Nate Lanza

Eve Garry on Snowbird's Cirque Trail

The Best Hikes In Salt Lake City’s Wasatch Mountains

It’s no secret that Salt Lake City offers some of the best and most-accessible hiking of any city in the U.S. Unfortunately, the digital overload from over a million people living next door to the famous Wasatch Mountains spawns “too much information:” Every conceivable route has been posted in countless places, making it easy to end up at the most viral option and hard to figure out which hikes will give you some solitude after a tough day at work, provide the type of challenge that you find worth training for, or definitely make your visiting family or first-time-hiker friend come back for more. 

With this assortment of classics and less-well-known gems, I hope to make that decision easier—by providing a manageable number of hikes with a broad range of difficulty levels, popularity, and scenery. I’m confident that anyone will find a hike they’ll love on this list (and probably several).

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Black Diamond Trail Vista 28

Review: Black Diamond Trail Vista 28

Daypack
Black Diamond Trail Vista 28
$220, 2 lb. 2.2 oz./972g (size M/L)
Sizes: S/M, M/L
blackdiamondequipment.com

I like to mix in a lot of trail running with my hiking—frequently jogging flats and downhills—but at the same time, I often need to carry a lot of stuff, like when I’m testing out multiple layers and carrying my camera equipment. I found Black Diamond’s Trail Vista 28 nearly perfect for these scenarios: Testing it over many long run-hikes in the Wasatch mountains, including a couple with over 7,000 feet of elevation gain and one half-marathon, it provided everything I could want out of a hiking daypack while still being stable enough to jog in with light loads.

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Jetboil Flash 1.8L

Review: Jetboil Flash 1.8L

Backpacking Stove
Jetboil Flash 1.8L
$165, 1 lb. 1.76 oz./504g
backcountry.com

On a recent five-day, 50+-mile backpacking trip through the Grand Canyon, I often arrived at camp exhausted from the day’s hiking. And given the caloric expenditure required by such a trip, that exhaustion invariably came with deep hunger. Being able to quickly boil enough water for the whole group of hungry backpackers—meaning, no waiting in line for food— with Jetboil’s Flash 1.8L helped prevent me from gnawing anyone’s leg off during these trying situations.

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Gossamer Gear Gorilla 50 on a backpacker with the Grand Canyon in the background

Review: Gossamer Gear Gorilla Ultralight Backpack

Ultralight Backpack
Gossamer Gear Gorilla 50
$275, 50L/3051 c.i., 2 lbs. 1oz/934g (Medium, S/M Belt)
Sizes: Small (fits torsos 16-18 ins.) Medium (18-20 ins.), Large (20-22 ins.)
gossamergear.com

I’ve always drawn a line when it comes to ultralight backpacks: My backpack is arguably my most important piece of gear on a backpacking trip (it’s literally in the name!), and cutting ounces of weight from my pack delivers no improvement to how I feel if it’s uncomfortable to carry for hours or days. But that logic rests on the assumption that pack comfort requires those extra ounces—and carrying the Gorilla 50 on an arduous, five-day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon [link] convinced me of this ultralight animal’s ability to comfortably carry everything I need for even that hard of a trip.

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Leki Skytera FX Carbon SL

Review: Leki Skytera FX Carbon SL Trekking Poles

Trekking Poles
Leki Skytera FX Carbon SL
$220, 12.6 oz./357g (per pair)
One size, adjustable 110-130cm/43.3-51.2 ins.
lekiusa.com

Poles are one of the most important pieces of gear to save weight on: held in your hands all day, a few extra ounces will be infinitely more noticeable than the same weight on your back. Leki’s Skytera FX Carbon poles weigh in impressively light compared to most poles while still retaining many of the features I prefer in a pair of trekking poles, like adjustability and construction that holds up. From a very rugged five-day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon to numerous runs and hikes on the steep and rocky trails above my home in Salt Lake City—such as Mount Olympus, which rises a blistering 4,000 feet in 3 miles—I’ve been convinced that these poles offer a good balance of weight, features, and durability.

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