Blackridge, Sidewinder, and Diamondback Loop

Butterfield Canyon is a little-known canyon on the west side of Utah Valley. Beautiful any time of the year, it is especially beautiful in the fall—all the leaves changing colors! When you reach the marked location, turn onto Butterfield Canyon Road. Drive until you reach the end of the road (it eventually turns into Middle Canyon Road), or stop and turn around once you've had your fill of the...

From Salt Lake City go on UT-201W, then take Bacchus Highway all the way until the intersection with Butterfield Canyon Road. This is where you can park your car and follow the dirt road for roughly 2 miles until you come to a fork. One road from the fork leads to Middle Canyon and the other to the Copper Pit Overlook. We kept to the RIGHT on the road to the copper pit overlook. The road is a b...

These are great little ponds located at 11267 S. River Front Pkwy in South Jordan. It is just off of a section of the Jordan River. Kidney Pond is the one located just by the parking. Midas is just above and you can see it from the parking. You can fish here for rainbow trout, channel catfish, bluegill, and the occasional largemouth bass. You need a current Utah fishing license to fish here. Th...

The Alien Tower via Deer Ridge Trailhead is a moderate 2.6-mile out-and-back trail located in the foothills of Draper, Utah. With an elevation gain of approximately 500 feet, this scenic hike rewards adventurers with panoramic views of the Salt Lake Valley and access to the iconic "Alien Tower" - a distinctive radio tower perched atop the ridgeline. Beginning at the Highland Boulevard trailh...

The main trail to Lone Peak is via Jacobs Ladder. To get to the start of the trailhead you need to drive on a dirt road for a little bit until you get to a little parking area (start of the road indicated on the map). The trail starts just south of where you park on the dirt road. The Jacobs Ladder trail is very steep. It starts out very narrow with a lot of switchbacks until it opens up to a ...

You start this trail at the Orson Smith Park in Draper.  It joins with the Bonneville Shoreline Trail briefly before turning off onto the cherry creek logging trail.  It switchbacks for a long ways exposed on towards the valley.  It is fairly steep in places, but doable.  I had tennis shoes with a pretty slick tread and I was fine.  Once you get towards the top of the ridge, you turn left aroun...