Alpine, Utah

Park at the top of Thousand Oaks Drive, and make your way to the dirt path heading east. It will be a well maintained, well-covered single dirt track which takes you to the base of a really impressive couloir. Follow the trail until you reach the couloir / rocky gully. You will then see the West ...

Drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon until you reach the Spruces Campground on the right. You will park here and prep your gear for the day. Walk back out to the canyon road and cross the street to the trail head. As you hike up the trial, you'll pass some cabins, once you've passed all the cabins, you...

Rock Canyon, unsurprisingly, has a ton of great, local rock climbing routes for those in the Provo area.  The marked location is for the parking lot. Once you're parked, head into the canyon. You will start to see bolts and anchors—and, depending on when you go, climbers—a few minutes in. There a...

Since this is a loop you can start at either end, but this is the way we did it. Start driving up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Enjoy the views and take in the impressive peaks on either side of the road. See the changes in vegetation as you gain elevation in the canyon. As you near the top and pass Sol...

If you want to escape the crowds and get in some nice powder, then a hike up Guardsman Pass is well worth the effort. To reach the trail, park on the side streets just below the gates to avoid the no parking signs and keep your tires just on the road to avoid getting stuck.When you pack up your g...

Once you reach the mine it's gated but you can slide in. Follow the main tunnel a hundred or so feet back and climb the 75 foot ladder up to the second level. You can then make your way back out to the cliff face where there is another gate to the outside. That gate is a little trickier to squeez...

Squaw Peak Trail is a great hike if you live in Provo, since it is a quick getaway. But still definitely worth the trip if you don't. This 7.1 mile hike has beautiful views and does not long to do Usually it takes about three hours from start (Rock Canyon) to finish (the Peak) at a decent clip. T...

The Rock Canyon trail is a heavily trafficked path that brings people of all ages.  In the winter the mountains are covered in snow and the path is well packed down due to the volume of people that are hiking.  After about a mile of hiking, you will enter the more dense part of the canyon with lo...

Drive 9 miles into Big Cottonwood Canyon and park at the Mill D North Trailhead (on the left). On the right side of the road, there is a restroom. The trial head begins on the left, there is a visible sign you cannot miss before beginning.The trail is about 7.4 miles round trip, about half way t...

The hike is considered moderate, but the 1500ft. elevation gain (2100ft. to Reynolds Peak) will definitely get your heart rate up. Snowshoes/skins are recommended but the trail is often packed enough to do without them.After crossing the street from the Spruces parking lot, follow the trail past...

Largely runnable trail up through pines and aspens with a few steep climbs. Incredible wildflowers. You can stop at Desolation Lake then continue up towards the ridge and up to Desolation Peak. You have to listen and watch for descending bikers coming fast around corners.  

To get the the trailhead, drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon until you reach the upper entrance into Solitude Ski Resort. You can park on the road just below the entrance to the resort. Across the street is a road called Old Stage Road, this is where the trail head begins. The road is covered in snow...

You can access the trailhead to Beartrap by driving up Big Cottonwood Canyon 10.4 miles and parking on the right side of the road. You will see the "Bear Trap Fork Rd" sign on the left side of the road, this is where the trailhead begins. Make your way up the skin track through the dense aspens u...

Willow Fork is just across the mountain from Solitude Ski Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon. You can access Willow Fork from a few different trailheads; either from the Willow Heights Trailhead or across the street from both the lower and upper Solitude parking lots. The Willow Heights Trailhead wi...

Willow Lake has become my favorite spot in all of Utah.  It feels so distant from civilization in the mountains, but is only a 25 minute drive from Salt Lake City. I have hiked to Willow Lake close to 10 times this year during different seasons, and have never seen more than 5 people on the trail...

The Trail: Follow the marked trail and you'll hike less than a mile up to the edge of Willow Lake. Moose like to hang out in the thick willows there, so make lots of noise to warn them that you're coming and you won't startle any. Standing on the shoreline, you'll have a great view of Solitude ...