Red Pine Lake in 360 Degrees, Little Cottonwood Canyon

Red Pine Lake Little Cottonwood Canyon Utah

360 Adventure Red Pine Lake

Little Cottonwood Canyon

About 60 min East from SLC
Medium Hard Hike just because of elevation and length - Level 3
About 7 miles
About 2100 feet elevation gain
Takes about 3 hours
Appropriate for ages 10 and above

If you drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon, there is a section about half way between the mouth of the canyon and Alta that is the location for this beautiful hike. It is just past the section where you see all these amazing white Granite slabs of rock and then it has this line where there is a Red Mountain up top. There is a parking lot on the south side of the road that is for the trails White Pine Lake and Red Pines Lake. Red Pine Lake is supposed to be 7.1 miles round trip (might be just a little more than that). It is labeled hard on All Trails, but I think it is closer to moderate. It is labeled hard I think because there is a section close to the top that is a decent grade up for 1/4-1/2 a mile, but it is never steep enough that it is scary and there are not loose rocks on the trail. It has large rocks you have to navigate, but not small rocks that you would slide on. I hiked this in the fall, so the lake is low, but there was still quite a bit of water in it. I think we got to the trail around 8, and got back to the car around 12 and we looped the lake before heading down. The trail did start to get busy as we were heading down, and at 12 the parking lot was packed so an early start would be smart.

Red Pine Lake Little Cottonwood Canyon Utah

As you head around the lake, (I went clockwise around) there is this cool rock with this large overhang. My nephew called it a mushroom rock. The river runs under it, and the lake is in the background. It is a cool spot.

Red Pine Lake Little Cottonwood Canyon Utah

I love the red with the deep ever green pine color and the contrasting fall yellow right now. I am so excited for fall!

360 Trail Across the Boulder Side of the Red Pine Lake

360 Trail Across the old Dam at Red Pine Lake

When we got around the lake, there is a small dam built in the 1900's. I believe the date that was carved into the dam was 1928. There are also names and hand prints in the wall.

Red Mountain across the the canyon from Red Pine Lake Cottonwood Canyon

The Hike up has Gorgeous views of the Valley, and the many red mountain peaks all around are beautiful.

Little Cottonwood Canyon Utah

Stream on the way up to Red Pine Lake Little Cottonwood Canyon

I am so happy I made it up to Red Pine Lake this year. The red cliffs and rocks made it have its own unique beauty. It was not too long, but longer than my usual 2 hours that made me feel like I had a great workout with a great reward. I have been reading a book called the Nature Fix, and it goes through studied that are proving that hiking in the mountains improves you immune system by up to 40%, helps your brain so it fires better, helps you be more creative, helps relieve stress and of course makes you feel more happy. This hike definitely did this for me. Get a hike in you life this week and start feeling the rewards!

HAPPY HIKING!

If you want to see more of this area or of my hike click on the link below, then click on the little dude in the bottom corner, then click on any blue dot to see more.
Google Earth Red Pine Lake