Top 3 Day Hikes in Utah

[tanya]

My top three so far...

http://richardbarron.net/galleries/anytrail/lwhc/
http://richardbarron.net/galleries/a...l/CheslerPark/
http://richardbarron.net/galleries/anytrail/PeekaBoo/

But there are about a quillion that deserve to go on the list.

I agree with some that Delicate Arch is a cool destination (which is why, after all, I got married there), but the hike itself is easy and relatively uninteresting. There's no reason not to see it, though, since it's so easy to access.

Ouch! Those photos rock!

[tanya]

Based on my limited experience (I haven't done The Narrows or Buckskin, etc.) here are some that I rate highly:

1) Chesler Park (including the Cracks) via Elephant Hill
2) Angel's Landing
3) Kane Gulch to Bullet Canyon (the longest hike I've ever taken because we were constantly going off trail to search for ruins and such)

Also, I'm curious about Shane's categorization of the Subway as non-technical. Could you elaborate?

What is Chesler Park like? Why a favorite?
Angels Landing Rocks No explanation needed.
Where is Kane Gulch and why a favorite?

[tanya]

oh now tanya ... we all know that utah is famous for its arches, and that arch there ... well, it's pretty DAMN hard to beat that arch, with it's basin below, the cliff beyond, the spectacular views in all directions, the la sal mountains, the boatloads of people, the fire scars, the rope grooves, ...

yeah it surely has every right to be up there.

i am shocked you've never been. i think every corner of southern utah deserves focus.

Have 3 favorites Stefan? Is Arches on that list?

[Iceaxe]

OK.... how about three of my favorite winter SLC area routes?

Fifth Water Hotsprings
http://climb-utah.com/WM/fifth.htm


Frary Peak
http://climb-utah.com/WM/frary.htm


Donut Falls
http://climb-utah.com/WM/donut.htm


Now how about a couple others cough up there favorite winter SLC area hikes

.

[stefan]

Now how about a couple others cough up there favorite winter SLC area hikes

1. just about any peak, ridge, bowl, glade you can tour and descend as that snow billows up on your chest

2. mt. van cott (sentimental reasons)

3. frary peak

[Iceaxe]

2. mt. van cott (sentimental reasons)

Yeah.... I also had sex up there..... wonder if it was the same girl.....

[tanya]

2. mt. van cott (sentimental reasons)

Yeah.... I also had sex up there..... wonder if it was the same girl.....

I have a hard time thinking of you as ever having a sentimental moment. Stefan on the other hand is sweet and I am sure he has many of those kinds of moments.

[greyhair biker]

I love to hike the Wasatch ...mostly from Albion Basin up to Sugarloaf Pass to the tram at Snowbird down the ridges to the Phifferhorn. In there you can drop down to Red Pine or White Lakes & down to the Little Cottonwood cnyn road. OR drove up Little Cottonwood to Lisa Falls and hike up the falls & creek as high as you dare, climbing under & over the ice flows...awesome. Lastly, any trails that connect in the area of the Highline Trail near Mirror Lake in the Uintahs.
,,,Up here in southwest wyoming there are no trails with names...NONE, but they are all over the place...hundreds of miles of them. Sheepcreek Canyon to the south, south of Manila in the uintahs is the most geologically diverse area within a hundred miles and the least populated too.

[stefan]

Have 3 favorites Stefan? Is Arches on that list?

hmm ... you know choosing favorites is haarrd ... arches? well i've always loved devils garden and the endless fiery furnace. salt creek and the needles are pretty impressive too ... grand gulch from top to bottom and dark canyon are great ... halls creek>stevens cyn>coyote gulch is nice too ... robbers roost ... twin corral is spectacularly deep ... zion & deep creek narrows are manifique ... buckskin and the coyote buttes are superb ... all the forks of choprock (especially the south fork!!!) ... west canyon is simply unREAL ... riggs spring loop in bryce ... ad infinitum

i dunno ... i know most of those aren't day hikes ... but there really is too much when you think about it.

[tanya]

Have 3 favorites Stefan? Is Arches on that list?

hmm ... you know choosing favorites is haarrd ... arches? well i've always loved devils garden and the endless fiery furnace. salt creek and the needles are pretty impressive too ... grand gulch from top to bottom and dark canyon are great ... halls creek>stevens cyn>coyote gulch is nice too ... robbers roost ... twin corral is spectacularly deep ... zion & deep creek narrows are manifique ... buckskin and the coyote buttes are superb ... all the forks of choprock (especially the south fork!!!) ... west canyon is simply unREAL ... riggs spring loop in bryce ... ad infinitum

i dunno ... i know most of those aren't day hikes ... but there really is too much when you think about it.

