6/13/15 - SLC: Bell Canyon to Upper Bell Reservoir

[jman]

On 6/13/15, my friend Ian and I hiked the Bell Canyon trail up to the Upper Bell Reservoir (a seldom visited area). Hiking Bell Canyon was a first for both of us. You Salt Lake folks have MANY options and are lucky (or is privileged!?!) to be living in close proximity to great trails! Don't take them for granted! Take your family, if you got one.

Hopefully this TR can be of some motivation to some and more importantly to show off this beautiful hike!
The pictures are flared out and look grainy. That's what having a lifeproof phone case does to your pics. :( but hey, at least it's protected.


Out of all of the hikes we have done in Utah (which is a lot!) this hike now ranks on our Top 5 of all time. The creek was raging, everything was incredibly green, and the gray & white granite is what made this hike shine.

The downside? It's a very well-used trail. Expect to see hordes just about any time of season I am guessing, especially on the weekends.


Most folks hike the 2.5+ miles from the parking to the 1st major waterfall. After that, the trail becomes more steep, long, more solitude, but you will be rewarded for your efforts!

It was a little less than 10 miles round-trip from the parking lot to the Upper Bell Reservoir, which he hiked at a very comfortable pace which took us about 7 hours. We stopped for about a 30minute lunch, took four 10min breaks exploring the many waterfalls and admiring this majestic place and then spent another 10 minutes filtering water near the top. Us Utahn's are incredibly privileged to be living so close to all of this beauty. Mountains within 10 minutes of most people's homes, Arches & Moab at about 3 1/2 hours away, Zion and Bryce at 4 1/2 hours away. Man, I love Utah! /rant


Lets begin!

Here is a overview of the hike:

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And the GPS Coords and KMZ (Google Earth file, which displays my waypoints and trails. Come on now, jump on the bandwagon and start using (and downloading) KMZ's!!)

Trailhead from Wasatch Blvd: N40°33'54.03", W111°48'13.30"
Trailhead fom Little Cottonwood Canyon: N40°34'18.26", W111°47'48.55"
Lower Bell Reservoir: N40°33'56.03", W111°47'49.34"
Lower Waterfall (biggest waterfall, and where most people turn-around): N40°33'39.76", W111°46'13.71"
Upper Waterfall (this is the "real" Upper waterfall): N40°33'30.35", W111°45'41.23"
Upper Bell Reservoir: N40°32'27.68", W111°45'0.36"

KMZ File is at the VERY BOTTOM under "Attachments".

Starting elevation: 5100+ feet

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Lower Bell Reservoir and then hiking up!



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The waterfall! Don't get too close. It is extremely slippery. Last week, there were 2 accidents near the waterfall because people got too close, and over the past 4 years there have been 2 fatalities. Stay back...just a little...

The spray will get you soaked! Enjoy it while you can. I saw a lot of people bring lunches and have their picnic in this same area. It's a well-shaded area to do so!

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If you do an about-face and look back down the canyon, you will notice a bunch of granite rocks that allows you to get a great view of the southern part of Salt Lake.



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From the waterfall, head back a hundred yards to the main junction and instead of heading down, go up! And up....and up....


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This is the *real* Upper Bell Waterfall. Numerous people were telling us that it was the 10ft waterfall about 1/2mile before this one. NOPE! Not even close. You have to walk down the granite to see it. Otherwise, you will miss a lot of it. Perhaps that is what is confusing people. I included the GPS coordinates above, so you can know exactly where it is.

Moving again...going up!

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At this point, Ian and I pulled out the water filter and changed out our now warm water with the cold mountain water. I left my Suunto watch in the water for about 10 minutes so I could get accurate water temp measurement. 44 degrees! Yum!! This was about 8400+ feet or so. Anything for cold water! Cold water can change your attitude and motivation for the better.

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The waterfall section is quite beautiful. Take the time and enjoy.


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Finally made it! Ending Elevation: 9400+ feet!

[Iceaxe]

10 years ago no body did this hike, for some reason it has really gained in popularity recently.

[jman]

10 years ago no body did this hike, for some reason it has really gained in popularity recently.

