Big Cottonwood Canyon
Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah has 106 climbing routes with 31 difficulty grades.
Photo: TerryDOtt, CC BY 2.0 (via Flickr)- 106 routes
- 5.5 – 5.13c
- Sport · Trad · Mixed
Is Big Cottonwood Canyon open right now?
No closures listed
The Forest Service lists no closures for Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest.
As of · Source: USFS · Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. Agencies don't list every closure — check before you go.
Best time to visit Big Cottonwood Canyon
Best months: June–September. Best months have typical highs of 55–85 °F, lows of 30 °F or warmer (32 °F where the station doesn't record snow), at most one snowy day and no more than 12 wet days.
Jan
31° / 15°
14 wet
Feb
31° / 15°
13 wet
Mar
37° / 20°
13 wet
Apr
42° / 25°
12 wet
May
53° / 33°
10 wet
Jun
64° / 42°
7 wet
Jul
73° / 50°
7 wet
Aug
71° / 49°
9 wet
Sep
62° / 41°
9 wet
Oct
49° / 31°
9 wet
Nov
37° / 21°
11 wet
Dec
30° / 15°
14 wet
Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Alta, UT, 5.5 mi away at 8,710 ft. The station sits about 1,100 ft higher than this place, so expect it a little warmer here. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.
Big Cottonwood Canyon is a climbing area in Utah's Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, within the Salt Lake Ranger District and the Twin Peaks Wilderness. The Forest Service manages the land. The canyon holds 107 climbing routes, with sport and trad styles making up the bulk of them. The YDS grade range runs from 5.5 to 5.13c, and the V scale from V0 to V8. Alpine routes are also present, including the Bunker-Williams Route at 5.5, and the CEO sport route at 5.13c. Summer is the most comfortable time to climb. Typical averages from the Alta weather station, about 5.5 miles away, show July highs around 73°F with lows near 50°F, while winter highs stay around 30°F. Several other destinations sit within half a mile, including the Face to Face climbing area, the Stairs Gulch Trail and the Upper Sector. Lake Florence and Lake Lillian are about 2.3 miles away.
Routes (106)
Ambush Wall Upper(2)
Beer Belly Buttress(4)
Boss Garden(2)
Buena Vista Wall(4)
Burnt Wall, The(2)
Chips Wall(2)
Conferring With The Sunrise(2)
Contaminated Roof(1)
Forsaken Wall(4)
Futility Wall(3)
Generator Ribs(2)
Half Moon Rock(1)
Highlander(1)
Intruder Wall, The(2)
Inversion Therapy Wall(2)
Lake Blanche Bouldering(2)
Leftovers Wall(1)
Lonesome Buttress(2)
Mill D South Fork(1)
Molar, The(2)
Mt. Raymond Slabs(1)
Native American Crag(1)
PacMan Wall(1)
Patty's Ridge(3)
Penguin, The(3)
Power Plant Wall(2)
Resurrection(3)
Seldom Scene Gully(2)
Short Steep Stuff(2)
Standard Ridge(1)
Stratagem(2)
Surprise Buttress(2)
Top Summit(2)
Treadmill Wall(4)
Tree Trimmer Wall(2)
Water Crest Wall(2)
Wavebreak Wall(2)
Wedge, The(1)
Wolverine Cirque(2)
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