Cave Spring Trail- Canyonlands

The Trail

This easy trail is a 0.6 mile long loop with a mild 70 foot elevation change. However, beware that there are a couple ladders to climb along the trail.

Topographical Map

Graph of Elevation

Trail in Google Earth

When starting the trail by turning left at the split to go in a southward direction, hikers will soon pass a historic cowboy camp site. From there the trail and winds under overhanging rocks where further evidence of the camp site can be seen. Under one of these rocks is Cave Spring. The overhanging rocks also offer some welcome shade from the desert sun. Some pictographs are also visible along these rocks.

Historic Cowboy Camp

From there, hikers must climb up a couple ladders to get to the top of the rocks. At this point, hikers must follow the rock cairns placed along the slickrock. There are plenty of nice views along this portion of the trail.

View from the upper slickrock section of the trail

Directions

This trail is located is in San Juan County and is found in The Needles district of Canyonlands National Park nearby Monticello, UT. To get there, turn west off of US-191 onto Scenic Hwy UT-211. This will be marked with signs for Canyonlands. You will have to pay a fee to enter the park either at the station along the road or at the Visitor's Center. Turn right at the fork after the Visitor's Center and then turn right again at the maintained dirt road leading to Cave Spring.

Donut Falls

The Trail

When starting from the trail head, this easy trail is only about 3/4 a mile long (one way) with a 310 foot elevation change. (Some people start from the lower parking area closer to the main road and walk up the road to the trail head. This is what we did since we went on Memorial Day when the trail was very busy. If you end up walking up the road too, your hike will be about 1.4 miles (one way) with a 552 foot elevation change.)


This popular trail is wide, well used, and easy to follow. However, it is hard to see the donut at the end unless you cross the stream to view the fall from the other side. The water is icy cold in the spring and will rise well above your ankles when you cross, so prepare accordingly.

Topographical Map (red = road; blue = main trail; green = alternative trail)

The red flag in the topographical map marks the trail head and the blue flag marks Donut Falls.

Graph of Elevation (main trail only)

Trail in Google Earth

 

View of Fall before crossing the stream

Point where you must cross the stream for a better view. Prepare to get wet.

There are lots of boulders to the side of the waterfall. Many people climb up these in attempt to get a better view, however this is not highly recommended. If you decide to try this, use extreme caution and proceed at your own risk since these rocks are prone to slides.

Close up of the water falling through the "donut"

Big Cottonwood Canyon is a watershed area, and thus no pets are permitted on the trails and in other areas of the canyon. Don't bring your dog with you on this hike.

Directions

This trail is located in Salt Lake County. To get there, from I-15 take Exit 298 for I-215/Belt Route and head East along I-215. Take Exit 6 for 3000 East. Keep right and turn onto 6200 South. Continue to Big Cottonwood Canyon Rd. and turn left. The Donut Falls turn off is on the left around mile 10 up the canyon. There is a parking area by the main road. You can park here and walk up the road to the trail, or you can drive up the side road that will take you the the actual trail head.

Beus Canyon Trail to Mount Ogden Peak

The Trail

This strenuous trail is about 5.4 miles long (one way) with a 4453 foot elevation change. Hikers traversing the full length of the trail will go up the west face of Mount Ogden and arrive at the top of Ogden Peak. The climb is fairly steep and steady most of the way, but right before the peak, it levels off a bit before climbing dramatically to the top.

Topographical Map (red=Bonneville Shoreline;
blue=Beus Canyon)

Graph of Elevation

Trail in Google Earth

The first part of this trail is fairly shady. Stay to the right at all forks to stay on the Beus Canyon Trail; otherwise you will end up on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. As the trail continues up, the shade becomes more sparse and then disappears altogether. The path became increasingly overgrown, but the trail remained clear. Near the top there are also a series of rock cairns along the trail, but the path remains clear all the way to the top even without them. At the saddle, the trail hits a steep road that continues up toward the peak. There is another "trail" turn off from the road near the top, but it mostly turns into a scramble up the rocks at the very tip. The mountain peak is capped by transmitting towers and a helicopter pad.

There are great views of the valley, the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island, and the surrounding mountains all along the trail.

Leashed dogs are permitted on the trail.

View of the valley and Antelope Island from the trail

Looking back along the trail and up towards
De Moisy Peak

Wildflowers on the slopes

Looking up toward Ogden Peak

Helicopter landing pad at the peak

View of The Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island from peak

View of Pineview Reservoir from the peak

Road in the bottom right corner is what we followed down to find tram

Going Down on the Tram

Before starting our hike, we parked a car at Snowbasin with the plan to ride the tram down the mountain after reaching the top. We were not completely sure where the top was in relation to the tram, but the light blue line below is the path we followed from the peak down to the tram. The light green line is the path of the tram.

