Go Snowshoeing During Outdoor Retailer Winter Market

Snowshoeing is a great way to spend time outdoors, even when the trails are buried under a deep layer of snow. The magical white powder can take a previously familiar trail and transform it into an unknown winter wonderland. And while slightly more difficult than hiking, you can learn how to snowshoe easily. If you can walk, you can certainly snowshoe.

If you’re going to Outdoor Retailer Winter Market next week, be sure to carve out some time to explore the Wasatch Mountains towering over Salt Lake City. This short but unique out-and-back is the perfect hike to explore the area, whether you’re a snowshoeing newbie or an expert. Just be sure to check avalanche reports and take necessary precautions before you set out for the trailhead.

Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, #ORShow, Salt Lake City, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Salt Lake City, Greg Witt,

Doughnut Falls

Distance: 1.4 miles round-trip
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation Gain: 337 feet

Doughnut Falls is irresistible. In less than a mile of easy walking, you come to a rocky chasm with a waterfall that drops through a hole in the rock. The sight is so intriguing that you are compelled to climb as close as possible to see where all that water goes.

From the trailhead parking area, the wide trail leads up the canyon through a forest of white, blue, and yellow spruce, dotted with limber pine and an occasional Douglas-fir. Stands of quaking aspen also brighten the trail, especially in the fall as they turn lemon yellow. At 0.2 mile the wide trail constricts and veers off to the right. At 0.4 mile the trail enters an open area shaded by large conifers.

Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, #ORShow, Salt Lake City, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Salt Lake City, Greg Witt,

From here, cross the bridge over Mill D South Fork to your right, then immediately turn left onto the old mining road and continue up the canyon with the stream at your left. At 0.1 mile past the bridge, you’ll arrive at a fork in the mining road, where you’ll stay to the left, following the stream up the canyon.

Doughnut Falls plunges through a hole about 6 feet in diameter and drops into a grotto about 20 feet long and 10 feet wide. You’ll want to get close—and most visitors get within a few feet of the grotto in the spring and summer—but suppress that urge so that you don’t fall through into the icy water.

Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, #ORShow, Salt Lake City, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Salt Lake City, Greg Witt,

On your way to the falls and back, be on the lookout for moose, who find a luxurious habitat in this drainage. Beaver still appear in the stream, and foxes occasionally dart behind trees. But the most likely sightings will be ground squirrels and chipmunks in a lush home of spruce and aspen.
(Excerpt taken from 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Salt Lake City)

Stop by Booth #32058 at OR to pick up a Wilderness Press or Menasha Ridge Press sticker. We’d love to meet you!