Hidden Falls Trail
The Hidden Falls Trail at Wasatch National Forest near Salt Lake City, Utah is an easy 0.1-mile out-and-back hike that leads to the scenic 25-foot tall waterfall, Hidden Falls.Hike
This very short hike begins at the main parking lot for Hidden Falls, located in between a switchback turn in UT-190. The trailhead can be found near the further end of this parking lot. The trail leads uphill immediately along a series of stairs, before it crosses UT-190 within Big Cottonwood Canyon. The trail then leads back into the woods before taking a left-hand turn at the signage. It then leads down toward the creek where it skirts along the eastern side of Mill B North Fork creek. During our hike here in late May 2024, the snow melt from the high elevation peaks caused the trail to flood slightly. This wasn't a problem, but we had to walk through a bit of water to continue along the steeper dirt path that lead up and out of the creek, skirting some steep terrain. The trail levels out a bit more as it leads up toward Hidden Falls. Eventually, you'll come up to Hidden Falls as it cascades down into the gorge ahead of you at about 25-feet tall. The trail abruptly ends, at least during period of heavy rain or snow melt, where you'll find a beautiful view of Hidden Falls from ~100-feet downstream. To the east, located up a small hill on-trail, is a metal-gated cave and/or old mine shaft. During our hike here, I didn't peer inside but assumed due to the old metal gate and mining history of these mountains, that it's likely mining-related (best to stay out). The trail then descends back to the parking lot to complete this very short 0.15-mile hike.
Parking
Hikers will find a parking lot at the coordinates provided, within Big Cottonwood Canyon along UT-190. The lot is large enough to fit over a dozen vehicles and is a popular day use area for folks, so the lot is generally full. We showed up in the evening on a Friday to find the lot was almost completely full, but we were the only hikers at Hidden Falls surprisingly.
Pets
Dogs are not allowed within Big Cottonwood Canyon.
