South Willow Lake (8 miles round-trip, moderate difficulty)

     My brother and I had intended to hike to Deseret Peak, but the road to the trailhead was closed due to a rock slide, with threats of a $5000 fine for entering the area, so we parked at another trailhead, started doing some geocaches, noticed a small lake on the gps map, and ended up at this beautiful alpine lake with an elevation high enough to look over the Ocquirrh Mountains and see Twin Peaks, Lone Peak, etc. in the Wasatch Mountains.

Directions:     To get to the trailhead from Salt Lake City, take I-80 West to the Grantsville Exit (Exit 84). Head to Grantsville on UT138 for 9.5 miles.
Turn right on 400 West and continue for 5 miles to South Willow Canyon.
Go West on South Willow Canyon road  for about 5 miles to a place where a Boy Scout Camp is to the left, the gate (closed, in our case) that leads to the loop campground is straight ahead, and the Medina Trailhead is to the right.
Turn right, and go a very short distance up a hill and park at the Medina Trailhead.
(gps coordinates  N 40* 29.754' W 112* 34.618')
The trail starts to the right of the outhouse.
 Follow this trail, and after about 1/3 of a mile, you will come to an old mining road.
 (gps coordinates N40* 30.160' W112* 34,787')
Turn left (West) and follow this road which becomes a trail as it enters the Deseret Peak Wilderness Area.
Enjoy the beauty as you ascend for a few miles, and don't forget to look back occasionally at the view of Tooele Valley behind you!
You will arrive at a wooden trail sign (gps coordinates N 40* 29.541' W 112* 37.130').
 Follow the trail to the right that leads to South Willow Lake.
 
     The lake is at the base of the steep cliffs. We went off trail in places to avoid some deep soft snow.  The lake is small but beautiful, and a great place to take a rest.
Near the lake is an incredible spot with a rock campfire ring, where you can look West at the lake and feel like you are deep in the wilderness, or look East at the Tooele Valley, and see the beautiful Wasatch Range in the distance, above the Oquirrh Mountains.
We went back down the way we came.
Our gps said we had gone 7.8 miles, so we continued down to the Boy Scout Camp to find another geocache, to make this an 8 mile hike, almost the same distance as the hike to the top of Deseret Peak will be once the road is open!  

     Geocaches I found were: 
Medina Trail Cache:http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC305TJ_medina-trail-cache?guid=e910f185-419c-4057-8857-e68fac0c485b,
Take a Break: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC4BXWB_take-a-break,
By the Boy Scout: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC3GFAK_by-the-boy-scout

The lake is at the base of the cliffs about 3 miles ahead.

Entering Deseret Peak Wilderness Area.

South Willow Lake still a bit icy.

View from the lake with the Wasatch Mountains behind the
Oquirrh Mountains.

View from Mormon Trail Road, about 8 miles from
the lake. South Willow Lake is at the base of the
large snow area.