Backcountry Ski Short Swing, Mill D North

Salt Lake City, Utah

Save

View all 4 photos

All 4 photos

Save Review Directions Add Photo

Details

Distance

4 miles

Elevation Gain

1900 ft

Route Type

Loop

Description

Added by Jackson Smith

Short Swing is a classic Wasatch backcountry tour. It's tree skiing is world class and is a blast on powder days. The density of its trees serve as anchors in the snow, lowering the danger of triggering an avalanche. So it's perfect on those epic powder days when other areas may be to dangerous to ski because of the avalanche danger.

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'll eventually come to a fork in the skin track going to your right up the mountain and through the trees. Continue along this trail until you reach the top ridge line. Here you can throw your skins into your pack and begin the ski down. Hopefully you'll be having some of the best powder turns of your life. The overall elevation gain is 1,900 ft, with the max elevation being at 9,200. It takes about 1 hour and 20 min round trip if you only do one lap.

Download the Outbound mobile app

Find adventures and camping on the go, share photos, use GPX tracks, and download maps for offline use.

Get the app

Features

Snowboarding

Photography

Skiing

Easy Parking

Family Friendly

Forest

Groups

Scenic

Wildlife

Backcountry Ski Short Swing, Mill D North Reviews

Have you done this adventure? Be the first to leave a review!

Leave No Trace

Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly!

Nearby

Backcountry Ski Days Fork

Days Fork is on the south side of Big Cottonwood Canyon behind the Spruces parking lot. The trail head begins on the south west corner of the parking lot. The approach to Days Fork is long, but gradual. Continue south along the skin track until you reach the end of the Days Fork Basin. Here you can make a right and head up the ridge line to Peak 10,561. From this peak you can either ski Upper D...

Hike Days Fork

To get to the trailhead drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon to Spruces Campground. Once in the parking lot, walk to the southwest corner of the parking lot and go up the road past the bathrooms. The trailhead will be next to the overgrown baseball field. The trail is awesome single track the whole way up to the top and never branches off so it's really easy to follow, you can't get lost. The trail ...

Hike to Big Cottonwood Canyon's Desolation Lake

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 through the trail you will come to a fork with a sign (Dog Lake .6 miles, Desolation Lake 1.9 miles)....

Winter Backpack to Dog Lake and Backcountry Ski Reynolds Peak

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 cabins until you reach a fork, where you will follow the trail northeast into an Aspen Grove. Cont...

Hike from Mill D to Desolation Peak

Backcountry Ski Cardiff Fork

Drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon until you reach the Mill D South parking lot (aka Donut Falls parking). Head up the main road until you reach the bathrooms at the Donut Falls trailhead. Here you can either keep straight past the bathrooms, but the best way to go is to keep right along the road. You will follow this skin track and along the way you will pass a cabin and an old abandoned mine. Onc...