Hell Canyon
hikers: Mark and Lecia
First hike of the season and it was a new one for me. Who knew Hell Canyon is near Ensign Peak. We were at the capitol for Mark to pick up something from work and he showed me where he has taken hikes/walks at lunch. There weren't a lot of people but according to him there were more than he used to see during his lunchtime walks. If you are in Salt Lake its a convenient little hike because it is so accessible.
To get to this hike you go north of the Utah State Capitol on Columbus Street and park at the top of the street. The street turns right, that's your only option, and that's the road you follow. Follow the road go through the gate and continue walking along the curvy road. Once you get around the curves you'll see a neighborhood and just before the first house on the left there is a gravel path that goes off to the left. That is the path you take. There is a doggy doo doo can there, dogs are allowed on this hike.
The first park of the hike goes uphill and then you are right by the backyards of those big houses on the hill. This is the view. If you know where to look you can see Mark's office window!
After that it flattens out until you get to Hell Canyon. The trail goes along the side of the mountain next to the backyards and soon you are looking off to the west and over victory road. Not a beautiful view if you are just looking down but if you look out you really have a view. Same view the big houses on the hill have. Continue on and you feel like you are walking to North Salt Lake. You'll come to the sign that says Hell Canyon.
Go to the right on that trail. Once you get into that little canyon the trail starts to climb and has some switchbacks. We got into the canyon and went a ways but eventually it was so muddy we decided it was time to turn around. We had snow this past week and there were patches of snow next to the trail. We probably went about 3/4 mile from where we parked before turning around.
There is also a trail head on Victory Road. We could see it as we were hiking along near the houses.
