Lake Blanche trail
📍Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah (6.4 miles / 2,726 ft)
🐾 Dog friendly? Nope, it’s a protected watershed
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Hard. Quads will remember this one.
Why we picked it
Because who doesn’t love an alpine lake…or three? And there’s a waterfall! It’s a hard trail, but the views at the top are worth it. Bonus miles if you walk all three lakes – Lake Blanche, Lake Florence and Lake Lillian.


Parking fills early (like, before-you-finish-your-coffee early). We rolled in at 7:30 a.m. and parked on the side of the road.
Start Location: S-curve pullout on Big Cottonwood Canyon Road
Trail Condition: Dusty, rocky, and steady uphill. No scrambling, just a lot of uphill commitment (and breaks). It’s popular, so be prepared to pull off to let people continue their climbs.
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