Hiking To Gloria Falls

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If you are looking for an easy hike that is gorgeous and has 360° canyon views, then Gloria Falls is one to add to the list.

We are so lucky to have such beautiful mountains in our “backyard”

My dad called us up and asked if we wanted to go on a hike. We decided to do an evening hike, when there’s not so many people and the afternoon heat has wore off. This turned out to be a great decision on our part, and we will definitely be doing more evening hikes from now on.

Gloria Falls trail is a 2.3 miles out and back trail up the Little Cottonwood Canyon, that ends with many beautiful waterfalls cascading down the mountainside. The trail is rated as easy, although the entire way to the falls is a steady uphill climb.

Getting There

The parking lot for this hike is 5.3 miles up Little Cottonwood Canyon. This parking lot has bathrooms and is the starting point for three different hikes that start on the same trail: White Pine Lake, Red Pine Lake, and Gloria Falls.

Pretty quickly, the trail begins to slope upwards for about one mile. After about one mile, you will see the river and come to a fork. This is where most people get confused and aren’t able to find the trail to the falls.

At this fork, take the trail to Red Pine Lake and after crossing the bridge, take an immediate sharp left. You should start walking along a “homemade” trail through the trees with the falls on your left. After a few minutes you will see more falls.

Right after crossing this bridge, take a sharp left and start hiking past that white tree.

We walked up the trail as far as we could go and we got to see many levels of the beautiful falls. We took a few pictures and then started heading back the way we came.

Matt, my mom, dad, younger sis Hannah, and me.

Now for the easy part, because it’s all downhill on the way back. It was so fun hiking in the evening when the weather was perfect. I honestly will never tire of being up in the mountains.