Donut Falls

Something unusual happened on Sunday. My daughter and couple of friends asked for me to take them to Donut Falls. Hiking. In the mountains. Nobody, except my dog Daisy, ever wants to go hiking with me so I was happy to accomodate them. I guess one of her friends had told her that that Donut Falls was a cool place to go so she wanted to give it a try. It is also one of those "you never do your own backyard" things for me, one of those places I should have taken my kids years ago, but hadn't.

There are three recreational canyons on the east side of Salt Lake. Millcreek Canyon is nearest my house, and dogs are allowed there so that is where I usually go hiking. Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons are home to our 4 ski resorts, so I go up there in the winter, but rarely get up there in the summer. The main reason I don't hike there much is that dogs aren't allowed in those canyons, and it makes me feel bad to go hiking and not bring my dog. This means I miss out on some beautiful local hiking, such as the hike to Donut Falls.

It only a short hike from the parking lot to the base of the falls, then a pretty good boulder scramble up to falls themselves. The creek comes down the mountain, where it flows through a donut shaped hole in the rock, where it cascades in to small cave. It really is a pretty cool little water fall and the girls has a lot of fun playing in it.... and that water was COLD!