City Creek Canyon, Salt Lake City, Utah: Saturday, October 17, 2009

This weekend was a gorgeously beautiful one (sunny and 70 degrees), and with the Fall colors in full swing we decided we had to get out and enjoy some of it.  The first place we went was to City Creek Canyon; this is a shallow but scenic canyon out of which a creek flows.  It runs from the State Capitol building East into the Wasatch front, and is very popular with the locals since it's about 1.5 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City.  there is a 9-mile hiking/mountain biking trail, although it only gains a couple of thousand feet in total elevation.  Given the time constraints, we didn't do any serious hiking, we just took the pugs out for a bit and walked a mile or two of the trail.  The colors were amazing, and it's a very nice little getaway so close to home! 

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http://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-City-Creek-Canyon/93624239713

http://liveandthrivewaterfallhikes.blogspot.com/2010/03/city-creek-canyon.html

Educational Moment:  City Creek is a small but historically important mountain stream that flows from City Creek Canyon across part of Salt Lake City and into the Jordan River (which empties into the Great Salt Lake).  City Creek's head is about 8 miles up City Creek Canyon northeast of downtown Salt Lake City. The entire stream measures only about 14.5 miles long. Melting snow from adjacent mountains provides most of City Creek's currents, but the stream flows year-round because of natural springs at the head of the creek.  Until 1882 City Creek served as the city's primary water supply, and it continues to provide drinking water to the northern parts of Salt Lake City.