The Parrish Canyon Trail starts along the Wasatch Mountains in Centerville, Utah. Despite its name, the hike actually takes you up the face of the mountain, over a course of several switchbacks, gaining elevation steeply until you have beautiful views of Davis County. This is a nice hike to do in Winter to get out of the inversion and to get the dogs out. If you hike up the actual creek, about 1/2 mile up you will see the Parrish Creek Pictographs. In Winter they are not usually visible due to snow.
About
From SLC, drive north on I-15 and take the Parrish Lane exit 319, and continue East towards the mountain. At the very end you will come to a “T” with a sign for the Parrish Reservoir – turn left and drive up the road to the large parking area. My car couldn’t make it up in winter, so we parked by the Reservoir sign.
Trail Info
Distance: 4 miles RT to the Ridge
Elevation Gain: 1,700 ft
Time: 2-4 hours
Dog friendly? Yes, off leash
Kid friendly? Yes, but it is fairly steep
This is the large parking area.
Official Parrish Canyon sign.
The trail starts right by the official sign and is well defined – once you get to the BST (Bonneville Shoreline Trail), cross it, and continue East.
Make your way up several switch backs.
As you get higher, the view of Centerville will get better. You can even see Frary Peak on Antelope Island in the distance, to the left.
Looking into the canyon, with a cool icicle on the right.
Some of the switchbacks were really steep, and a little scary since they are on the ledge of the face of the mountain.
Overlooking Centerville, UT
Group photo from our hike.
After about 2 miles of hiking, the snow was getting knee deep and we post-holed much of the way. Even the dogs were having a bit of a hard time. We decided to stop while we were in the sun, so we could take a snack break before heading down.
I would say the best time of year to do this hike is in Summer or Fall. Spring would be very muddy, and Winter is just not popular enough to have the trail packed up to the ridge.
Trail Map
This was where we intended on going, but we only made it 3/4 of the way. Once you make it to the ridge you can stop at any of the rocky overlooks and take a break. If you are feeling really strong, you can hike all the way to the main ridge line.
Another view of the route.
