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BIG COTTONWOOD CANYON — Restoration of a popular trail in Big Cottonwood Canyon was recently completed, according to a group dedicated to the conservation of Salt Lake County's Wasatch canyons.
The Cottonwood Canyons Foundation announced last week that the Mill B North Restoration Project was recently completed after three years. The Mill B North Fork Trail is by one of the most-visited trailheads in the canyon.
The out-and-back trail located close to the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon is nearly 10 miles in length. It also includes over 3,000 feet in elevation gain and is rated as difficult, according to AllTrails. The website points out that the path is a heavily-trafficked route that features a waterfall.
It's a popular route not just for hiking but for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter. It's also a good place for backpacking, rock climbing and nature viewing, especially during the warmer months.
Due largely to its popularity, the trail needed restoration. The project involved help from the U.S. Forest Service and the National Forest Foundation, along with outdoor retailer REI.
As a part of the three-year project, a trail crew completed over 4,500 feet of repair on the existing trail. They built 700 feet of new trail as well, including a pair of new switchbacks. Over 40 rock stairs were also installed to replace wooden steps that had failed over time.
"The Mill B area is one of the busiest trailheads within the Cottonwood Canyons and has been in bad disrepair for some time now," Cody Ross, the stewardship director for the foundation, said in a statement. "CCF's partnership with REI and NFF allowed us to restore this trail to a safe and sustainable condition while simultaneously increasing knowledge of proper public land use."
The Cottonwood Canyons Foundation also finished work on the Mill B South Trail last year. The project was completed when crews improved 750 feet of the trail that was unusable and installed 30 new rock steps.
Regarding other projects, its crews also began construction on a new section of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail that connects Big Cottonwood Canyon to nearby Ferguson Canyon in 2020, as well as a new access reroute to Dog Lake from Mill D North in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Crews also completed a reroute of the Red Pine Lake Trail in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
In addition, crews cleared several dozen trees that blew over on trails in Millcreek Canyon and Big Cottonwood Canyon after the large windstorm that struck the Wasatch Front last September, according to its website.
