The Grotto in Hornet Canyon

I hiked this trail this morning with my 8 year old. It took us 3 hours, but we have to stop and see every bug and look at every rock. Haha. Definitely an overgrown trail and very easy to get lost on; thank goodness my sister had been there before and was able to guide us. Also, I’m glad I wore pants after reading the reviews; there’s plenty to brush your legs on. The little waterfall at the end was completely worth it. If I hike it again though, I’ll start earlier in the morning. On the good side, we only saw two snakes (:

6/2/18 Just tried Doing this hike with my hubby and baby in tow... we parked in the designated parking spot and went across the street to the gate and went around to be on the BST... after a bit went down a hill and made a slight right into a JUNGLE! this is NOT a nice trail, you could barley see where to go... while looking on the all trails app it said we were going the right way but it was pretty awful... we would have kept going but ran into some water that was not passable due to not wearing water shoes... I was glad to be wearing pants due to several thorny bushes... there is another trail head just up the road from the parking lot that we were told later had a waterfall... so maybe try that one... anyways bad luck with this one... too bad....

The views were a 5 but the trail isn’t well maintained and is on the more difficult side of moderate. Watch out for snakes and steep slopes. Definitely an awesome trail but it’s not for people just getting started with hiking. The trail is also easy to get confused on for direction.

In the morning around 8:30, it rained the night before, so the trail was pretty wet and my pants wound up soaked from walking through all the brush. I would recommend long pants since you’ll be walking through shrubbery almost the whole way. You’ll be on a decent incline almost the whole way, and the trail is pretty narrow and treacherous at times so I would leave the little ones at home for this one. The trail gets pretty narrow and the edge is really soft towards the top. Overall a beautiful and quick hike.

Very cool place to cool down on a hot day. The trail can be a bit confusing. Once again watch out for snakes.

I did this hike with my 3 year old and 1 year old in a carrier. We almost made it to the water. We ended up turning around .18 miles from the Grotto. We could have made it, but we started out at 4pm and needed to be home at 6. I am going to attempt this on a different day.

The trail when dry, isn’t too bad, it’s narrow, but I trusted my 3 year old on the steep edges. The worst part about this trail is the .55 mile hike on BSL with absolutely no shade walking to the trailhead. We followed the tips and used the map and was able to find the trail.

Very little shade, so bring sunscreen and lots of water.

so, we did this Trail w our 7 month old Baby in our Osprey. we did very well but it got so steep that we had to turn around. this is by far not a moderate trail... this is a difficult trail trying to get to the water fall.

We had alot of fun and certainty scenic.. bring sunscreen and plenty of water.

Went tonight and it was nice and cool. Didn’t see any snakes since we were later. The trail is super difficult to find so read the tips. I actually didn’t make it to the waterfall because I didn’t see the “keep mostly right after the little log bridge” tip. Going to head back in a couple weeks to find it. Beautiful, nice hike either way. Hiked up, ran down.

Follow the “Tips” that are given above and you’ll find it easily. And when it says ‘almost always’, it means always stay right (after the left following the wood bridge of course) to avoid some treacherous re-routing! Fun little short hike with a pretty decent incline and a little pay off at the end. I took my babes and my pup, we all loved it!!! Also, we went early in the day and it’s early in the season - so it was cooler and there was only one hornet I saw. Deathly afraid of them so I for sure won’t be doing this hike in the summer!

It was easy to get lost, pretty hard to find the way to the grotto but it was absolutely worth it once we did!

Not well marked. Enjoyed the steep incline to the top.

It’s kind of hard to find, I used a local blog to get good directions (girlonahike). But it was worth it to find it, the grotto was fun to play in. I went to first week of June and didn’t see any hornets luckily, because I would have high tailed it out of there if I did. I didn’t see anyone else on the trail.

The beginning of the trail is a little boring, and it is kind of hard to figure out which trails to take because there aren’t any signs. It’s a pretty hike though once you figure out which way you are supposed to go. It gets really narrow once you get close to the top, but if you pay attention and go slow, you should be fine. I would not recommend taking small kids.

Nice hike. To get to it you park in the parking lot for the Davis creek trail and then jump in the BST and hike toward steed canyon and from Steed canyon onto hornets canyon. First part of the hike is open without trees no shade and then when going into steed canyon it starts to get a bit shady until you’re fully shaded. Trail is visible and easy to follow but there a couple of places with forks and if you don’t have the map to know where to go you go into other trails. Up toward the top the trail’s shoulder is really soft and has eroded and somewhat steep to climb, be careful walking through there. Once you get to the weeping wall falls it is beautiful and tranquil. Loved the sounds of the falling water.

