Help: Hammocking near Salt Lake City, Utah tomorrow

[Feebus]

Hey everyone,
This is very last minute, but I'm looking for a place to go camping tomorrow night with a friend of mine while im visiting Salt Lake. We will of course be taking our hammocks. The ideal location would be in the mountains, near water, few people around and not a huge hike in (>2 to 3 miles). Also ideally it would be within an our or so of Salt Lake. We are both experienced campers/hikers but haven't been on our hammocks in Utah. I know I may be asking a lot but figured I'd ask anyway. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Phil

[BillyBob58]

Hey everyone,
This is very last minute, but I'm looking for a place to go camping tomorrow night with a friend of mine while im visiting Salt Lake. We will of course be taking our hammocks. The ideal location would be in the mountains, near water, few people around and not a huge hike in (>2 to 3 miles). Also ideally it would be within an our or so of Salt Lake. We are both experienced campers/hikers but haven't been on our hammocks in Utah. I know I may be asking a lot but figured I'd ask anyway. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Phil

You are going to need more precise details than I can give you hear, but the spine of the Wasatch Mountains is immediately east of SLC, rising about 7500 ft above the 4000 ft valley floor, and in 30 to 45 minutes you can be up in the forests thousands of feet above the city. Big Cottonwood( towards Brighton ski resort) and Little Cottonwood( towards Snowbird and Alta ski) canyons come to mind. I believe there are drive in campgrounds in both, for sure Big C. Plus, there are trailheads all along the way if you want to hike in, but you will need the appropriate Forest Service or topo maps.
http://www.fs.usda.gov/uwcnf

Big Cottonwood: Don't know if hanging is allowed, but there are plenty of trees:
http://www.reserveamerica.com/campin...O&parkId=70331
http://www.forestcamping.com/dow/int...mp.htm#spruces
http://www.reserveamerica.com/servle...O&parkId=70316

Little Cottonwood: Watch out, this one is way up at 9500 ft:
http://www.forestcamping.com/dow/int...albion%20basin


A little further out, on the other side of the divide, are Wasatch Mountain State Park:
http://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/wasatch plus all of the stuff immediately east of Provo near Sundance Ski Resort where Jermiah Johnson was filmed:
http://www.sundanceresort.com/explore/sum_hiking.html

And just a little further NE past Park City, UT are the incredible High Uinta Mtns, for either car camping or long distance backpacking:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uinta_Mountains

http://www.utahwild.com/mountains/uintas/

http://www.forestcamping.com/dow/int...tmas%20meadows

Have fun, good luck!

Bill

[Feebus]

BillyBob thank you so much for your reply. I'm happy to report that we had a great experience up American Fork canyon at Silver Lake. Will try and post pics later in week.