of space. Enjoy the summer wildflowers. And appreciate the fact that this is practically in your backyard if you live in SLC.

Are you seeking a longer, but low-challenge hike? Fair amount of shade with a plethora of wildlife?…read moreALL THE WILDFLOWERS if visiting around July? The opportunity to explore SEVEN lakes? Well, you have found your trail! Arriving at 6:30am, we began at Silver Lake, parking in the Brighton Visitor's Center lot, and taking the boardwalk toward the wooded area on the backside of the Lake. From here, you can trek the Lake Solitude Trail on the right to that same named lake, and then return to the Twin Lakes trail, but we went straight to the latter. In the future I'd hit up Lake Solitude, though (it's only a little out of the way), and you should too! As the trail begins, there is a portion bordered by rocks on each side, and little pikas scurried all about! They were not particularly frightened of us, so I got quite close, and they are heartbreakingly adorable. Following that, the incline steepens, but only for a bit, and it is probably the most you'll experience for the entirety of your hike, so it's nice to get it out of the way first thing. When we arrived at Twin Lakes we met a moose crowned by a gigantic rack, so did not really explore that area. He was completely unperturbed by us, and contentedly continued munching his leafy breakfast. The next portion of the trail is mostly wooded, lush, green, and particularly gorgeous. We saw a female moose just as soon as we entered the forested part, and happened upon a dead porcupine (oh, to see a live one in the wild!). The trail is mostly flat as it delivers you to Lake Mary (my favorite!). This is the largest of these bodies of water, but I loved her for the surrounding rocky scenery. You will find silvery schools of fish glinting in the sunlight, translucent emerald water, and myriad varying views as you trek around the lake. Moving onward, the incline increases slightly, but it's nothing major. Lake Martha will shortly appear on your right. She was small, surrounded by grass, and we did not linger too long. It will take a bit more time to arrive at Catherine, but the trail is easy and mostly shaded. When you reach a fork in the trail, take the left (with a sign regarding camping 200 feet from bodies of water) to head straight to Lake Catherine, or take the right (with a "trail" sign) up to the peak. The latter is exposed and a little rocky with a steeper incline. You can continue on that same route to Sunset Peak for a view of all three lakes, but we opted to stop here, admiring the view of Lake Catherine's glittering surface, then heading back, and taking the trail, now on our right, to break at Catherine, my second favorite lake. There were masses of wildflowers, and the water was near luminously clear. As you retrace your steps on the way to the remaining portion of the loop, you are treated to a stunning vista of the previous lakes and mountains beyond, then a wide-spanning view of fields and Dog Lake on your right. Dog Lake, a smaller, marshy spot, looks like a moose's dream hang out, and was our last stop. Following this, the trail is much wider, open, and more crowded. While not bad, it certainly suffered in comparison to the hike previous. In the future, though I would be sad to miss Dog Lake, I would probably skip it and make my return from the sister lakes back toward Silver Lake, but it is also nice not to have to go back the way you came. I just found the congested trail off-putting after previously experiencing all the serenity of nature with little interruption by other people. We started at 6:30am. This hike took us 4 hours, at an easygoing pace and with short breaks at each lake. Including additional wandering/off trail exploration, it ended up a total of 7.3 miles. Speaking of which, the trails are not marked well, in fact, are not marked most of the time. I would recommend utilizing the Alltrails app. We did, and even so still got off track for a bit. TL;DR - Fairly easy hike, especially for one nearing 7 miles. Excellent if you enjoy variety, and as it is a loop with only backtracking through the three sister lakes, there is always something new to see. Expect lots of animals, including moose, pika, chipmunks, ground squirrels, rabbits, butterflies, and birds. Some exposed areas, but more is shaded, with heavily wooded portions. Alltrails app is a must as the trails are poorly marked. Busy at the start and end.

