Utah
Looking for the best backpacking in Utah? We've got you covered with the top trails, trips, hiking, backpacking, camping and more around Utah. The detailed guides, photos, and reviews are all submitted by the Outbound community.
Top Backpacking Spots in and near Utah
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Salt Lake City, Utah
Broads Fork Basin and Beaver Pond
4.05.1 mi / 2083 ft gainThe Broads Fork trailhead starts in Big Cottonwood Canyon in the same parking lot as the Lake Blanche trailhead, this trailhead is on the west side of the parking lot. The trail is very easy to follow and is well marked. Follow the trail until you come to a great big basin. Here you will be able...Read more -
Park City, Utah
Trail to Bloods and Lackawaxen Lakes
4.84 mi / 1040 ft gainThe trail to Bloods and Lackawaxen Lakes in Utah is just outside of Big Cottonwood Canyon which forbids both dogs and swimming due to the Salt Lake watershed. As a result, dogs and swimming are more than welcome. Blood Lake and Lackawaxen Lake Trailhead can be reached by driving up Big Cottonwo...Read more -
Salt Lake County, Utah
Lake Blanche & Sundial Peak
5.09.52 mi / 4098 ft gainThis is a popular hike all year round, but less popular in the winter. If you’re backpacking you’ll most likely be alone. In winter, the lake is covered in snow, but Sundial Peak is one of the most picturesque mountains in the Wasatch. Especially when it is dusted with snow. You’ll also be far en...Read more -
Salt Lake City, Utah
Hike Clayton Peak in Utah's Wasatch Mountains
4.03 mi / 1600 ft gainClayton Peak is approximately 1.5 miles from Guardsman Pass (3 miles round trip), and you'll gain about 1,600 feet of climbing. There is parking on top of the pass, but it fills up quickly with hikers and mountain bikers during peak season as this serves as the trailhead for Bloods Lake, Jupiter...Read more -
Bountiful, Utah
Backpack to Rudy's Flat
4.07 miRudy's Flat is a great overnight hike with plenty of tent or hammock space and multiple established fire rings. This hike offers multiple options for distance depending on your availability and skill level.From the Mueller Park Canyon trailhead (5,234 ft), hikers will experience a gradual ascent ...Read more -
Kane County, Utah
Broken Bow Arch
4.76.28 mi / 732 ft gainThe trailhead starts at the Willow Gulch Trailhead, located just off of Hole in the Rock Road in the Grand Staircase -Escalante National Monument. The coordinates for the trailhead are 37.324812,-111.023019. To get there head east on highway 12 out of Escalante, Utah until you get to Hole in the ...Read more -
Garfield County, Utah
Hike in the Upper Muley Twist Canyon
4.510 mi / 750 ft gainThis hike is by far my favorite trail I've been on. To begin, you access Upper Muley Twist Canyon Road from the top of the Burr Trail Road switchbacks. Regular vehicles can be driven a little less than half a mile to the trailhead (adding about 3 miles to get to the trailhead, about 6 miles round...Read more -
Brighton, Utah
Hike and Camp at the Twin Lakes Reservoir
5 mi / 650 ft gainThe trailhead begins at the Solitude Nordic Center. Walking around Silver Lake, you get a chance to observe the ducks and lovely wetlands area. This trail then leads you into the lower aspens, and if you are hiking just as fall colors have begun to emerge, they create a glowing effect in the wood...Read more -
Virgin, Utah
Hop Valley Trail, Zion NP
3.014.58 mi / 1916 ft gainThis 6.5 mile (one-way) trek is a multi-functional trail. The trail can serve as standalone trail allowing hikers to get in either a solid in-and-out day hike or as a leg to a much bigger and epic Trans-Zion Trek. For those interested in the later, the Hop Valley Trail is the leg of the journey t...Read more -
Huntsville, Utah
Hike the Skull Creek Trail of Causey Reservoir
4.8 mi / 400 ft gainTo get to the trailhead from Ogden, Utah, take 12th street east up canyon and around Pine View Reservoir. When you get to Huntsville, turn right and continue to head east up the canyon. IN 8 miles you will come to a sign for Causey Road. Turn right here and follow the road to the dam. Turn right ...Read more -
Kane County, Utah
Backpack to Rainbow Bridge
5.017 mi / 2800 ft gainThis incredible trip isn't only about Rainbow Bridge. Honestly, the Bridge is just icing on the cake.The scenery is breathtaking along the way, changing and evolving as you pass through epic canyons and climb over rocky ledges to be rewarded with spanning vistas. It really is amazing. There's eve...Read more -
Escalante, Utah
Backpack the Escalante River
14 mi / 400 ft gainThe Escalante River trail is an easily accessible, moderately strenuous hike within Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The national monument encompasses over 2 million acres of wilderness, choc-full of large canyons, narrow slot canyons, rivers, hoodoos, arches, natural bridges and more...Read more -
Moab, Utah
Syncline Loop in Canyonlands NP
5.07.87 mi / 1955 ft gainBe advised, the NPS signs and maps that warn of a very difficult hike ahead are not hyperbole, as I thought at first. This hike is a loop around the famous Upheaval Dome on an unmaintained trail that leads you down over 1500 feet into the canyon, close to the Green River, then climbs back up 1500...Read more -
Richmond, Utah
Backpack to White Pine Lake, Logan
4.57.6 mi / 1344 ft gainYou will start from the Tony Grove Lake parking lot and start hiking northeast on the White Pine Lake trailhead. The trail is roughly 3.8 miles to the lake through beautiful Quaking Aspens and Pines. The first 2.5 miles are fairly easy with a slight incline. You will then reach the top of a ridge...Read more -
New Harmony, Utah
Trans-Zion Trek, Zion NP
5.0100.6 mi / 19380 ft gainThe following adventure guide for the Trans-Zion Trek will actually consist of six separate trails. The trails listed below are listed in order, going West to East. If the individual trail adventure is composed on the site as going east to west, it will be indicated that the reverse hike will be...Read more -
Kamas, Utah
Backpack to Island Lake
5.06 mi / 1000 ft gainYou begin at the Crystal Lake trailhead off of the Mirror Lake Highway. On the way to Island Lake you pass several other lakes including, Crystal Lake and Long Lake. The hike is not too hard but there are several switchbacks at the end to get you up above the ridge where the lake is located. It ...Read more