Wasatch - Silver Lake
Trail Overview
Trail Length: 3.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 1440
Hiking Time: 3 hours round trip
Dog Friendly: Yes
Notes on the trail:
The trail head is located 4 miles up a dirt road from the Tibble Fork Resevoir in American Fork Canyon. There is a parking area with facilities at the north end of Silver Lake flats. This resevoir, although beautiful and a worthy destination of it's own, is not the Silver Lake destination of this hike.
To the right of the restroom is where the trail begins. Follow the smooth dirt trail up along the stream, through aspens forests and work your way past the beaver dams which sometimes flood sections of the trail.
Shortly after the beaver dams you will leave the aspen forest and begin to switch back up the hill eventually passing an old silver mine. Continuing past the mine tailings you will make your way up several more switchbacks before reaching this scenic alpine lake.
The lake can be pretty low in the fall, so I would recommend going earlier in the season to see it before it empties out. For a longer hike you can continue up the ridge to the north of the lake to the ridge which looks into Little Cottonwood Canyon. There isn't a distinct trail but it is wide open and you can see the route you need to take.
Getting There:
From the mouth of American Fork Canyon in Alpine/Highland, follow the signs to Tibble Fork. When you get to Tibble Fork resevoir take the dirt road to the left and follow the signs to Silver Lake flats. It's about 4 miles up the dirt road from Tibble Fork resevoir to the parking lot on the north side of Silver Lake Flats.