United States Ben Parkin · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
194 metres, to scale.
A slice through Mill Creek 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: Great Pyramid · 139 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. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper.
194m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
23.2km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
12°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
1,406m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
Afternoons, up top and down below.
In July the afternoon reaches 34 °C. The best months to hike are in May. The rim freezes at night from December to February. The wettest months are in April and in December.
- 3°1°Jan
- 5°4°Feb
- 10°9°Mar
- 15°13°Apr
- 21°20°May
- 28°27°Jun
- 34°32°Jul
- 32°31°Aug
- 26°25°Sep
- 18°16°Oct
- 10°8°Nov
- 3°1°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
Mill Creek Canyon is a canyon in United States, cut by the Mill Creek. The relief model measures 194 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 237 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 23 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Wasatch–Cache National Forest.
Getting there.
- Mount Olympusnearest town · 0.5 km in a straight line
- Parking 910 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Pipeline Overlooknearest viewpoint · 3.4 km from the floor
- Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 20 km in a straight lineCar hire at SLC airport (Salt Lake City)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In Maybest 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
6 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 24 × 24 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 5viewpoints within 5 kmPipeline Overlook, Salt Lake Overlook, Hueghs Creek Falls Viewpoint and 2 more
- 1marked hiking routes within 4 kmMount Olympus Trail
- 1climbing crags within 3 kmMomentum Indoor Climbing Millcreek
- 12footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 66car parks within 3 km
- 12information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 34bus stops within 2 km
- 1campsites within 8 kmBSA Camp Tracy
- 24hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmEcono Lodge, Residence Inn Cottonwood, Hampton Inn & Suites Salt Lake City/University-Foothill Dr. and 21 more
- 52restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- caves within 3 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
- Mount Olympus0.5 km in a straight line
- East Millcreek2.5 km in a straight line
- Canyon Rim3.7 km in a straight line
- Holladay4.0 km in a straight line
- Millcreek7.6 km in a straight line
- Cottonwood Heights8.0 km in a straight line
- Murray9.0 km in a straight line
- South Salt Lake9.3 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Mill Creek 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.
Peakyas22 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas1 lakes within 15 kmComing soonFigures 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 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 21 | 28 | 34 | 32 | 26 | 18 | 10 | 3 |
| Afternoon · rim | 1 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 20 | 27 | 32 | 31 | 25 | 16 | 8 | 1 |
| Night · rim | -8 | -5 | -1 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 17 | 12 | 5 | -2 | -8 |
| 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 | 3 | 1 | -8 | 56 | 5.4 |
| Feb | 5 | 4 | -5 | 47 | 6.4 |
| Mar | 10 | 9 | -1 | 54 | 7.8 |
| Apr | 15 | 13 | 2 | 63 | 8.6 |
| May | 21 | 20 | 7 | 54 | 9.9 |
| Jun | 28 | 27 | 13 | 27 | 12.7 |
| Jul | 34 | 32 | 18 | 19 | 12.3 |
| Aug | 32 | 31 | 17 | 26 | 11.0 |
| Sep | 26 | 25 | 12 | 38 | 9.8 |
| Oct | 18 | 16 | 5 | 44 | 7.8 |
| Nov | 10 | 8 | -2 | 46 | 5.7 |
| Dec | 3 | 1 | -8 | 68 | 4.6 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,406 m) and the rim (1,643 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.
Mill Creek Canyon
United States
- 194 mDepth
- 23 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 12°Steepest wall
Big Cottonwood Canyon
United States · 10 km
- 1,054 mDepth
- 8.0 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 36°Steepest wall
Little Cottonwood Canyon
United States · 14 km
- 1,359 mDepth
- 8.5 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 45°Steepest wall
American Fork Canyon
United States · 29 km
- 506 mDepth
- 14 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 30°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q6858268) · 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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