Terraces: Elbow Fork Trail is a 7.7 kilometer heavily trafficked out and back trail located near Salt Lake City, Utah that features a river and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail.
Utah Travel Council, Council Hall, P.O. Box 147420 , Salt Lake City, UT, 84114, Phone: 801-538-1030, travel@utah.com
Directions from Salt Lake City: Access #1: Follow Mill Creek Canyon Road (3800 South Wasatch Blvd.) about 4.5 miles up the canyon to Terraces turnoff on the south side on the road. Follow the road up and then to the north end loop. Trail begins on the north end of the picnic area. Access #2: Via Elbow Fork. Take Mill Creek Canyon Road 6.1 miles up the canyon to Elbow Fork, the sharp right turn near the dam. Trail starts on south side of the road where the foot bridge crosses the creek.
February 6, 2021January 30, 2021January 23, 2021Millcreek Canyon is beautiful this time of year with all the snow. Terraces trail wasn’t traveled much today so there was a lot of fresh powder (up to knee deep in a few spots). I just had spikes and managed to do it but snowshoes wouldn’t be a bad idea. I came down the closed road, which was much more crowded but the snow was much more packed down.
January 8, 2021Pretty trail, not a ton of vista views but within scenic forested areas. A little more slick in some areas and more snowy in others. Has trail running shoes with good tread and didn’t need micro spikes
January 8, 2021Snowy trail, can take a right hand turn to Porters Fork. Nice wide trail for sledding. Has a pretty stream up Porters
January 6, 2021December 10, 2020Beautiful hike today. No spikes were necessary (today).
December 10, 2020Great little trail! It's more of a point-to-point trail, not out and back. I hiked to the end of the trail and then walked back on the snow covered road to my car. It's very doable in normal hiking shoes until you get to the "summit." From there coming down heading west it's almost entirely covered in snow & ice and spikes are essential. This was a great trail to be out alone. I only saw two other people in the two hours it took me to do it.
November 22, 2020Spikes were needed a few times on the icy trail. Pretty views and not crowded.
October 9, 2020It's a really nice trail for a dry warm day, especially that it goes on the northern, shady side of the canyon. Pretty steep in the beginning, afterwards steady incline. Is the trail goes along the side of the canyon it's very narrow and can get slippery very easily so I would not suggest taking it in the winter or after rain. Although it's only had a few viewpoints, the autumn foliage and all the colors were absolutely stunning. I only met 2 other people on the entire hike.
September 27, 2020Beautiful Fall colors and stream.
September 23, 2020September 17, 2020Some great openings, but very narrow and zig zags a lot! We were told there are other hikes with better views.
September 14, 2020September 12, 2020Pretty trail, but certainly not the coolest hike in the area. It’s a little anti-climactic as it’s little more than a connector trail between two parts of the canyon. It certainly is more of a climb than I anticipated. I thought it would merely parallel the road, but it climbs up over a ridge on its way.
September 11, 2020lovely trail. no water. my end is about 2 miles in since I have done the trail from both sides and I think that includes all the best views. lots of shade. only a few people. no water (unless you get all the way to the other side) so be sure to bring some for your dog.
September 2, 2020Very shaded and quiet. You may run into one or two people.
August 21, 2020Very pretty, but impact from drought felt, with many brown leaves and some dead plants, especially in more exposed areas. I went from Terraces side to the top and back, which was a 2 hour hike. It was steeper and more difficult than I expected, which always seems to be the case, but still a moderate hike. It was shaded for the most part, in the middle of the forest, although there are some exposed areas, which are nice for the views. I only met one other hiker on the path, who did the same thing as me, but from the other side (Elbow Fork, he went to the top and back). I deducted one star because a lot of the path is quite slanted. I certainly wouldn’t want to do this if it were slippery. Your ankles will feel it.
August 9, 2020this trail is narrow. it also has a lot over over growth at the highest point. several trees are blocking the trail at points on the hike. also the the trail gets slanted at times.
August 2, 2020Hiked this as part of a Lambs Canyon to to Mill B section hike. I liked the green mossy forest. Seems there was some kind of rock slide a century or so ago that made the landscape.
July 9, 2020Trailhead (and parking) is a quarter mile off Millcreek Canyon Road, so make sure to read the signs and save yourself the confusion ;) Trail is nice and shady, which makes it a good trail even during hot midday hour. Some of it is a bit slanted (just so you know in case you have sensitive ankles) and most of it is a narrow single trail. Couple of trees were in the way, so senior citizens beware. Generally, very good hiking though. The end of the trail is a little further up on Millcreek Canyon Road, but we went out and back on the trail with our dog who loved the off leash on odd days rule. Not too crowded, maybe 10 people in 3 hours. 7/9/2020
July 7, 2020Dogs off leash odd days. Started at 10am on a Tuesday and didn’t see a single soul the entire time.
July 4, 2020Reminds us of Kashyyk, home of the Wookiee. Beautiful, isolated.
June 27, 2020I had never been on this trail before. It does not lead to a summit, lake, or anything noteworthy. I entered from the Terraces parking lot and went to the end of the trail and then repeated it back. I was pleasantly surprised at the elevation and the workout from both sides. The top of the trail was just a blip. I saw 15 people from 7AM to 9:30AM while I hiked the trail and it was windless and beautiful
June 18, 2020We added some mileage to make this a loop by parking at the closed gate (closed until June 30) and walking up the road to the foot bridge. At the other end, we walked back down from the picnic area to the main road. This trail doesn’t have a summit but is beautiful and shady. Watch out for roots that can trip you.
June 2, 2020My favorite way to experience this trail is to start at church fork on the pipeline and run to elbow fork. Cross the road and follow the terraces trail to the terraces picnic area. Down the road to the pipeline entrance again and back to church fork. The best part is the 1-1.5 miles center section in the Mount Olympus Wilderness Area. I ran this route yesterday evening (7-8 mile loop) and only saw 3 people and 2 snakes (a medium bull snake and a smallish rubber boa). The rubber boa looked like a stick on the trail so keep and eye out not to step on them. This time of year it is nice and green and cool in the shade.
