Name: Waterfall Canyon
Location: Ogden, UT
Distance: 2.4 miles round trip
Level: Moderate
Dogs allowed? Yes, but must be leashed
Directions: Type in "29th Street Trailhead" in Google Maps OR use coordinates 41.2107204, -111.9318813
Review: Waterfall Canyon is a great hike if you're getting back into hiking shape like we are. Although the distance is not very long, it's an incline most of the way up. The trail will start out with a paved path until about 0.4 miles in, then it'll switch to a rocky terrain that requires some climbing. It's a good way to work out your core on the way up and then your legs on the way down.
We hiked this trail on a Sunday morning, so it wasn't crowded. If you end up going on a day when there's a lot of people, it will definitely take longer to get up and down because there's quite a few parts where it gets narrow. Since we had three dogs in our group, we ended up moving aside and letting faster hikers in front of us so we didn't hold them up.
On hot days, I recommend doing this hike earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon.The weather was overcast when we went, which was perfect because it didn't get too hot. However, the snow is still melting in the canyon so during the last quarter mile of the hike, we encountered quite a bit of mud and water flowing through the trail.
The waterfall itself is pretty cool. It's quite tall. The water splashes onto you once you get to the top, which makes for a great reward on a hot day. There's a lot of rocks for people to sit, picnic, and hang out.
I actually thought going down was harder than going up because of the incline. Since there was a lot of mud and water, we had to be careful not to slip and fall. Having to keep our dogs leashed was tough too, because all it takes is one yank when you're not prepared and BOOM! Down you go.
We saw quite a few kids on the trail, so it's definitely a family-friendly hike. Count on awesome views of the valley on the way down!
