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Little Cottonwood Trail

Little Cottonwood Trail is one of the first trails to melt out in Little Cottonwood Canyon. The route follows the river below the main road for the first 3 miles of the canyon. It's not the most exciting trail to hike but it's somewhere new.
Access:
Distance: 3.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,300 feet
Access Rating: Paved
From the south, take the 90th South I-15 exit, which turns into 94th South. Continue east to the mouth of Little Cottonwood. Just before the stop sign (where you turn right onto the road up the canyon), you'll see a paved turnoff to your right taking you to the Temple Quarry Trail parking area. For the upper trailhead, go about 3 miles up the canyon looking for a gravel parking area on the right with a sign saying Little Cottonwood Trail.
Route:
The trail is an old road. The highlights include two bridges over the creek. The trail is open to mountain bikers so keep an eye out for you little ones. Most of the route is pretty smooth except for a few sections with lots of rocks. Down low is in more open vegetation while the upper portion of the trail is forested. The trail continues a half mile further up valley to some ruins from the upper parking area turnoff of the trail.
Little Cottonwood Trailhead Temple Quarry trailhead Temple Quarry area Little Cottonwood Canyon trail Little Cottonwood Creek Little Cottonwood Creek Little Cottonwood Creek bridge Little Cottonwood Trail Little Cottonwood Creek
Upper trail sign with access trail leading down to the official trail
Lower trail sign at the Temple Quarry parking lot
More open terrain at the lower end of the trail
The second bridge crossing
Little Cottonwood Creek
Nice forests along the Little Cottonwood Creek
Little Cottonwood Trail
Little Cottonwood Trail
Little Cottonwood Creek from one of the bridges
Little Cottonwood Trail Map