Grandeur Peak (from the west)

I have hiked Grandeur Peak many many times over the years but always from church fork. This time we attempted to access it from the west side. There are 3 main trails approaching from the  west. All three options start from the Bonneville Shoreline trail.   The option we choose starts up the ridge further to the north and closest to I-80.  

View of I-80 from along the trail.

Once the trail reaches the top of the ridge it makes a very steep climb to the south where it joins the middle trail. From the trail merge the peak is in view and the climb is very steep. Overall the trail is much more difficult than the Church Fork route. Due to the fact that I need to take too many rest stops we didn't make it all the way to the summit this time. We will have to return later to finish the job.

Beautiful wildflowers along the trail.

Joel pretending he is fat.

After making the decision to turn around we decided to come down the middle trail. This option appeared to be a little more steep and also a little shorter. I can tell you honestly me knees and thighs were quite sore after this decent.

View towards downtown Salt Lake from where we turned around

Getting There:
 From the stop light at 3300 South and Wasatch Boulevard head east to stay on Wasatch Boulevard.   Wasatch Boulevard immediately turns north and parallels I-215.  Follow Wasatch Boulevard to its end where there is plenty of parking.  From the end of Wasatch Boulevard walk up the dirt road and take the first right fork.   The dirt road heads towards the mountain.  To the left (north) is the first ridge from Parleys Canyon.  In the gully formed by the first and second ridge south of Parleys Canyon, there is a well-maintained trail leading up the bottom of the gully.   This is the best route for climbing the West Ridge.  The trail follows the gully and than cuts left to the ridge top and a view of Parleys Canyon.  From the Parleys Canyon viewpoint the route is a well-used hiker made trail which follows the steep ridge to the summit.


View Grandeur-west in a larger map

Grandeur Peak from Church Fork

Click to enlarge panorama atop Grandeur Peak

Grandeur Peak from Church Fork
Church Fork is the easiest and most accessible trail-head to hike Grandeur Peak. The trail head is at the end of the Church Fork picnic area about 3.2 miles up Millcreek Canyon on the North side of the road. if you reach the Millcreek Inn you have gone to far. For directions click here. The gates to the picnic area are open from 7 am til 10 pm during the summer. On the day of our hike the gates were closed do to excessive spring runoff in the canyon. If the gates are closed hike the additional 1/4 mile through the picnic area. The trail-head is well maintained and there is parking available. Don't park in the picnic area.

Extra spring runoff flowing from church fork

The beginning of the trail is a moderate hike through a heavily forested area of the canyon after a short distance it intersects with the Millcreek Pipeline trail, make sure you continue heading north across the other trail. The trail is very easy to follow until you get closer to the peak. A little over a mile into the hike the trail turns to the left and climbs out of the wooded area through a series of switchbacks. The surrounding area is now primarily scrub oak and exposed rock. There are a few areas on the trail where the rock has slid onto the trail but it is easily navigated. About 2 miles into the hike you reach the ridge looking over into Parleys Canyon. From here the trail heads Southeast toward the summit, about a 1/2 mile away. The climb gets a little more difficult and heads up a false summit. After the false summit the trail then goes around to the west side of the mountain, although there is a path up the more difficult east side. The final ascent has some very minor scrambling but is less than difficult.

Bret (in the bushes) and Joeh on ridge just before the final stretch

The peak offers wonderful views of the Salt Lake Valley to the West Mt. Olympus directly to the South, Emigration Ridge directly North and Mt. Aire to the East. The return trip is back along the same trail. The only problem we encountered was for some reason our GPS didn't log the hike correctly. Thankfully because of the many times I have hiked this trail I know that the total distance round trip, from the road, is 7 miles. it took us less than 2 hour to get to the top and about an hour and ten minutes to get back down.



Click here for a larger map: Grandeur

Total Distance: 6.9 mi
Total Time: 3:33:01
Moving Time: 3:07:28
Average Speed: 4.83 km/h (3.0 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 6.54 km/h (4.1 mi/h)
Max Speed: 10.80 km/h (6.7 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 1730 m (5676 ft)
Max Elevation: 2523 m (8278 ft)
Elevation Gain: 984 m (3229 ft)
Max Grade: 19 %
Min Grade: 0 %
Recorded: Tue Jun 07 06:32:25 MDT 2011
Activity type: -