Mount Timpanogos Wilderness Area

This is a must-​see if you visit the Salt Lake area. Only a 1.5 hr drive from SLC, this is a really beautiful, semi-​challenging hike with an amazing cave as a reward at the end. Don’t forget a light jacket or sweatshirt for when you’re inside the caves — they’re surprisingly cold! The hike up the mountain takes about an hour, and coming back down is a little quicker for sure. There’s so many amazing views, so we didn’t rush the experience.

Great place to hike around. Very scenic even in winter. You can take a lot of good scenic snow pictures here. Trails are very straight forward and easy to navigate. Definitely going to check this place out again during summer time.

It took me all week to finally pronounce this place correctly, tim-​pe-​no-​ges. This place is amazing. Located in American Fork, UT inside the Uinta National Forest. Filled with pine, quaking aspen, maple and a plethora of other trees, it was like a postcard come to life. I couldn’t stop saying «OMG this is so beautiful». Was able to hike a few trails, starting with Stewarts Cascades which begins at the Aspen Grove entrance of the park and is a 3 – 4 mile round trip moderate trail with a gorgeous couple of waterfalls at the end. Also the Tibble Fork Trail which started at the east end of the Tibble Fork Reservoir dam which was supposed to be about 5 miles roundtrip but we didn’t pay attention and this trail actually runs into the Ridge Trail, this was a moderately steep trail that offered a great cardo workout with phenomenal views of the Wasatch Mtn range, thick groves of aspen trees and a plateau we were hoping to catch some elk roaming around. I’m so glad I was able to get up here during this time of year when all the leaves were changing color, I don’t want to sound corny but it was truly breath taking. There are so many things to do here, they have theater-​in-​the-​pines, which is basically an outdoor stage, ride a bike or horseback, volunteer, camp, climb, and of course the Timpanogos Cave. Maybe someday I will return to hike to the summit of Mount Timp. We’ll see.
Entrance fee to the canyon ranges from $ 6 for a 3 day pass, to $ 45 for and annual pass, or if you have a America the Beautiful pass, formerly known as Golden Eagle, this will get you in for free.

O.M.G.
This place is gorgeous: a blend of Aspen and deciduous woods, it’s a place that will be gorgeous any time of year. The pine forest is in fairly good shape, with what appeared to be little pine beetle damage or over-​logging.
Since this is a wilderness area, you can bivy out and camp in the wilderness areas (there’s one up near the summit pass) or you can pay your campsite fee and camp at the primitive sites that come with concrete pits for campfires and concrete pads.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The sites listed online are not clearly indicated that they are DOUBLE sites. That means, UNLESS you reserve BOTH sites, you could be camping neck-​to-​neck with someone you don’t know. So book both sites and pay the extra dough. The best by far is the site that’s near the trailhead for the Mount Timpanogos trail and parking lot. There’s two sites there 4 and 5. 4 is butted up against a thick Aspen site. 5 is better and is SIMPLY one of the most amazing sites I’ve ever seen. Covered with old enormous pines, it bellies up to the rapids below which during early summer are very swollen and wild. The sound permeates everything, everywhere you go. The bad thing is that it’s so loud, a bear will not hear you, so hike/​bike with bear bells. The good thing is that when you’re trying to sleep, it’s heaven.
Another note: it gets cold as hell here, especially the higher you go. So even in summer, pack your –0 sleeping bag and polypropylene, though in the day, it can get hot.
I would NOT recommend the lower mountain sites, as they became severely flooded while we were at the higher elevation, and campers had to be evacuated. With all the heavy snow pack, lots of rain, those sites flood, as does the road, which, after two nights of camping, we frightfully discovered. So keep an eye on where the park rangers and camp hosts are to get updates on if the roads are still open in case of rain.
This is back country at its best. To hike to the Timpanagos Trail, you will cross soggy snowfields and have creek crossings. It’s rather rugged, but you CAN hike for a little ways, then always turn back if you’re creeped out.
Another thing to note: the mosquitoes here (because of all the run-​off) are bad. Another notable: it is a LONG, winding drive with no guardrails, so be careful of other drivers and make sure you get enough beer/​ice to last you as the drive to Provo is a long one and there’s no concessionaires on the mountain to sell either beer or gas.
But the views, despite the bear warnings, floods and mosquitoes are worth the long drive.
You’ve got to watch out for bears though we didn’t see any.