I can believe that! I've noticed other hikes and canyons to be that same way. I still remember doing Mystery Canyon in Zion back in 2008 on a Saturday and just walking in about 10 am and getting the only 6 permits that day. Same with Subway back in 2003. Now, you are extremely lucky if you and all your friends put in for a Subway permit and only 1 permit gets pulled for that 3 month lottery..........sigh........

And that's the conundrum of publishing TRs. I WANT people to get out and explore and see these places, but yet I (and most people here) essentially want the hike or canyon to ourselves... But I believe that the more people that are educated/are shown them - the more they will love them and protect them. And that's what matters to me and why I share. (Man! I am on one emotional rant tonight...ha ha.)

People who live in Davis County (like myself) don't venture too much in the Cottonwood canyons and explore these. Speaking of which, hopefully I can in the coming weeks visit again the Pfiefferhorn via Red Pine Lake. That one is another top favorite of mine. Thankfully, most people don't do it...for now...

[Scott P]

10 years ago no body did this hike, for some reason it has really gained in popularity recently.

I assume it is because it was closed for a while (private land issues) and the trail fell into disrepair. It was a really popular hike in the 1980's and early 1990's.

[Iceaxe]

Bell Canyon was never closed that I know of and I've lived near the base for 40 years. One trailhead (the old access road) had some issues but the other two trailheads were never a problem and always open. About 15 years ago two new trailhead's and trails to the lower reservoir were created and the old trailhead's closed. The new trailhead's are now extremely popular and over crowded.

As for popular I guess our two diffenitions differ. Or maybe a better way to say it is if you thought it was popular ten years ago times what you remember by at least 10 and perhaps 15. What was 10 people on the trail ten years ago is now 100 or more.

[Scott P]

Bell Canyon was never closed that I know of and I've lived near the base for 40 years. One trailhead (the old access road) had some issues but the other two trailheads were never a problem and always open.

I don't know about the third trailhead, but the two old trailheads that I am familiar with were closed for a time, starting in 1993 I believe (1993 was the year I got married and wanted to take my wife there). It was the Bell Canyon Irrigation Company who closed it. The trailhead at the Lower Reservoir and the one from the moraine at the mouth of Little Cottonwood were both closed. This is because the irrigation company owned a block of land extending up to the south side of the creek to the 6000 foot level and the north side of the creek to the 6400 foot level.

The trailhead from the moraine wasn't on the irrigation company's land, but the trail met Bells Canyon at the 5760 foot level and the trail was closed before hitting Bells Canyon. I can scan some photos of the closure signs if you are interested. I am unfamiliar with the third trailhead though.

Part of the reason for the closure (at least in some people's opinion, including my own) was a political move as Sandy and Draper were in a tiff with each other over water rights and Bells Canyon Irrigation Company bought a bunch of shares from Draper Irrigation Company.

At a later date, Sandy bought the block of land and opened the trail back up. I don't know what year this was.


As for popular I guess our two diffenitions differ.

Maybe so. I haven't been to Bells Canyon since moving to Colorado several years ago. I haven't been since the 90's. When I said popular, I didn't mean 100+ people or that it was overcrowded.

[Iceaxe]

The third trailhead was in the neighborhood just to the south of the reservoir and was actually the easiest and shortest route to Lower Bells. That trailhead is no longer accessible as the neighborhood is now a gated community. Like many of the old trailhead's it had no official status like trailhead's do these days. It was just a route us locals used to access the reservoir to go swimming on hot summer days.

FWIW- if you haven't been up Bells for a long time you would have a hard time recognizing the place. It now has two nice trailhead's with well maintained trails and the three dams that formed the old reservoir have been decommissioned and reclaimed. Lower Bells is now back to its natural size of just a small pond. The trail above the reservoir is now easy to follow, maintained, with bridges at the stream crossings. The maze of old social trails that formed the old trail system are gone. The area is also much cleaner now than back in the day when it was party central. I attended many a kegger at the reservoir back in the good ol' days. In the early 80's the 4×4 road up was still open to the public.