Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest — Local services in Hideout

We LOVE the mountains. I love to let my children explore in nature. Nothing better than living less than 30min away from the forest. We hike Albion base with my 6 and 2 year old. We also do lower bell canyon. We have done Catherine's pass which was a little harder than we thought for the kids but they did it. It took us really long because we had to stop and take breaks. We have also done the quarry trail which is a paved self guided fun trail by a creek and it is right at the mouth of Little cottonwood canyon. There are bathrooms at the Albion base where the Alta ski restaurant is. One thing though in the summer the parking to Cecret lake is a joke. A TON of people choose this hike no matter the day especially evenings. One thursday night at 7 pm we thought we would be safe to do Catherine's pass but the parking lot was full and we had to turn around and find a less busy trail. However, in the Fall the crowds die down especially on the weekdays. The big cottonwood canyon offers a ton of hiking trails too. Our favorite is Doughnut falls, again in the summer crowds are crazy because is a pretty shaded hike with all the trees and at the end u get to wade through the creek. You can also climb to the top of the waterfall and see where the water comes through a whole shaped like a "doughnut". Last time we went 5 days ago we saw at least 30 chipmunks and squirrels they are not scared of humans at all. Please do not feed them! Our food is not part of their natural diet. Also when we got to the base of the waterfall there were kids all around playing with rocks and the water. There are any moms around that have no idea what their kids are doing. I got hit with a huge rock across my back that a kid was throwing and then it happened to my son on his knee. I also saw another kid about 5 years old throwing huge rocks at some squirrels that were trying to cross to the other side. I mean come on! Please just watch your kids and keep everyone safe including...

The wife and I went for a drive into South Willow canyon, after turning off of Mormon Trail Rd. on to South Willow. The pavement lasts for another mile or so and then you're on gravel for the rest of the drive to loop campground where the road ends and turns around into itself to go back down the mountain. The road itself can get a little bumpy at times but nothing too bad, you don't need a 4x4 on this road as I've seen passenger cars easily drive this road with no trouble. The ride in is about 12 miles in and along the way you're treated to some beautiful scenery for the whole drive. The first couple of miles the road is high above the canyon and your looking down into dense green growth. You are able to pull over in a couple of places so you can stop and get out of your vehicle, I suggest waiting to pull into one of these as there is just enough room for 2 cars to pass each other with a little room to spare. Once you're in the Wasatch National Forest, there are primitive campsites you can stop at along the way and there is a stream that runs alongside the sites. The road at this point is only open from late spring until late fall. I believe there are 3-4 different campsites which have between 4-8 sites in them until you get to the loop campground. About halfway in there are 2 sheer rock faces about 100' on either side of the road. You can see rock climbers any day of the week and there are always climbers there on weekends. This is a nice day trip bring your kids, camera and a picnic basket. The day we were there we saw some wild turkeys walking from the steam back into the forest. This could easily turn into a daytime adventure. It's about 2 hours to drive up and back down without stops, it could easily take 4-5 hours if you stop and take in the...

One of the most beautiful experiences I have ever had. Visited with my husband. We were just shy of 10,000 feet above sea level. The solitude and being so close to nature being one of just a few people visiting at the time and the clouds being so close there was still snow on the ground, even though it was 58 degrees. You could feel the chill in the air we reached out and picked up snow to show it by FaceTime to our Nephews and grandchildren. It was beyond beautiful. You could look down into the valley and see snow below us and snow above us on the mountain tops. On the trip back through the forest there was natural slate and jagged, edged mountains, showing you the slate from billions of years ago and at any given time you knew that some of the rocks could fall. There were actually a couple of pieces out in the middle of the road. We stopped at the side if the road so I could run my hands across the slate. There were bicyclists cycling up those huge mountains. Some had to stop and walk others were braving it out. It was a very enlightening experience and yes, I would do it again. I am 69 and my husband 68, no limits. Along the route there was a beautiful waterfall and rapids that followed us for quite a while. Nature at its finest. There were no insects that I saw the whole time. I haven’t figured out why. Pls look at the pics and video. Take this trip before you can’t. It cost us nothing but time and I could not think of anyone I would rather do this with than my husband of...