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Places

Canyons

Glacier-carved gorges and the ranges that shaped them.

  • Bells Canyon — Steep glacial canyon on the west slope of the central Wasatch, heading at Lone Peak (11,260 ft). Entirely within the Lone Peak Wilderness (designated 1978, 30,088 acres). Quartz monzonite bedrock shared with LCC. Access via three valley-floor trailheads (Boulders, Granite, Preservation). Primary uses: day hiking to the Lower and Upper Falls, strenuous hike to Upper Reservoir and Lone Peak summit, and alpine granite climbing in the Lone Peak Cirque — Triple Overhangs, Vertical Smile, Question Mark Wall. Watershed rules differ from LCC: Bells drains to a private irrigation reservoir, not Salt Lake City's municipal system.
  • Little Cottonwood Canyon — U-shaped glacial gorge on the west slope of the Wasatch, 15 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. Quartz monzonite bedrock, 500+ inches of annual snow at Alta, and the cradle of US avalanche forecasting. Skiing (Alta, Snowbird), trad granite climbing (Gate Buttress, Fin Wall), alpine hiking (Red Pine, Pfeifferhorn, Cecret Lake), a 10.5-mile road-cycling climb, and Salt Lake City's protected drinking-water watershed — strict no-swim/no-dog rules.