Temple Quarry and Little Cottonwood Creek Trail

In spite of being along the main road a lot of the time, this was a pretty and enjoyable trail! Lots of shade and some sun. Gets really good toward the highest point/furthest in. The river of beautiful and there are a lot of huge rocks. Also, plenty side trails too. The trail continues at the end of this trail, after the bad ass remains of a building, but I didn’t try it...yet!

Other reviewer is correct..pic of lake for this trail is not correct so don't go just to see a lake.... don't think there is one there. There is a river, some small bridges that cross it, and you get to do a hike that spreads the elevation change(1300+ ft) out across a longer distance so it makes it easier which is pretty cool. I think I actually liked two other things the most...the old broken down stone chapel(I think that's what it is)at the end and the metal contraption thing that everybody has pictures of on here that is powered by water. Despite watching it for 10 straight minutes I have no idea what the heck it's purpose was....but it was fascinating!! Oh..and as a geocacher I need to point out that I found one out there. Have a good one and enjoy the hike if you go!!!! Oh....watch out for the mountain bikers as they come down the trail....they were all really nice and said thanks when I stopped and got to the side, but if some of them hit me going as fast as they were there might not be anything left of me....it looked really fun.....I have gotta try it some day if I can.

This is a really fun quick adventure with kids.

Love this trail, beautiful all the way to the final destination, many places to stop and explore. One thing to be cautious of is bikers!! There are so many.

Super Duper easy trail. I think for our family would rather bike it then hike it next time. And there will be a next time

The trail is long and very easy and accessible, although it is not labeled very well and we ended up getting off track quite a bit. The ending has a cool mill across the creek to look at, but I do want to add that the picture that is displayed with the hike's name is NOT on this trail, it is a completely different hike. This trail does not lead to any overview of a lake.

This was a beautiful trail in May, after the snow melted. I made it out to the second bridge, my first time hiking this trail, which ended up being about 5.5 miles total. It was definitely on the moderate side of easy. Steady incline with some steep parts, the whole way. Also, there’s way too much graffiti on some of the boulders and you have to watch out for bikers. Overall, I love this trail for exercise and views. I went on a Saturday morning and honestly did not see a lot of kids here because this is not an easy one for them. Edited to add: Temple Quarry is an easy paved loop trail, appears to be very short but I haven’t tried it. Little Cottonwood is a moderate trail, and that’s more so the one I’m reviewing here. I parked at the Temple Quarry Trailhead.

Personally I enjoy this trail a lot. It follows the river and there’s lots to see along the way. I get about 15,000 steps in so I’ll use this trail for some exercise when I really don’t want to go to the gym.

I wouldn’t necessarily classify this as “easy,” I would not want to make grandma do it. There is a gradual but continuous climb with some parts more steep and rocky/gravely than others.

It’s also definitely a biking trail but the last few times I’ve hiked it there have been many more bike riders than hikers, so definitely keep an eye and ear out for them both from behind and above.

fun easy hike the kids loved it. lots of boulders to climb and explore.

Pretty day with intermittent snow fall. The trail is a little close to the road in the beginning. It still has icy and snow covered portions starting about 1/2 up. Keep an eye and ear out for downhill cyclists. With the deep melting snow, there isn’t much room to move if you get caught in an icy portion when they need to pass.

Geocaches: bucket
April-Jun

Not a very steep hike! The ruins can only be seen from across a stream, but they were still cool to see. I just wish the trail wasn't next to the road almost the whole way, it somewhat takes away from a true nature experience.

Not too steep - great hike!

This is a great trail for walking , more of a bike trail than anything but worth it

Great trail with few people. Nice breeze from river and lots of shade.

Lots of graffiti and trash along the trail. Keep an eye out for mountain bikers, as some if them come zooming down the trail. Hearing the run off stream the whole way was pretty cool though!

Starts at the temple quarry parking lot. I did not spend time on that loop, but it looked interesting with all the signs explaining some of the history. The first 1/2 mile of the hike was not very scenic, but that quickly changed once I passed the power plant (just walk through the parking lot & around the gate. There was abundant foliage for most of the trail providing ample morning shade. The majority of the trail follows the river, which is swollen with runoff this time of year. Once you cross the 3rd bridge, stay to the right. Trails going off to the left lead to other parking areas along the road. There were a plethora of mountain bikers on the trail & several runners as well. I imagine it would be packed on a weekend.

A great trail for runners! Note: its steep, so not for beginning runners!

I can't wait to do this again! New to hiking and thrilled that I was able to make it to the end and back without tears! :)

Family friendly trail that includes a paved loop with signage that explains the history of the area.

this trail had breathtaking views of towering, sheer-sided white granite (mozonite quartz actually) canyon walls. easy and worth checking out.

Great path and views to explore with young children and beginners. Had a blast going into the dry riverbed and exploring the old structures. Interesting to see and learn how they mined for granite. The scars on the mountain are visible.

Followed the trail from the Temple Quarry Trailhead to about .5 miles aboue the Lisa Falls parking. As of today the trail is packed enough that snowshoes are not required until the trail junction near the Lisa Falls parking area. The trail is less traveled and .5 miles above the junction and we had to start breaking trail.

This was my first time on the little cottonwood trail and first time snowshoeing (we skipped the temple quarry loop). It was a perfect beginner trail. We went 6 miles round trip. Very slight incline the whole way that we didn't really notice till we came back down. There were a few bikers in the snow, which was pretty fun to watch. We went early and were alone on the trail the majority of the time, more bodies as the morning went on. The water was even flowing pretty good and was gorgeous. Great snowshoeing trail!

Very easy hike. And very beautiful.

This was basically a short walk with some pretty views. If you use the AllTrails map for directions it takes you to the park n' ride as where the trail begins which makes you cross the freeway to find the trail head. Not sure why it is set up that way but don't park there. Just turn around and park across the street so you don't have to cross a busy freeway. Otherwise the trail was ok. Some cool history behind the quarry stones but we probably won't be back here. Also, watch your kids around the trails here, we found a backpack with drug paraphernalia in it and tossed it in the trash.

Very pretty Hike, simple.

Found this hike by accident looking for Lisa falls and I loved it. It was fairly flat so I was able to even run some of it. It runs along a creek so it was super peaceful and the fall colors were gorgeous. It was like being away somewhere completely different than the city. I absolutely loved the tranquility of this trail and easy to find.