This trailhead was very unexpected, but quite nice. I've not hiked a lot up this part of the…read morecanyon--my teenage years were spent in the canyon, but we always took the fork to Tibble and rarely did I go up and over the Alpine Loop, or even anywhere along UT 92. Once you pass that aforementioned fork to Tibble, the road does narrow a bit. I drove the loop last fall and it was tense--bumper to bumper cars trying to take in a weekend drive of the foliage and not very enjoyable when the road is really only wide enough for one direction of traffic. The good news is that this trailhead isn't far past the fork at all, so we made on large hairpin, one tight one, and boom, it's there on your right (if you're coming up from the Lehi/Alpine side). It's a generously-sized parking lot, has restrooms, signage, and is a great starting off point. We took the Pine Hollow Trail #47, which is the namesake, obvs. We crossed the road, went up, and took the loop clockwise that goes up to some killer views of the back side of Timp, and then comes back down to Salamander Flat near the road, before cutting back up into the forest, meeting up with Trail #47 again, and retracing the steps back to the trailhead. You can, however, launch off from here, and go all the way up to Mud Flat and pop down at Tibble, if you're after a longer hike and have a shuttle set up. The hikes here are lovely, probably even moreso in Autumn. The very very earliest of leaves were already starting to fade a bit, so get out and make hay while the summer sun shines. Not a massively popular trailhead, but due to its size and convenience, you'll see plenty of folks doing just that. Keep an eye out for bikes and motorcycles on the trail; we saw both.

Memory Of The Upper Provo…read more Perfect dark blue line, stretched transparently thin. Like taffy tumbling over and over as it bends and twists and turns, but never breaks. Each rivulet and riffle tells the story- connecting the dots between the headwaters of how it all began, and the tailwaters of how it all ends. How did it all begin? The same story plays out each year. A year ago today, then tomorrow, a little warmth, then warmer still. Mountain shoulders appear smiling in a beautiful green and white patterned dress. Warmer still, and the dress melts away to fiery red beneath-- melting slowly at first, then faster, then powerless to the call. Winter cedes to the universal order: Two forces become one-- Heat and Gravity join together each tendril of melted snow like interlocked fingers making sweet, soft noises as they tumble unknowingly, happily, gleefully, to where they belong. Raging rapids, calm flats, trout-filled pools, and riffles that whisper secrets from upriver and predictions of what's below. Snow and rain and hail have become River. Soapstone pools, happy hikes, jumping off of logs, sending wishes under a bridge. A river fulfills the promise of life together under the blue sky: Baking sun on garden shores. Each river is unique; a love story tied between how it all begins and how it all ends. How does it all end? Autumn slows the story, Spring runs rapid with confused and turgid channels, summer meets the full measure of happiness. But winter's cold and cruel isolation cannot stop current beneath the ice. The heart of the river beats always. A river never ends. The stretch between how it all began and how it all ends is infinite, ever-flowing, unceasing. Time, distance, dam, or diversion: The heart of the mountain only beats louder; its pulse never wavers, never ends.

Ok Jeffrey, you can't have this river all to yourself. From the headwaters in places like three…read moredivide lakes to when it enters the Jordanelle reservoir, it's a treat. It provides the backdrop for so many campgrounds and picnic areas along the mirror lake road. I've loved driving along it, and enjoying the sites for many years.

Located along the Mirror Lake Highway, just between mile markers 23 and 24, is a small turnout to a…read morevery impressive waterfall. To call it a waterfall is a bit of a misnomer, or at least feels incomplete. IT's more of a series of falls, or probably more accurately, cascades. Whereas most waterfalls actually, uh... fall, this is more of a whitewater tumble. There's not much freefall in the water, but it does cascade down a series of terraced rocks and the effect is quite beautiful. The parking lot isn't too big, so if it's a weekend and peak season, expect to park on the highway and walk in. No sweat, it's not far. You can see the falls from the parking lot, so no worries on long treks. From here, it's a choose your own adventure. There are some paved-ish (it's been a long while since they were maintained) trails, but it's not exactly accessible. Head down the stairs to the first and main overlook, or just head down the trail to the bottom falls and work your way back up over the rocks. It's a very popular place, and you'll see loads of picnickers and families. In the summer when the water levels recede, you may very likely see someone swimming, or see people venturing out over the terraced rocks. But in the spring/early summer, there's a dangerous level of water coming down the Provo River, so you'll want to say out of the frigid river itself. All told, you can see the whole thing in 15 mins and it's a nice pit stop along the Highway. If you intend to park and stay, you'll have to display a pass on your vehicle, which are available at a few locations along the highway on a self-serve basis. A three-day pass is currently $6 (no one-day passes available) and you get to park at any of the sights along the way with that pass. If you missed the self-serve station at the entrance on the Kamas side, or the (I think??) pass station at the Soapstone Basin restrooms, you can drive a little farther up the road (mile marker 25? 26?) and there's a self-serve station there.

Just beautiful there is the 1st set of falls and then walk down farther and see the additional…read morefalls. It was fuller than we expected for July. It is very cold and breathtaking.