I was not thinking best day hikes.. just best hikes in general. What is a backpack to one person is a day hike to another. Where do you live Stefan? I have not done Riggs Spring Loop in Bryce! Why is it on your favorite list. The Narrows is obvious. Its spectacular! Where is Devils Garden and the others?

[Iceaxe]

I have a hard time thinking of you as ever having a sentimental moment.

You just need to climb Elephant Butte to see what I wrote in the register during my last visit

[tanya]

I have a hard time thinking of you as ever having a sentimental moment.

You just need to climb Elephant Butte to see what I wrote in the register during my last visit

Do any of you in the photo know? I can't imagine it was anything sentimental... except maybe Dang... my beer can sprung a hole or something?

[asdf]

Best 3 hikes.. I dont think you can name just 3.

I love the Maple Canyon Loop hike (fountain green)
Provo peak or the Cascade Saddle
No one likes Timp? You just need to do it on a sunday to keep the zoob factor down.

[tanya]

Best 3 hikes.. I dont think you can name just 3.

I love the Maple Canyon Loop hike (fountain green)
Provo peak or the Cascade Saddle
No one likes Timp? You just need to do it on a sunday to keep the zoob factor down.

Are these near/in SLC or your favorites of all time?

[Iceaxe]

The three favorites I listed were all hikes you could do during the winter.

[stefan]

Have 3 favorites Stefan? Is Arches on that list?

hmm ... you know choosing favorites is haarrd ... arches? well i've always loved devils garden and the endless fiery furnace. salt creek and the needles are pretty impressive too ... grand gulch from top to bottom and dark canyon are great ... halls creek>stevens cyn>coyote gulch is nice too ... robbers roost ... twin corral is spectacularly deep ... zion & deep creek narrows are manifique ... buckskin and the coyote buttes are superb ... all the forks of choprock (especially the south fork!!!) ... west canyon is simply unREAL ... riggs spring loop in bryce ... ad infinitum

i dunno ... i know most of those aren't day hikes ... but there really is too much when you think about it.

I was not thinking best day hikes.. just best hikes in general. What is a backpack to one person is a day hike to another. Where do you live Stefan? I have not done Riggs Spring Loop in Bryce! Why is it on your favorite list. The Narrows is obvious. Its spectacular! Where is Devils Garden and the others?

well i don't know if a 7 day backpacking trip would be a dayhike to anyone but often i have found some of my favorite moments are backpacking others are canyoneering and still others are ski touring and many others are dayhikes in ancient forests. at this moment in my life i am living in boston. i moved from salt lake a year ago september for work for a short bit of time ... riggs spring? well, first it's in bryce and i love bryce ... but i love this area because of the views, the pink cliffs and most of all the trees. i think this area has one of the most diverse coniferous forests in utah (big lover of conifers ... my favorite plant) the lower subalpine upper montane is a nice place to be. devils garden and fiery furnace are a set of fins in northern arches, a wonderful area. salt creek is in the needles area of canyonlands. the whole of the needles district is wonderful with it's grooooooovy cedar mesa sandstone and it's super-eroded canyon walls. i love THE cedar mesa area of utah, for similar reasons, plus all of the wondeful ruins and rock art. grand gulch is one of the longest canyons in the area, and cuts its way through the cedar mesa sandstone almost all the way to the sanjuan river. essentially it cuts through the descending slab of cedar mesa off of the monument upwarp that is exposing the cedar mesa which lies well below the navajo. the cottonwoods and wet sections of this canyon are just great! the side canyons are wonderful, especially those near the san juan. the ruins ... well, they need no real mention from me. dark canyon on the other hand lies more to the north and cuts deeply below the cedar mesa, and wanders through the fantastic layers of shales, limestones and sandstones ... dazzling ... in fact you can see the bowing of the layers of the upwarp of rock as you descend the canyon and watch how certain layers are positioned above the canyon floor (very cool!). dark canyon in many ways is a unique gem for utah. buckskin cause it rocks ... and the paria narrows are just beautiful ... coyote buttes because well ... you know ... choprock is a tributary system in the middle of the escalante river with wonderful slots and narrows ... escalante is simply a magical place whether in the north or the south ... halls creek lines the southern section of CRNP lying on the east side of the waterpocket fold ... you can following it down (through the halls creek narrows) down further, than up to the top of the waterpocket fold with dazzling views in all directions, then down a number of the eastern escalante side canyons ... stevens canyon to the escalante and up coyote gulch which is utterly beautiful ... west canyon? we'll you'll just have to go there to find out ... quite a tedious approach from either end ... but what's there is OH so good. these really are just a handful of places i have really enjoyed, a number of tech canyons would rank high too.

there are just too many amazing places on the plateau ...

