Willow Creek/Little Cottonwood

Lots of variety and a fairly easy hike. To access the trailhead, drive about 7 miles up Logan Canyon and turn right onto the Right Hand Fork road. It is well signed. Follow this road for about a mile and you will read an LDS church camp. Just before the camp take a left and it will dead end at the trail. Any vehicle can make it. There are several trails here that you can do or make loops out of. All of them are also accessible to Mountain Bikes, Horses, and Dirt Bikes. For this hike I took the Great Western Trail to Willow creek, and from Willow Creek to Little Cottonwood Canyon, which pops you out right back at your car making a really fun loop. Getting from Willow to Cottonwood can be a tad tricky and the trail is faint in some areas or trampled over by Elk. There is a large parking area complete with a vault toilet. This trail is a great place to see animals as well. On this trip I saw tons of birds highlighted by Golden Eagles and Grouse. I also saw Squirrels, Chipmunks, Ground Squirrels, Elk, Deer, Badger, and a really fun Skunk scare. Thankfully he didn't spray. Right next to the parking area is the very easy to find trail. The first mile or so is downhill a tad and follows a small stream. There is a lot of tree cover here even though the trees hadn't started to bloom yet since I visited in April. Despite the trees not blooming yet there was still a ton of green along the stream. You will come to a large fork. Take the path to the left. The right goes up Ricks Canyon. The whole first section is covered with Beaver Dams. Just before you make the turn up Willow Creek the trees open up with great views up and down the canyon. The trail will turn sharply to the left. This is the start of Willow Creek. After 0.8 miles past the turn you will come to a small creek crossing. The well defined trail heads to the right. You will want to take a less defined trail to the left in order to make a more doable and pretty loop to Cottonwood. At this point the trail opens up into large open meadows and Aspen groves. There is a large watering hole that is a good place to rest at about the halfway point. Keep your eyes open in this part of the trail because it is a very popular place to see Elk in April and May. I also saw Moose and Mountain Lion tracks at the watering hole and others in the area. Due to all the Elk trails it can be hard to find the proper trail. Just go generally north and no matter what you will eventually hit the right road. There is another water pond that will tell you that you are in the right spot. In these meadows I saw a very large herd of Elk. I counted roughly 100 and spent about 15 minutes watching them. Once you hike and hit the forest service road you are rewarded with amazing views ahead of you of Mount Jardine which is one of the highest in the Bear River Mountains. Hike north on this road for about a mile. You can also see Temple Peak to the East. The road curves to the left. Make sure to stay left and not go straight. There are pretty views to the west. The road ends at Little Cottonwood Spring and then again turns to single track for the remainder of the hike. From here on out the trail descends at a quick rate. The descent through Little Cottonwood was really nice and there were birds chirping everywhere! You will pass one more small pond that is your last chance for water. The trail pops you out at the Corral you passed on the main road about 0.2 miles from your car. Tons of variety and beauty throughout this hike! This hike would best be done in spring since it is grazed pretty heavily in the summer.