Adams Canyon Hiking Trail Near Layton, Utah

We hiked up Adams Canyon on the Saturday before Memorial Day 2009.

The turn off from 89 was a little tricky to find. Google maps just said turn toward Eastside drive or whatever the name of that little side road is that takes you to the trail head. The good part is that if you miss it you can see the pile up of cars in the trail head parking lot from 89 and it is not far to turn around and go back.

The parking lot at the trail head was very crowded. The trail wasn't too crowded except at certain bottle necks.

Comparing to Waterfall Canyon in Ogden, UT.  Adams Canyon is harder and a bit longer than Waterfall Canyon.  The waterfall in Adams Canyon is a lot shorter than the one that flows down the cliffs in Waterfall Canyon, but has huge amounts of water flowing from it.

The trail is steep, sandy, and in open sun for a long way starting out. The trail goes long enough in the sun and is exposed enough to start a sunburn.

The official trail apparently no longer exists. At the beginning there are these constructed zig zags that were not on the two trail maps I had.

It was very rugged at parts. Lots of people with small children, but not sure they went all the way up. We took our kids. It was very hard to watch the kids and keep our focus on keeping our footing too.

There was no way to see the waterfall except by crossing ankle deep water and slippery rocks at the top. I might have brought water shoes had I known, but the rocks would probably been hard on your feet, even with water shoes.  When we went, the water was only ankle deep and there were rocks to climb, but the water was fast and cold.  If you cross in your hiking shoes, your feet will be miserable on the hike back down, due to the length and difficulty of the trail.

There were lots of good places to stop to enjoy the rushing water. So if you don't want to hike as long or don't want to deal with the hard climbing and dangerous spots further up, you could still have a nice time lower down.

We went in May. Not sure the volume of water at other times of year. If you went later in the summer there might be less treacherous water, but the first bit of the hike in the open might be very uncomfortable.

Broken bridge. The first time you cross the stream there is a "bridge". It is some fallen branches that someone has nailed planks to, but the planks are leaning sideways, probably due to being beat upon by the rushing water, and it is a bit wobbly.