Topographical Map (light blue=path to tram; green=tram ride down)

Graph of Elevation (Hiking path only - does not include tram ride)

Trails in Google Earth

Basically, we followed the dirt road down from the peak and along the east side of the mountain. We turned off onto the next road we came to, which was a much rougher dirt road going more south. We soon hit a better maintained section of road and passed under the tram. Shortly after that we found the Needles Trail, which we then followed back up to the tram station. This path to the tram was just over two miles.

Looking up at Mount Ogden from the tram

Riding the tram down the mountain

If you plan on riding down the tram, it would be wise to check before your hike to make sure you know what the tram's schedule is for the day. (We ended up having to do some running to the tram station since some helpful hikers informed us that the tram was closing early on the day we went.) There is a whole web of trails and roads snaking along the east side of the mountain though, leaving open a number of options for hiking up or down from the Snowbasin parking lot.

Directions

The Beus Canyon Trail is located in Weber County. The trail head is on the end of 46th Street. To get there from I-15, take Exit 341 for 31st Street and turn right. Turn right onto Wall Street, and then follow the road to the left at 40th Street. Continue to Harrison Blvd. and turn right. Then continue to 4600 S. and turn left. Continue east toward the mountains. The parking lot for the trail is right at the curve at the end of the road.

Vasquez Rocks Short Loop

The Trail

This easy 1.2 mile loop has a 116 foot elevation change is located in Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park. The trail starts along the Pacific Crest Trail and runs along the north side of the Vasquez Rocks. At the end of the rock formations, we looped around and followed the road back to the trail head.

Topographical Map

Graph of Elevation

Trail in Google Earth

The Vasquez Rocks are a popular spot for the filming scenes in a number of movies such as Star Trek, Holes, Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, and many more. Visitors are welcome to climb on the rocks and explore the area. This trail is also opened to leashed dogs and horseback riders.

The Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park itself covers 932 acres and can be very hot. However, no drinking water is available there, so bring plenty of water with you when you visit. For those looking for a longer hike, there are a number of other trails in this area. Picnic areas are also available here. There is no entry fee to the park, but the park does enforce strict hours. For current park hours, please check here.

Directions

This trail is located in Los Angeles, California near Santa Clarita. Specifically, the trail is found in Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park in Agua Dulce. To get there from Santa Clarita, take CA-14 north towards Palmdale. Take exit 15 for Agua Dulce Canyon Rd. Turn left and continue to Pacific Crest Trail. Turn right and continue to the park, which will be on the right. The trail as shown on the maps above starts from the first parking lot.

Goosenecks Overlook & Sunset Point

The Trail

This easy jaunt is under a mile long (round trip) with a 61 foot elevation change when both trails are done in succession. Here we started by going up the short Goosenecks Overlook Trail, which leads to a view point for the U-shaped bends of the canyon below. For more adventuresome hikers, this slot canyon can also be accessed and hiked via that Sulphur Creek Route from the Chimney Rock Trail head.

Topographical Map

Graph of Elevation (doing the Goosenecks Overlook Trail first)

Trail in Google Earth

View of Goosenecks from Goosenecks Overlook

Another View of Goosenecks from Overlook

After coming down from the Goosenecks Overlook, we headed up to Sunset Point. This point is aptly named; it is a beautiful place to be as the sun sets. The sun radiates off the rock faces across the surrounding canyons, causing them to glow brightly. Unfortunately, the clouds blocked the sun while we were there, so we didn't get to see this effect. Even the brief sunset itself was muted in the cloudy sky. It would have been better could we have been there on a less cloudy night. Despite this, we still found the view from Sunset Point enjoyable.

View from Sunset Point during cloudy evening

Another section of the deep gorge cradling Sulphur Creek is also visible from the south side of Sunset Point.

Sulphur Creek from Sunset Point

Directions

This trail is located in Capitol Reef National Park in Wayne County, Utah. The trail is off of UT-24. To get there from I-15, take Exit 188 to get onto US-50. Get off US-50 at UT-260. From there get onto UT-24 and continue to Capitol Reef. The turn off for these trails will be before the Visitor's Center. Take the Panorama Point/Sunset Point turn off to the right. Stay left where the road splits and continue up the dirt road to the parking area and trail head.