Green's Basin

The destination, Green's Basin.

Beginning of the trail

 This is a nice little side hike off of Day's Fork trail. To get to the trailhead,, go 9.7 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon, and turn right into the Spruces Campground parking lot. (parking is free when the campground is closed, or you can park out on the road.) Head through the gate at the West end of the parking lot, pass some restrooms, and look for the trail sign to the right of a baseball field.  The first 1/4 mile is fairly steep. Just past the place where it levels out, you will see a trail branching off to the left. This is the trail to Green's Basin.  The hike is about 1.5 miles each way. About 1/4 mile before the meadow, is a trail on the left that goes straight down. I did not take it, but it looks like it goes to the cabins in Silver Fork.
     This is a beautiful hike, even when the Aspens are barren, and when I got to the meadow, I couldn't resist climbing to the top of the surrounding ridges to check out the view.  When I saw the huge old pine tree, I was pondering about why it is still here after all these years, and had not been cut down by loggers in the early days of Utah.  I think maybe it was because it was "defective" with its crooked trunk.

One week earlier, the aspens were covered with leaves; now they are bare.

I wonder how old this tree is.

The edge of Green's Basin