Maple Canyon Lake

Overview

Distance: ~ 4 miles

Elevation Gain: 6093 ft to 8746 ft = ~ 2653 ft
Time: 4-7 hours round trip
Date: June 1, 2012

Official Description: Spanish Fork Peak Trail

How to get there from BYU: 

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Trail:

Description

I found this to be a very beautiful hike. There are lots of good caches along the way up that make perfect rest stops. Many of them are not very difficult to find. The lower ones can be tricky as the narrow canyon prevents getting a good satellite signal. Most of them have good hints though such that they can be found by without a GPS. You could also just do it the old fashioned way with a topographic map and a compass.

 Right at the beginning we found a nice shallow play area for the kids where the trail crosses the stream.

river crossing -- fun place for the kids to play

The peak trail proper starts at this point. The sign here says that it's 5 miles to the peak. The lake is only about 3.5 miles up however.

official starting point

It starts off fairly rocky so bring some good shoes - these are the Rocky Mountains after all. After mile 1 when you get into the pines isn't as bad though. The trail follow a nice little stream up the canyon. Later the trail rises higher up the side of the canyon and you don't see it as much.

a pretty little cascade in the stream

Mile 1: The trail is well maintained and has lots of good shade.

Lots of good shade and not quite as rocky

Mile 2: There are some nice meadows along the way where it appears others have camped in the past. You'll find lots of trees in the area with initials on them. Accumulated over many years.

a well defined trail the entire way

There are some nice meadow areas

Mile 3: The trees aren't quite as thick at this point. Almost there!

The peak is in view. The peak trail follows along the ridge in the center

 Mile 3.5: The lake is really more of a pond that you could wade across but is quite pretty as it reflects the peaks above.

First Glimpse of the lake

Looking over the lake to the south. Spanish Fork Peak can be seen behind the center prominence

 Looking back from near the lake. You can see Hobble Creek Canyon in the back

It took me about 3.5 hours to make it to the lake and back. That included stopping for the caches along the way. Made it up in about 2.5 hours but, due to a lack of time, I pretty much ran back down the mountain in about 1 hour which I assume most people won't want to do.

To the Peak:

Not this time. I wanted to go up the rest of the way but ran out of time (June 1st). The upper trail still had plenty of snow on it though so it may have been difficult nevertheless. Will post again once I make it....