I have done other posts on this hike, but this one gives some details to help you get to Donut Falls without following the wrong trail in the snow. After driving 8.8 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon, you park in the parking area on the right (South) side of the road, go around the locked gate and head up the road. At 1/2 mile, stay on Cardiff Fork Road continuing straight on the unplowed snow rather than going to the right. At .82 miles you will arrive at the usual summer trailhead where you will see an outhouse. (It is locked, in case you are wondering! The one where you parked is open.) At one mile you will see a wooden sign with orange spray paint that says "trail" with an arrow pointing to the right. Take this well-defined trail in front of the sign. If you do not turn right, but go straight at this point, that will work, but is not as fun and scenic, although it is slightly shorter. At mile 1.3 you will cross a small bridge, and a few hundred feet past the bridge you will turn left at a T with another wooden sign pointing to the left. (On your way back to your vehicle, if you miss the turnoff to the wooden bridge, you will be ok, but again, the trail over the bridge is more fun and scenic.) At mile 1.6 you will come to a drop off that can be quite difficult to get down safely in snowshoes. There is no need go down this way. Instead, backtrack 50 feet or so, and you will see a much easier trail through the willows and can cross the stream easily on snowshoes. At the Falls, you will see a danger sign. In years of lots of snow, it is easy to get up to and enter the cave on snowshoes. If you want to enter the cave, an ice axe will be very useful. When you get back to your vehicle, you will have hiked about 3.6 miles. On this trip, I saw no wildlife, but I did see some fairly fresh moose tracks!
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| Near the Trailhead |
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| Turn right AFTER this sign! |
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| Stay straight on Cardiff Fork Road. |
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| View on the way up to Donut Falls |
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| View heading back to the trailhead. |
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| This is why I love early morning hikes! |
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| Turn left at this 'T.' |
Wow cool pics. Have you heard of Enniss Peak? It is on the way to Lone Peak and some people use it as a training hike for LP. It looks like a good one to do on snow shoes.
ReplyDeleteBen I just watched a You Tube video of a snowshoe hike to Ennis Peak and I want to do it!
ReplyDeleteWow those pictures are amazing !it makes me almost want to get up early enough to hike !
ReplyDeleteI'm glad there was snow in the mountains for you to snowshoe! What a crazy winter it has been. Great pictures!
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