Little Cottonwood Trail

Dogs Unknown

Features Fall Colors · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

Starting from the Right Hand Fork trailhead parking lot, you can hike back down the road a few hundred feet until you get to the corral. Stay to the right of the corral and go through the gate to start up the trail. The trail starts out at a pretty steady climbing grade as it climbs up and crosses a dry creek bed and ascends out of the trees into a vast meadow with rolling hills. At this point, the trail turns into a doubletrack, passes a few water troughs for livestock, and continues climbing the road. If you get here at the right time of morning the sun shines beautifully on the dew that settles on the grasses here, which creates a gorgeous picture.

As you continue you'll reach a high point and start descending to another watering hole (which is quite disgusting later on in the year after the cows have all gotten to it). Pass it and start to ascend. As you do, you'll come to a gate and then continue up and around a hill. As you continue you should be able to see into a vast basin with forested hills in the background and grassy fields below. From here, you can see Mount Beirdneau and to the south of that is the mouth of Logan Canyon.

As you continue along the trail, you'll hit the main high point of the trail as you ascend through a small grove of aspens. After this, the trail switches back a couple of times as you descend back into the meadows and around to the head of the Willow Creek drainage, where the trail meets up with the Temple Fork Road.

There are deer, several kinds of birds including some raptors, plenty of sagebrush, and some wildflowers if you arrive early enough in the season.