Directions • Drive to the east end of Big Cottonwood Canyon to find Brighton Ski Resort. Follow the one-way loop through the resort a short way, and pull into a parking lot on your right for the Silver Lake boardwalk.
Hike • Brighton's wide wooden boardwalk circles a small wetlands tucked in the mountains, and makes for a scenic warm-up for the hike up to Twin Lakes. From the parking lot, head left and stroll between reeds swaying in the breeze, and keep an eye out for ducks, squirrels and trout.
After about half a mile, you'll find a sign for the Twin Lakes and Lake Solitude trail. Follow the path into the aspens and conifers a short distance, until you find the fork in the road. Following the sign on the left for Twin Lakes.
Most of the trail ascends the mountainside through a lush forest of aspens. You'll eventually leave their canopy behind, but you'll be rewarded with a sweeping view of the canyon and the shining Silver Lake below. Your journey gets a little rockier from this point on, but you're not far from Twin Lakes, a blue spectacle on the other side of a dam.
Once you've taken a break, head back the way you came, and complete the rest of your circuit along the Silver Lake boardwalk on your way out.
Michael McFall
Twitter: @MikeyPanda
Michael McFall | The Salt Lake Tribune Silver Lake boardwalk trail.
Michael McFall | The Salt Lake Tribune Silver Lake boardwalk trail.
Michael McFall | The Salt Lake Tribune Twin Lakes Reservoir trail.
Michael McFall | The Salt Lake Tribune Twin Lakes Reservoir trail.
Michael McFall | The Salt Lake Tribune Silver Lake boardwalk trail.
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