WANDERING PATHS: THE PIPELINE TRAIL IN MILLCREEK CANYON
by Patrick Welsh
Take a shady excursion in Millcreek Canyon on an old favorite trail you may not have visited in a while.
The Pipeline is an excellent, well shaded, dog friendly, and mellow 14-mile trail that travels east to west along an old water pipeline from the mining and logging days, and provides you with striking views of the canyon.
At one point in the late 1800’s much of Millcreek had been deforested for use by the early local settlers, and abandoned for other Utah places with better economic prospects. It is hard to imagine the canyon this way now, because of the immense number of tall trees and bushes all over. As the mining and logging died down, people started looking at the recreational aspects of the canyon.
The path of the pipe lent itself well to hiking. After quite a bit of trail work, and a bit of re-routing, the stretch of the trail now extends from the overlook at the mouth of the canyon to Elbow Fork about half way up. This trail is also shared with mountain bikers, so be aware of that. (and bikers, be aware of the hikers and dogs that share this trail).
The trail maintains a fairly level roller coaster-like grade throughout, with the only major inclines being at Rattlesnake Gulch and Burch Hollow. There are a lot of intermediate access points along the trail for shorter sections of the hike if you don't want to do the whole trail.
Expect to see a mix of oak and maples with spots of sagebrush and grasses that characterize the montane vegetation zone. Rattlesnakes, garter snakes, moose, deer, and assorted birds including Great Horned Owls can be seen on this trail throughout the year. It goes without saying that they should be left alone if encountered. Note: a wild animal or bird that doesn't flee at the presence of humans may be ill and contagious. Unusual approachability is sometimes an early symptom of rabies.
The winter gate is just past Burch Hollow and is open from July 1 to November 1 for car traffic, but can be hiked or biked year round.
Getting there: Get to Foothill Blvd on the east bench of Salt Lake City via I-215. Exit at 39th South. Take 3800 South eastbound into the Canyon and drive past the toll booth (which costs 2.25 per car, or you can buy a season pass for around $20). Less than a mile above the booth is the Rattlesnake Gulch trailhead on the left side of the road. It has a large parking pullout.
The Rattlesnake portion joins Pipeline after a jaunt up a steep gully and a series of switchbacks. From there, head west for the Salt Lake overlook or east, up the canyon for more of the Pipeline. After a mellow level stretch of a few miles you will hit the Church Fork Trail intersection that can take you back down to the road if needs be, or up to the 8,316 ft high Church Fork Peak.
Further up the trail, the path will start to descend down close to the road to the Burch Hollow trailhead. East of Burch Hollow the trail climbs up again to Elbow Fork, where the trail ends at a parking pullout with an outhouse. Make sure you have paper before needing it.At this point is the trail head for 8,621 ft. Mt. Aire, a short stunning hike to a beautiful alpine peak. Enjoy!