I also hiked to Patsy's Mine and Flag Rock for 5 miles RT.

As expected, there were no hornets in early November. The closer to The Grotto you get, the harder the trail gets. Not just steep, but narrow and the trail itself slopes toward the edge. My 12 year old had no trouble, but I wouldn’t recommend it for inexperienced or nervous hikers. The Grotto is beautiful though. I’m glad I went and would like experience it in a different season.

it's a really great hike mostly because of the grotto at the end! it was a pretty hard trail and extremely narrow. we had a couple of scares near the top but the rest was fine. we went at about 7:30-8 in the morning and didn't see any hornets.

The hornets on this trail are no joke. It's not worth it. There are two other trailheads within a half mile. I brought my dogs and I felt terrible, because they got stung multiple times when we hit the nest (as did I). If you choose to go, please leave pups and kids at home.

Andrea Lecannon's review is excellent for finding the way. I'll echo what others have said about the last little bit being more challenging, with steeper and some slippery portions of trail, culminating in a little rock scrambling to get to the petroglyphs. Although I didn't get stung, there are, indeed, a lot of the canyon's namesake around--hornets. Yellow jackets too. Mostly they were around creek crossings and seemed more interested in the mud than me. A little surprise: as you near the end of the trail to the petroglyph, there's an offshoot trail going up and to the right. It lends a more fulsome view of Hornet canyon as you ascend, and it goes over to a point where Tyler Smally has placed a wonderful bench as an Eagle Scout project, which gives a grand vista of Steed creek. Actually I liked the bench and expansive view better than the somewhat faded and nondescript petroglyphs!

I got a little lost on this hike, it is not that well marked and are a few forks and wasn't sure which way to go. After I found my way I was eventually stung in my calf by a hornet. Needless to say I did not make it all the way to the Grotto and will attempt again at a later date.

There is a reason this is called "Hornet Canyon". Not good for late summer hiking when wasps/hornets are most aggressive. Got swarmed today just as we were coming up to the Grotto area! Ouch! My son & I had wasps sting us on the ankles, back, and legs. They were completely on the offense and though warned by a cool guy before heading up to watch for "the bees" didn't realize how bad it was! Bees & wasps are very different & what's up there right now is a world of hurt! I'll try again during late spring/early summer. The trail was interesting & with wildflowers in bloom & abundant water for the wasps it would probably be a totally different experience;).

This trail has a huge hornets nest on the ground towards the end. We didn't finish because we were stung multiple times and chased down the trail. Will try again once the weather cools off

Kind of confusing where to start. Probably would have gotten lost if this badass mom (leading her family while carrying a baby) wasn't on the trail at the same time. When the path splits where the branch has fallen over, go to the right.

Make sure you know where the turn off is for the trail. You can walk past it easily if you're not looking. The last part of the trail is steep in some areas so make sure you have good footing coming back down so that you don't slip. Not a good trail for kids. The grotto is beautiful. My dog loved cooling off in the water. I started hiking around 8 a.m. on a Saturday and only passed two people on my way back. It was a breath of fresh air because most trails are getting so over-populated.

Nice hike with a truly beautiful grotto at the end. Think I saw one other person once I turned off the shoreline trail. Water shoes might have been nice to have, as you have to cross a wide stream at one point. Screenshot or download the map, as turnoffs can be a little tricky to spot. While the hike overall was pretty easy, the last 1/4 mile was really steep, so be careful of your footing on the way down. Definitely recommend this hike!

This trail starts after some time following Bonneville Shoreline, then you'll turn on to Steed Creek trail, follow it, then take the right split going down towards the creek again, after crossing the wood board bridge, there is another split, The Grotto trail is to the left, if you go right you'll be staying on Steed Creek Trail.
Great trail with a wonderful payoff. This trail is actually an offshoot of the Steed Creek Trail, it winds through Hornet Creek Canyon, following Hornet Creek. The end is a beautiful display of water, you'll find a weeping wall, 2 waterfalls, and a semi deep pool. The giant boulder next to the falls makes a perfect natural seat, to catch your breath and take in the sights and sounds. I got off track a few times because there are no trail markers, you'll need to keep the map open to be sure you're taking the correct one. Bring water shoes, you'll need to cross a shallow creek before starting the main leg of the hike, I brought swimming shoes, sat on a rock and switched from hiking boots to swim shoes and then changed back once I crossed the water. I saw only one other set of people during my whole hike, and they were off track from Steed Creek by mistake. the trail is half sun half shade, which is good. I wouldn't bring small children, as the trail is narrow. I had cell phone service for nearly the entire hike, and even 4G most of the time.