Log Hollow

Distance: 5.6 miles (plus 1.1 miles by car)

Walking time: 4 hours

Elevations: 1,620 ft. gain, 1,640 ft. loss
     • Nobletts Creek Trailhead: 7,460 ft.
     • highest point: 9,080 ft.
     • Log Hollow Trailhead: 7,480 ft.

Trail: The trail is mostly well maintained and easy to follow, but vague in a few places near the top of the ridge. A compass can be useful. There is no water along most of the trail, but it is pleasantly shaded with conifers and aspen.

Season: Summer through mid-fall. The upper parts of the trail are usually covered with snow from mid-November through mid-June. For current conditions call the Heber Ranger District, Uinta National Forest, at (801) 654-0470.

Vicinity: Near Heber and Francis

     This is a very pleasant hike through two small canyons on the edge of the Uinta National Forest. Unfortunately both of the canyons are dry, although for a short distance the walk is along the pretty Nobletts Creek. If you have some extra time before or after this hike, there is another nearby trail that follows the south shore of Nobletts Creek for 1.5 miles to its source. To find this trail, walk south on Highway 35 for another 200 feet beyond the Nobletts Creek Trailhead sign. Just after the road crosses Nobletts Creek you will see a small parking area, at the back of which is an unmarked trail to the source of Nobletts Creek.

     From the sign marking Nobletts Creek Trailhead, the track follows along the north side of Nobletts Creek for 0.3 mile to a point where the canyon forks. It then veers away from the stream and begins the long, gentle climb to the top of Left Fork Nobletts Canyon. After about 1.8 miles the canyon widens into a long grassy meadow where you will see an iron watering tank for sheep that are grazed in the area. (Tanks like this one are often full of dead birds that fly in to get a drink and drown trying to get out. If you want to help the birds, put something that floats, like a piece of wood, in the water so they will have a place to land when they come to get water.)
     The meadow ends abruptly a short distance beyond the watering tank, and the trail intersects another less well traveled path. You should turn left at this point and follow the new trail in a westerly direction. After 0.3 mile the track swings to the south and begins descending again. This is the highest point on the hike. After another 0.3 mile you will enter a large grove of aspen, with a ground cover of tall green grass. You may find it difficult to follow the trail in the tall grass, but there are old blaze marks on the trees to help you. Soon you will run into the much more distinct Log Hollow Trail, where you should turn right to complete the loop. Before starting down Log Hollow, however, I suggest that you turn left and go for about 300 yards to the east, where the trail dead-ends in a small clearing on the side of a knoll. Your reward is a terrific view of the South Fork Provo River Valley. Far below you can see the Nobletts Creek Trailhead where the hike began.
     The remainder of the trail is quite easy to follow. After passing through two more meadows it slowly meanders downward through Log Hollow, finally coming to the end of an old jeep road about 2.3 miles from the top. Follow the jeep road for another 0.6 mile to Highway 35 where the hike ends.

Content provided by David Day of utahtrails.com. Click here to order his book Utah's Favorite Hiking Trails.