United States Canyon
Little Cottonwood Canyon
1,359 m of rock, cut by the Little Cottonwood Creek.
Scott Catron · CC BY 2.5
The cut
1,359 metres, to scale.
A slice through Little Cottonwood Canyon where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.
Standing on the floor, to scale: Eiffel Tower · 330 m · Burj Khalifa · 828 m
Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is.
1,359m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
8.5km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
45°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
1,854m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
9 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 31 °C on the floor, against 22 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in June and in September. The rim freezes at night from October to May. The wettest months are in April and in December.
- 0°-9°Jan
- 2°-7°Feb
- 8°-2°Mar
- 12°3°Apr
- 18°9°May
- 26°16°Jun
- 31°22°Jul
- 29°20°Aug
- 24°14°Sep
- 15°5°Oct
- 7°-3°Nov
- 0°-9°Dec
Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.
Canyon in the Wasatch Range in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States
Little Cottonwood Canyon is a canyon in United States, cut by the Little Cottonwood Creek. The relief model measures 1,359 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 8.5 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Wasatch–Cache National Forest.
Getting there.
- Granitenearest town · 8.4 km in a straight line
- Parking 270 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 4.0 km from the floor
- Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 33 km in a straight lineCar hire at SLC airport (Salt Lake City)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In June and in Septemberbest months to hike (estimate)
Plan the visit
Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From the sky.
The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.
N
5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 18 × 18 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 2viewpoints within 5 km
- 5footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmMaybird Gulch Trail, Red Pine Trail, Little Cottonwood Creek Trail and 2 more
- 3named waterfalls within 4 kmUpper Lisa Falls, Gloria Falls, Lisa Falls
- 12car parks within 3 km
- 6information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 16campsites within 8 kmSpruces Campground, Tanners Flat Campground, GRP1 and 13 more
- 10hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmSnowpine Lodge, The Lodge at Snowbird, Inn at Snowbird and 7 more
- 2restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- marked hiking routes within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- caves within 3 km
- bus stops within 2 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Granite8.4 km in a straight line
- Cottonwood Heights10 km in a straight line
- Little Cottonwood Creek Valley11 km in a straight line
- Sandy Hills12 km in a straight line
- White City13 km in a straight line
- Draper14 km in a straight line
- Alpine14 km in a straight line
- Mount Olympus14 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Little Cottonwood Canyon.
The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.
Peakyas42 mountains within 15 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather, at the floor and at the rim.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon · floor | 0 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 26 | 31 | 29 | 24 | 15 | 7 | 0 |
| Afternoon · rim | -9 | -7 | -2 | 3 | 9 | 16 | 22 | 20 | 14 | 5 | -3 | -9 |
| Night · rim | -18 | -16 | -11 | -8 | -3 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 1 | -6 | -12 | -18 |
| Rain (mm) | 56 | 47 | 54 | 63 | 54 | 27 | 19 | 26 | 38 | 44 | 46 | 68 |
| Rainy days | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 11 |
| Sun hours/day | 5.4 | 6.4 | 7.8 | 8.6 | 9.9 | 12.7 | 12.3 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 7.8 | 5.7 | 4.6 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 22 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 19 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0 | -9 | -18 | 56 | 5.4 |
| Feb | 2 | -7 | -16 | 47 | 6.4 |
| Mar | 8 | -2 | -11 | 54 | 7.8 |
| Apr | 12 | 3 | -8 | 63 | 8.6 |
| May | 18 | 9 | -3 | 54 | 9.9 |
| Jun | 26 | 16 | 2 | 27 | 12.7 |
| Jul | 31 | 22 | 8 | 19 | 12.3 |
| Aug | 29 | 20 | 6 | 26 | 11.0 |
| Sep | 24 | 14 | 1 | 38 | 9.8 |
| Oct | 15 | 5 | -6 | 44 | 7.8 |
| Nov | 7 | -3 | -12 | 46 | 5.7 |
| Dec | 0 | -9 | -18 | 68 | 4.6 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,854 m) and the rim (3,269 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Seen from the trail.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 91% | 77% | 84% | 34% | 26% | 184% | 23% | 4% | 10% | 25% | 57% | 44% |
| 2021 | 58% | 134% | 75% | 60% | 32% | 29% | 136% | 287% | 45% | 244% | 44% | 143% |
| 2022 | 39% | 35% | 80% | 57% | 88% | 65% | 51% | 158% | 71% | 70% | 144% | 138% |
| 2023 | 215% | 89% | 206% | 58% | 46% | 137% | 62% | 191% | 100% | 71% | 82% | 33% |
| 2024 | 88% | 252% | 188% | 66% | 105% | 20% | 41% | 215% | 27% | 102% | 103% | 82% |
| 2025 | 65% | 135% | 165% | 51% | 71% | 2% | 41% | 110% | 51% | 172% | 50% | 82% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Little Cottonwood Canyon
United States
- 1,359 mDepth
- 8.5 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 45°Steepest wall
Big Cottonwood Canyon
United States · 7 km
- 1,054 mDepth
- 8.0 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 36°Steepest wall
American Fork Canyon
United States · 16 km
- 506 mDepth
- 14 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 30°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q6649646) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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