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Approx. 2.8 miles from trailhead to lake
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Just over 2,700 feet in elevation gain
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Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah
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Lake Blanche is a small, beautiful, and wonderful place to visit within the Wasatch Wilderness. The trail, starting just to the right of the "S" curve in Big Cottonwood Canyon, will be on the East side of the parking Lot behind the restrooms. There is a paved walkway that leads to the Lake Blanche trailhead, on your right hand side. Shortly after the trailhead is a bench, with a story, and a wooden bridge that crosses the river. After that, the trail maintains a steady elevation gain for about a mile and a half before it starts getting really steep. Mid-day there will be very little shade on the trail; and, swimming is not allowed in the watershed area. So, be prepared for the summer heat. At the basin that holds Blanche and the two lakes near it, the wind is usually at least twice as strong as it is on the way up, the temperature drops, and it is quite a relaxing place to take a break.
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Camping is allowed, campfires are not.
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No Fee
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Watershed Area - No Pets, No Swimming
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Trail completed in 4 hours and 30 minutes
*This time includes filming, trash collection, and meal times. Features
Recommendations:
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Trail completed in mid summer, July of 2016
Trash Collected: A very small amount of wrappers, band-aids, caps, and other micro-trash. Possible Hazards to Encounter:
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Recap
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Lake Blanche is a trail we have wanted to do for a long time, many of us have been up this trail a couple times before, just never recorded it. Choosing the right time to visit Lake Blanche is key to your experience. We chose to arrive in the morning; but, wound up actually arriving at noon. The mid-day sun in July allows little shaded rest on this trail, we all nearly ran through about 3 liters of water throughout the whole trip. However, the sun made the mountain flowers here just radiant. We encountered a couple backpacking groups, trail runners, and plenty of other hikers on the way up to the lake. There are three or four good spots to take a couple minutes to rest and look at the view of the valley you just hiked up before you get to the top. The rest of the trail is rather uneventful.
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Once you get near the top you will know it; because the temperature drops a couple degrees, and the wind always picks up. You will see the lake soon after spotting a small rock wall directly next to the trail. From here you can go right and follow a trail to the other two lakes near Blanche, or go over the wall and follow a trail that leads up toward Mt. Superior. Whichever path you choose, you will have a great experience with the sounds of rushing water, wildlife, and the cool mountain breeze. We explored both paths a bit, after having lunch on one of the large rocks along the shore of Lake Blanche. While shooting some of the panoramic photos you can see on this page, we spotted a very large moose having an afternoon drink in one of the smaller lakes. We alerted some backpackers to the presence of the large animal, which could have proved dangerous had they gotten too close, as they were in a position where they could not see it. As we were leaving we saw them standing atop a hill watching it with binoculars. This is just one example of what a visit to Lake Blanche could bring to your afternoon.
