These short Salt Lake City hikes will help you explore some fun, cool places near the city.  Here are my all time favorite short Salt Lake City hikes that you need to do soon.

Salt Lake City is a very large metropolitan area, but it’s located in an incredible part of the country.  Within a 6 hour drive are some of the best that the western USA has to offer.  Luckily, you don’t need to go that far to find some great hikes and places to explore.  The Salt Lake Valley has a number of canyons that come down into it.  Most of these canyons have a few great hikes that are easy to explore in an afternoon or a few hours.  Now, without further ado here are the 7 best short Salt Lake City hikes.

The 7 Best Short Salt Lake City Hikes

Ensign Peak

This peak is located up a short trail and overlooks downtown Salt Lake City, and has fantastic views of the entire valley. The trail itself is less than one mile long, but it is steep as it climbs up to the peak. A historic marker is located at the top with a small fence surrounding the view point.

The hardest part about this trail is finding the trail head, which is located in a residential area just above the Capitol. People with more energy can continue on the trail as it follows the ridge farther up. Here is a link to directions to the trailhead.

City Creek Canyon

City Creek Canyon begins at downtown Salt Lake City and cuts up north-east into the foothills from there. There are some fun trails to explore in the cooler months of fall and spring in the foothills above City Creek Canyon.  In the middle of the summer most of this area is just too hot as there are not a lot of trees. The lack of trees make for great views of the valley.

For a nice easy walk you can start at Memory Grove Park (located by downtown SLC) and follow up a paved road or a foot trail that head up the canyon beside the creek. After about 1 mile these converge and cross a road. You can continue across the road on the road that heads up the canyon. The lower portion of this, up to the road, is open for dogs and the creek has some nice spots. Memory Grove park has a small pond and grassy areas.

Little Mountain Summit – Emigration Canyon

Emigration canyon is located towards the top of the valley, near the University of Utah and just above Parleys Canyon, which has I-80.  This canyon is super popular for bikers as it’s a lovely mostly moderate grade to the top.

There are also some nice trails to explore for hikers.  My favorite is at the very top of the canyon at the Little Mountain summit.  Park at the big pull out on the right (south) side at the top of the pass.  There are trails that follow the ridge both directions, but I prefer the trail that heads to the north.  You can wander along the ridge with fantastic views as far as you want to go.

Dog Lake – Millcreek Canyon

This trail is located at the very top of MillCreek Canyon, just drive up the canyon until the end of the road and park. This trail is about 1.8 miles one way if you follow the Little Water Trail or 2.5 miles one way on the Big Water Trail.

I prefer the Little Water Trail. This follows the creek in the beginning, which gives good chances to play and then after a small bridge goes to the right and begins a climb. Sights along the trail include wildflowers, creek, Aspen groves, some evergreens, nice views, a nice lake just over the top, dogs, and sometimes Moose.

Bonneville Shoreline Trail

The shoreline trail is a super cool trail that follows the contours of the old Lake Bonneville shoreline.  Basically, a long, long time ago the entire Salt Lake Valley was under water (Lake Bonneville).  The shore of the lake went up to the foothills.  Thus, this trail follows along the foothills just above the city almost all the way from Ensign Peak/City Creek Canyon along to Millcreek Canyon and beyond.

There are lots of fun trails to explore, but some of my favorite sections are the one that starts at the mouth of Emigration Canyon across from the zoo or above the Avenues.

Neffs Canyon

This is a less popular canyon in the Salt Lake area. There are two different trails to get up to a rope swing that someone has put up here. The hike to the rope swing area is very short, about 1 to 1 1/2 miles round trip. From the parking area you can either go to the left (east side) or the right (west side). Both trails will converge at about where the rope swing is located. The left trail follows a dirt/gravel road that slowly climbs up past a water tower and then hits a junction.

The right trail is much more interesting as it wanders through the forest, past boulders, and if you can find it a short steep climb will show you a cave that goes into the mountain. The right trail eventually will meet up with the main trail/road. At the junction go to the left and you will very soon see the rope swing to your right in the shade.

The main trail stays to the left and keeps climbing.  After a couple of miles it comes to a beautiful meadow.  If you are super motivated you can even follow this up and over into Millcreek Canyon.

Cecret Lake – Little Cottonwood Canyon

This is a short (about 1 mile one way) trail in Albion Basin at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Wow! This trail is beautiful! The lake is awesome (you may see salamanders or mayflies).

There are lots of cool rocks to climb on along the trail and the wildflowers can be amazing. Be warned though, this area gets very busy because it is so nice and it is a short hike. It can be difficult to find a parking space, but it is well worth it.