Ferguson Canyon Trail to Upper Meadow

directions: No signs apart from the first one at the bottom....once you pass the water tank, go left/down to shady direction, do not go right up the mountain to follow the actual trail

snakes: it says to keep dogs on leashes but no one does. Id highly recommend using one because my dog got snapped at by a rattlesnake when i let him go free at the steep part past the rock climbers and waterfall. no bite, but shouldnt have done that.

Beautiful !

My husband proposed to me here 18 years ago! It's our favorite canyon!

High traffic, trails are overused and confusing to stay on. Also... covered in graffiti. :-((

Beautiful stream that follows the trail. leads to one of, if not, the most beautiful views of the valley. just incredible.

great trail. the lower canyon is fantastic and currently filled with little pools. the stream is flowing pretty solid. been to the Outlook like 10 times this year and today was the first time I saw any rattle snakes. two were past the overlook. one was on the trail after the second 'bridge' after the steep part.

I see tons of rock climbing here.

also the trail doesn't end at the overlook. you can follow it up to the forest and the Ridgeline. my pup and I saw three deer bounding across the forest on our last trip.

Today, the trail was gorgeous and cool at around 7:00 am. I have never hiked this trail and would recommend shoes with good soles as well as trekking poles, because it can get slippery and you'll be crossing streams or walking in/and along side them to remain on the trail. I actually lost the trail and decided to head back so that I can try this again tomorrow and be better prepared with different shoes and my poles. Hopefully I can concentrate more on the trail and less on not slipping on the loose gravel. I want to make it to the top!

Great hike!

Very strenuous but amazing variety of scenery and a wonderful view at the top.

Good steep hike, close to valley.

very very steep. the entire time. and here we parts that see hard to tell where the trail is because of the river. you have to walk in the river at times too.

5 stars for difficulty, scenery, and diversity. There was a bit of everything, forested area, gorgeous giant boulders, waterfalls, river, overlook. Beautiful hike but very steep and rocky the entire way up. Made it very difficult and dangerous coming down. You also hike in water for a lot of this hike, literally in the river through the rocks is the only way through, so bring appropriate shoes that won’t slip. The hike is 2 miles up, 2 miles down. The first mile was really fun with diverse scenery. That one mile though felt like 2 or 3 because it’s steep and rocky, but at least it’s shaded the entire way. The second mile was brutal! I was with my 9 year old son and we didn’t finish. We got to the top, the switchbacks and almost made it to the overlook, it was a pretty view. But that last mile is not as fun, it’s just steep and rocky. Another thing I will say is that this trail is not marked at all and it’s very easy to get confused and take a different way. I had my recording on and was able to refer to the map from this app which helped me a lot. Beautiful but there’s a reason it’s marked as “hard”.

Fun, challenging hike!
There was a little snow towards the top, but the weather was great this morning. It took my group just under three hours to go up and back.

Went to the top today and didn’t run into snow and the mud wasn’t bad either.

Super ICY!! Be careful. Pup loved it.. can't wait to go during the warmer months.

About 5 min into my hike I stepped in dog poo. I was being extremely vigilant about where I stepped because I could see little black bags and piles of poo scattered about the trail. Still, I continued until the kids begged to leave. We turned around and left and lo and behold, I stepped in yet another pile of poo before making it back to the car. So gross.

I really enjoyed this hike. It would be a great shady hike to do during the summer.

Nice hike, great trail for the first mile then it gets tricky lots and lots and lots of rocks , so many rocks omg . But thats just a small section once you get past the rocks the trail is great

I just discovered this canyon two days ago and hit it again Saturday morning. Absolute favorite hike since I can take my dog with me on a strenuous hike. The first time we stopped at the rock outcroppings for the view of the valley. But Saturday I went for the upper meadow... and never found it! A bit after the rock outcropping, the trail turns into bush whacking... following it up the ridge only gets extremely difficult but possible for the determined. Does anyone know where the trail to the upper meadow is?

really cool shady hike with some granite monolyths and places to climb. steep with a nice payoff view.

This has been one of my favorite trails for many years. It gets tougher towards the top but it's well worth the effort you put into it. ❤️

Epic hike! So tough at some points going up but so worth it. Didn’t encounter anyone near the top half of the hike and we were stepping on fresh snow. My pup loved it too!

Very good but tired, please take some beers with you

Great hike with amazing views. My pup loves it too!

Second time on this hike and it's a steep but rewarding trail. This time we hiked above the upper meadow to see what was there

Love this hike! After the switch back if you follow the actual trail to the right and keep heading east up the mountain it gets super thick with over growth and leads to a overlook that isn't much of an overlook. If you stay left, it gets pretty hot and not covered but the view is much better. And makes the trail shorter hahaha that thing is long and steep af

Did it on the 25th of July, ran into maybe half dozen people actually hiking. There were probably a dozen climbers but they were pretty much in one area. I'm out of shape and it kicked my tail. I have an 18 month old lab and he was also pretty bushed by the end. It was beautiful and so peaceful I'm excited to do it in the fall.

My wife, mother-in-law, and dog took off from the trailhead around 8AM. There are only a few parking spots right at the start, so get here early to get a spot close to the trailhead. We saw about 5 people on the way up and about 12 people on the way down. Most had dogs (off leash). Very steep for most of the way up but it wasn't too strenuous. I would rate it as moderate. Had it at 5.0 miles exactly.

Nice hike, shaded most of the way. Went up on Sunday and didn't see many people past where the rock climbers were. Loved that we were able to take our super crazy high energy 10 month old GSP pup; she was pretty tuckered by the end, which is RARE. Challenging hike if you're out of shape like me, but if you hike on a regular basis, it's probably more moderate. It's uphill almost the entire way there, but the most difficult part was coming downhill on the loose dirt and gravel. I ate it a few times. Went up in my trail runners which have really good traction & they were sufficient, not sure any type of shoe would help from sliding down dirt. I would imagine chacos and similar sandals would be a pain with getting pebbles in them. We made it to about the 2 mile mark (because it was hot & I'm out of shape & got a little hangry) on the alltrails map, but the garmin watch indicates we did 5.1 miles out & back starting at the parking area with a stop by the lookout point... not sure which is more accurate for mileage.