Upper Falls near Provo, Utah was a perfect place to start our June 2025 hiking adventures. We landed at Salt Lake City airport late the night before, spent the night at Tru Hilton and were up and ready to begin our explorations. We based ourselves at Bryce Canyon but wanted to find a spot to break up the long drive.
Location
Upper Falls is located about an hour southwest of Salt Lake City Utah and also 20 minutes northeast of downtown Provo, Utah. There are several other waterfalls and hikes in this area so you could spend a day or two here.
Bridal Veil Falls
Right before the Upper Creek Trail you will drive past the beautiful three tiered Bridal Veil Falls. We stopped here to take some photos and also to enjoy the beauty of these falls. You can hike to the top of the Upper Bridal Falls but although tempting, we will save for another trip.
Upper Falls Trailhead
Less than a mile down the road you will find the parking area for the Upper Falls. The Upper Falls is a remote trail and you will not see any signs marking the way. All in all, if you know where to find this hidden trailhead it is easy enough to locate and follow.
We chose this particular hike as we thought it would be a good start to our hiking trip and also because we love waterfalls. I had read it was short, fairly easy and also just off the road. Short and just off the road yes, easy no. Some scrambling, loose rocks, remoteness, and also steep uphill make this a moderate to difficult hike. We were the only ones on this trail. We love this kind of hike so it worked out for us.
Cross the bridge and turn to your right.
After just a few steps you will come across a graffiti, concrete, abandoned building. On the far right side of the building there is a path. This is your trailhead!
The path ascends rather quickly. It is a rocky path and as you continue upward this path becomes more rocky.
You can tell this is a path, although not well marked or frequently traveled.
Continuing upward, there will be a rock field and some scrambling. The falls are at the end of the rock field.
Upper Falls
These falls are beautiful! Like most falls you can hear them from a distance which just builds the anticipation! In addition to the beauty, the fresh mountain air, cool breeze, and raw terrain add to the allure of these falls. Although a bit tough to reach, it was certainly worth the effort if you enjoy this type of hike.
The Way Down
As often is the case in these types of hikes, the way down was more difficult than the way up. Small loose rocks in places made it slick, we did lots of side stepping, and carefully checked our footing for stability before putting our full weight on larger stones. We found many loose stones, even large ones. That being said, as long as you are careful it is a very manageable trail.
Conclusion
Upper Falls near Provo, Utah is a short fun hike if you enjoy a bit of scrambling and rough rocky terrain. For us the waterfall was definitely worth the effort. Not a good hike though for those with knee, ankle, or mobility problems.
Planning For our Bryce Canyon, Escalante Trip
While planning for our trip to Bryce Canyon I referred to the Falcon Guide Book, Hiking Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. If you click on the link you can buy it through Amazon. I also bought a map, Bryce Canyon National Geographic Map, but you can also picked up from the lodge and it worked fine for the basics although not as extensive for hiking.
I also like the Falcon Guide Book for Escalante, Hiking Grand Staircase Escalante and Glen Canyon Region also from Amazon. Again, I used the National Geographic Grand Staircase Escalante Map for this as well. In Escalante especially, we lost GPS service for quite a bit of our time here. Although there are well marked signs, the map was a good tool to have.
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