July 18, 2025 Bell Canyon

 Bell Canyon

hikers: Mark and Lecia

distance: 2.8 miles

We started at Bell Canyon Granite Trail head off Little Cottonwood Road. 

This is partway up the trail because I was so focused on it I forget to take pictures at the trailhead.

We have snowshoed this trail in the winter but never hiked from this trailhead in the summer.  I was surprised to see how how much we were going uphill on snowshoes and how many rocks were underneath the snow and how steep the dropoff is on one side!  I didn't remember or notice it in the snow. We only went to the reservoir on snowshoes.

This time we followed the same trail and it was about .67 miles to the reservoir. 

 We continued on past the reservoir even though we knew we didn't have enough time to get to the lower falls before we would need to turn around. From the reservoir you continue up a service road and then there is a sign to turn left to go to the falls.

 At this point you are in the canyon and the trail no longer has a drop-off on one side and no more noise from the city. 

It is a really pretty trail and fairly flat at that point before it starts going up hill. We came to a creek and could hear the rushing water even before we saw it.  

You can see the bridge you will cross.

This is a view from the bridge.

It is Bells Canyon Creek and there is a bridge you cross and then continue uphill.  It wasn't long after this that we turned around because of time.  We had gone about 1.4 miles at this point. 

This is where we turned around.

On the way back it was lightly sprinkling.  After we passed the reservoir it started to rain. 

I took this picture right before it started to rain.

 Then it poured! I was absolutely soaked in just minutes. The rain was pelting and the wind was blowing and there was thunder and lightening. I was glad to get back to the car, and yet we had passed people going up! 

We need to do this hike again when we have time to go to the lower falls.  From what I have read the trail gets steeper and more difficult just before the falls but I'm willing to give it a try.  We passed or were passed by hikers going both ways but the trail didn't feel crowded above the reservoir. It is a beautiful and well used trail. The trailheads are convenient since you don't even have to drive up the canyon. Because it is easy to get to it is well used and parking fills up.

Monday, July 14, 2025 Cecret Lake

Cecret Lake from Alta: 

1211 feet elevation gain

hikers:  Mark and Lecia

distance:  5.3 miles

elevation gain:  1,211 feet

This is not a new hike but today we did it as prep for a hike we are doing next week. I wanted to do a hike with 1250 ft elevation gain and this was close. 

This is next to the parking lot and where you start the hike if you are hiking from Alta.  We wanted a longer hike so that is what we chose. 

We started just after 6:30 and the sun was starting to come up, but from where we were we could see it turning the tops of some of the mountains golden but we weren't in the sun.  It was still chilly!

Signs that we were hiking through a ski resort.

The sun was getting higher and illuminating the mountains.

There was construction happening and that required a detour on part of the trail until we got to the Cecret lake trail head by Albion Basin Campground.  This bridge is the beginning of the trail by the campground.

So beautiful! We were still in the shade. There was more water than when we came last year.

Like a woman we greeted as we were passing on the trail said, 

"What a lovely day to be going on a hike".

The moon, that same moon that shone in my window and kept me awake last night, was still visible.

And then the sun was high enough we were walking in full sun.

When we were on the switchbacks to the lake I almost took the wrong turn, or rather didn't take the right turn to the lake, but Mark pointed out the correct way!  

You could have scrambled back to the trail or backtracked from the side trail. It just led to a view of the water coming down from the lake.

Cecret Lake

stunning wildflowers

Almost 3 hours later we were back at the parking lot and the sun was way above the mountain and there were way more people on the trail.  

July 3, 2025

 Bear Canyon Suspension Bridge

length: 2 miles

elevation gain: 400 ft.

hikers: Mark and Lecia

Here it is July and this is the first hike of the summer! We hiked the loop from the Orson Smith Park to the Bear Canyon Suspension Bridge.  It was a pleasant hike and you get some elevation gain on this trail. Not too busy today.

A view of the valley.

A view from higher up on the trail.

Lots of scrub oak.

Almost there.

On the bridge, looking up the canyon.

On the bridge, looking at the valley.

March 1, 2025

 Red Reef Trail, Silver Reef Trail and Dino Tracks

On our way home we stopped at Leeds to hike the Red Reef Trail and while we were there we did the Silver Reef Trail and Dino Tracks.  The Red Reef Trail was awesome!  It was crowded, but even so it was definitely worth the hike!

Red Reef Trail

There is a fee at the parking area ($5 or America the Beautiful Pass) since it is part of the Red Cliffs Recreation Area. It is worth it and you will be lucky to find parking during the busy times! 

All trails says it is 2.2 miles out and back, 219 ft. elevation gain.  Most of the trail is easy but there are some challenging parts, depending on how far you go.  You can stop at any point if the challenge looks like too much.  This is where we ended up and as you can see, it is beautiful!  Really a great hike!

                                           

Here are photos from the entire hike.

  

 

We got to the parking lot about 10 am on a Saturday and there were parking spots available but by the time we left, at about noon, it was full. We followed signs on a well marked trail.

The stairs went up to the rest rooms, a campground, and some other hiking trails.

We followed the signs for the Red Reef trail and it took us across a little bridge and through a picnic area.

The trail is well used and they want you to stay on the path.  The has been restoration work done and so you see a lot of native plants along the way.

We continued on.

You can see there are a lot of people.  There was a large group right behind us that we tried to stay ahead of.

At this point there was a bit of a bottleneck, coming and going.  

I am sure this hike would be different at different times of the year, depending on the waterflow.  I would like to do it in the fall!

Here we are! The trail continues on using the notches you see in the rock.  Someone said there used to be a rope here that was helpful. But its no longer here. There were people continuing on without the rope but we decided to turn back here.

We passed this arched area on our way and you can hike up to it.  There were people there and on the way back there was someone playing a flute. I wasn't close enough to see it but it sounded like a south American/Peruvian pan flute. It was very cool and we were just lucky to be there at the right time to hear it.  

Silver Reef Trail and Dino Tracks

The Silver Reef Trail starts in the campground, near the restrooms.  It is short, less than a half mile to the lookout and back, 111 ft. elevation gain.

We wouldn't have gone out of our way for this hike, but since we were there for the Red Reef Trail and it was close, it was a good addition. 

                                           

Yes, this is the right trail. 

                                           

You head uphill. It is uphill all the way to the look out point.

We came to signs that pointed out the dinosaur tracks.  Otherwise you would miss them.

You also have a view and can see the campground.

What we didn't know is that the dinosaur tracks are a spur from the main trail. So after seeing the dinosaur tracks, we continued on what we thought was the trail, and it was some kind of a trail but eventually the trail was faint and we could see the "trail" wasn't taking us to where we wanted to go.  We continued anyway and scrambled up some rocks and ended up at the lookout area.  As you can see in the photos there are no trees and you can see for a distance, so we weren't lost, we were just off trail!

Wandering off trail and we didn't even realize it!

Views from the lookout area.

Because of our losing the trail we ended up doing a loop but that turned out to be a good way to go!