Hike: Lower Mormon Trail

This out-and-back hike features the lower section of the Mormon Trail above Little Dell Reservoir, in East Canyon. In the fall, this can be a spectacular autumn event as the trail winds through a gauntlet of trees transitioning from summer greens to autumn orange and reds. Plan on about a 4-mile round trip event over easy rolling terrain, gaining only about 150-feet between low and high points (though accumulative elevation differential is greater due to the rolling terrain), on a well-defined trail. In the past this has been about a one-hour trek each way – so plan on 2 to 2.5-hours on the trail. There are restrooms at each end. Meet Elliott at Little Dell Recreation Access at 9:00am.

This event will provide a perspective on the challenge early pioneers faced crossing the Wasatch into the Salt Lake Valley. It is along this general route that the Donner Party traveled in 1846 spurred on by Landsford Hastings’ promotion pamphlet, The Emigrants Guide to Oregon and California promising a short cut saving 300 miles. Because the track for wagon travel had not been established, historians theorize the time the Donner Party spent route building through the rugged Wasatch compelled these early emigrants to arrive late in the Sierra Nevada mountains and the reason their tragedy unfolded. Only 48 of 87 survived. Mormon Pioneers traveled the same route across the Wasatch Mountains a year later in 1847.

Trailhead Information: Drive I-80 east up Parleys Canyon and take exit #134 for SR-65. Drive SR-65 north then east 3-miles to Little Dell Recreation Access, on the right-hand side of the road. This site is just before the winter gate. Enter and turn left after passing the entry station. There are restrooms at this location.