[tanya]

well i don't know if a 7 day backpacking trip would be a dayhike to anyone but often i have found some of my favorite moments are backpacking others are canyoneering and still others are ski touring and many others are dayhikes in ancient forests. at this moment in my life i am living in boston.

I had no idea you were not close. My dad is from Boston ------ Myers.


i moved from salt lake a year ago september for work for a short bit of time ... riggs spring? well, first it's in bryce and i love bryce ... but i love this area because of the views, the pink cliffs and most of all the trees. i think this area has one of the most diverse coniferous forests in utah (big lover of conifers ... my favorite plant) the lower subalpine upper montane is a nice place to be.


I love Bryce too, but more of the view than the hiking. I am going to check that hike out!


devils garden and fiery furnace are a set of fins in northern arches, a wonderful area. salt creek is in the needles area of canyonlands. the whole of the needles district is wonderful with it's grooooooovy cedar mesa sandstone and it's super-eroded canyon walls. i love THE cedar mesa area of utah, for similar reasons, plus all of the wondeful ruins and rock art. grand gulch is one of the longest canyons in the area, and cuts its way through the cedar mesa sandstone almost all the way to the sanjuan river. essentially it cuts through the descending slab of cedar mesa off of the monument upwarp that is exposing the cedar mesa which lies well below the navajo. the cottonwoods and wet sections of this canyon are just great! the side canyons are wonderful, especially those near the san juan. the ruins ... well, they need no real mention from me. dark canyon on the other hand lies more to the north and cuts deeply below the cedar mesa, and wanders through the fantastic layers of shales, limestones and sandstones ... dazzling ... in fact you can see the bowing of the layers of the upwarp of rock as you descend the canyon and watch how certain layers are positioned above the canyon floor (very cool!). dark canyon in many ways is a unique gem for utah.



buckskin cause it rocks ...

So far Buckskin gets the most votes!

and the paria narrows are just beautiful ... coyote buttes because well ... you know ... choprock is a tributary system in the middle of the escalante river with wonderful slots and narrows ... escalante is simply a magical place whether in the north or the south ... halls creek lines the southern section of CRNP lying on the east side of the waterpocket fold ... you can following it down (through the halls creek narrows) down further, than up to the top of the waterpocket fold with dazzling views in all directions, then down a number of the eastern escalante side canyons ... stevens canyon to the escalante and up coyote gulch which is utterly beautiful ... west canyon? we'll you'll just have to go there to find out ... quite a tedious approach from either end ... but what's there is OH so good. these really are just a handful of places i have really enjoyed, a number of tech canyons would rank high too.


I am hoping to get out that way this weekend, but the snow today might ruin those plans.

there are just too many amazing places on the plateau ...

[Iceaxe]

So far Buckskin gets the most votes!

What else would you expect from the worlds longest slot canyon

[TreeHugger]

Best 3 hikes.. I dont think you can name just 3.

I love the Maple Canyon Loop hike (fountain green)
Provo peak or the Cascade Saddle
No one likes Timp? You just need to do it on a sunday to keep the zoob factor down.

Actually, I love Timp, although I hear people bad mouth it a lot, cant figure out why. The scenery is fantastic, it's got a lot of everything in the hike, you almost always see mountain goats, and the views from the top are amazing. It gets my vote for a top 3.

I also really love White Pine for a day hike, again because of the diverse terrain and it's decently long and super pretty. It's particulary great when snowy!

I really love Observation Point in Zion as well. Again (I must really like variety) you have varied terrain and spectacular views and just an amazing hike. Cant go wrong.

[stefan]

I had no idea you were not close.

yeah, but as i have spent most of my life in salt lake, it is where my heart is.

I love Bryce too, but more of the view than the hiking. I am going to check that hike out!

well, i'd be interested in what you think of it ... i mean, it doesn't have the most spectacular forest, and you don't really have views below the rim and i know a lot of people wouldn't place it high on their list, but i included because of the views, the trees and some of the times i have spent there. also along the southern part of the trail along the rim, it's kinda nice to head off trail to the rock out-croppings, to stare down the vertical cliffs to a sea of forest with the white cliffs off in the distance.

I am hoping to get out that way this weekend, but the snow today might ruin those plans.

where were you planning on heading?