Slide Canyon 062 Waterfall Trail
in Provo Canyon in 360 Degrees
360 Video Climbing Slide Canyon Waterfall Trail
Don't forget to move around so you can see it all.
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| Beautiful Yellow Evening Primrose still open in the Slide Trail. |
I chose to do Slide Canyon Waterfall Trail, for it was a Saturday morning, and I wanted a hike without a lot of people on it. I definitely pick a winner on that account, for we were the only ones on this trail. That being said, I don't think this trail is well know, for it was A LOT of bushwacking and quite a bit of time trying to decipher the trail. I came to the hike with the mindset that this trail was named slide canyon because of the avalanche danger in this canyon from Oct to April, and is therefore closed to the public. I left with a chuckle believing that it should also be known as a hike with an SLIDE. You have to slide down to get into the ravine, and climb the slide up to get out of the ravine, no matter which of the trails you take in this canyon. I do know this canyon has a waterfall, but at the time, both my Gaia maps, and Alltrails told us we were WAY passed the end of the trail, so we turned, but for those who don't minds creek walking and bushwhacking, there is an amazing waterfall up Slide canyon.
Some people will take this trail and hate it, for it is hard and tricky, and yes I will go through exactly why it is hard in a moment, but there are others who approach this as an adult natural "Chuck E Cheese" type obstacle course, and they will love it, for it has tunnels to climb through, deciphering to figure out, boulders to cross, and it is is not a boring trail. It keeps you on your toes, and has a cute creek the whole way to add that natural ambiance to the hike. I would hike it before fall, for there are burrs growing along the trail right now that I hope get chopped down that will be NO FUN once fall comes, but June early July will be no problem.
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| Slide Canyon Waterfall Trail Provo Canyon |
Why is this Slide Canyon Waterfall Trail Hard?
- So one thing that automatically puts a trail in the hard category for me is if I ever start thinking that getting on my bum might be a good safe option. That is the first reason this got a Hard category for me. We went up and came back on two different routes, and whichever route you take there is a point you have to get down into that ravine, and sliding down on your but like a slide and climbing out like you are climbing up a slide is not a bad option for this section.
- The second reason this got a hard category is that my hiking buddy that doesn't fall often slipped twice. That means she went home to her hubby with bruises, and that is not good for me. :(
- The third reason this was hard was that the trail was so narrow and overgrown that there was a lot of time spent deciphering the trail and bushwhacking. It felt a little like a Hawaii trail with so much overgrowth. I don't mind that as long as I don't have to worry about getting lost. Luckily, you really can't get lost on this hike. It is hiking up next to or in a ravine most of the time, so as long as you are on something that kinda looks like a trail and you can see the river you are good. You hike up the river to get in, and down the river to get out. Sounds easy, but it was trickier than that. Gaia and AllTrails will show it as a straight trail right up the stream, but we definitely did not hike a straight line. We were all over the place zigzagging in that canyon, but still pretty much staying close to the stream.
- This is NOT hard in the following aspects. You do not have loose rock on a steep area you could start sliding down a mountain. You do not have the worry of getting lost. You just stay close to the stream.
TINY PLANET VERSION of Video Above.
Information about the Slide Canyon Waterfall Trail Provo CANYON
- Like many trails in Utah, this is one of 2 trails called Slide Trail, and unfortunately they are BOTH in Provo. :( One is in Provo and is above the Y mountain trail, and this one is in Provo CANYON across from the Upper Falls.
- It has a nice new parking lot for this and the trail that goes over to Lost Creek Falls area and the parking lot boasts of the most gorgeous views of Upper Provo Falls. Simply stunning.
- Parking lot and trail is closed between Oct to mid May, for this canyon deals with huge avalanches. That being said, those avalanches constantly change this terrain plus the trail is not well traveled, so it doesn't become a well seasoned trail.
- The trail boasts of some amazing wildflowers. I saw Yellow Evening Primroses, Yellow Mullein, Purple Penstemons, and lots of mini white and yellow combine flowers while on the trail. It also boast of poison ivy, so beware.
- Trail has a beautiful waterfall, but I thought the trail ended so I didn't go farther, and I never saw it. The link to a view of the waterfall from GoogleEarth is below. I don't think I am capable of getting to the waterfalls, for there area 5 -6 cliff band areas and they range from 15-50 feet to climb, but I hear that when you get to the waterfalls that you hear water pounding in all directions and it is amazing.
- On the way up, we just followed the trail from the east side of the parking lot through a broad meadow to enter the canyon. We stayed on this trail, but by the time we joined with another version of the trail we had bushwhacked so much and the trail had gotten so narrow that wondered if the other trail was the "right" trail. The way down we stayed close to the stream all the way down, and it worked UNTIL it was gone, and the trail went straight up the ravine to get out. I was liking that route until that point, for this way out there was not as many secure spots to grab onto to or step on to get out. I felt like I was climbing up a slippery slide as a kid. I was in crawling position and just slowly making my way up that slide. No clue which one is easier, for whatever route you do, you have to conquer that "SLIDE" situation, where you have to slide down into the ravine, and then crawl that slide to get out. So you have 2 options: First option is that as soon as you finish crossing that meadow and reach the canyon, you can slide in then, and then the walk is pretty much right up along side the stream, or you can follow that trail and it zigzags up the mountain jungle style until finally also dropping into the canyon.
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| Beautiful Yellow Evening Primrose still open in the Morning on the Slide Trail |
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| A dripping fall in Slide Canyon Falls Trail |
2D Version of Video if you like that better.
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| Clusters of Columbine on the opposite side of the stream. |
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| Beautiful Mountain Views of Cascade Mountain on the way up Slide Canyon Waterfall Trail |
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| Big Boulder Section along Slide Canyon Waterfall Trail |
We went just past these boulders above and lost the trail, so we turned around, but I really think that the waterfall is just up around that corner. I think if I would have creek walked up that trail just a little, I would have seen a waterfall when I rounded the corner, and I hear the waterfalls are quite amazing because of the echo of the water off the rocks make it even louder than normal.
If you enjoyed this post, I think you will also love these waterfall hike that are also in this area.
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| Lost Creek Falls |
and
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| Purple Penstemons in Slide Canyon |
Summit Post has a Post on this trail with some cool insights and photos. Check it out. One thing I thought was very interesting he mentioned is that if you hike this in mid May when there is snow from an avalanche, it is actually easier (especially if you are wearing spikes (Crampons), but you MUST stay on away from the middle of the canyon where the water is underneath for it could easily cave in and then it would be very dangerous.
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| Yellow Mullein Flowers along Slate Canyon 062 Waterfall Trail |
TRAIL HEAD AND PARKING LOT
for Slide Canyon 062 Waterfall Trail
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| View of Upper Falls from the Slide Canyon 062 Parking Lot |
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| Trail Head for Slide Canyon on East Side of Parking Lot |
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