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| View down into Lee Canyon Narrows |
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| Pleistocene Spring Deposits with Arch in Lee Canyon |
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| Lee Canyon Narrows from the Bottom |
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| Hiking up Champion Road |
Six Around the Bend Friends club members started out from Sawmill Trailhead on Lee Canyon Road for an easy moderate 5 mile hike into Lee Canyon. We crossed Lee Canyon Road to start down Champion Road, a dirt road that accommodates primitive camping sites. The first part of the route follows Champion Road from here up to Deer Creek Road. We passed several campers on the way. Next, we followed the guard rail down Deer Creek Road about 0.1 mile where there is a very vague trail that took us down into Lee Canyon. Next, we followed the wide wash of Lee Canyon back down to the Champion Road crossing. There is a lot of trash in this area. Every year, during one of our hikes here, we pick up loads of trash.
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| Trail down into Lee Canyon from Deer Creek Road |
The trash is left here by families who bring their kids into the winter mountains to go sledding. Pieces of plastic sleds and food wrappers and drink bottles.
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| Side Wash in Lee Canyon |
The loop that includes Champion Road and upper Lee Canyon wash is about 2.5 to 3 miles. Completing the loop at Champion Road / Lee Canyon wash crossing, you have the option of turning left and going back up to Sawmill Trailhead.
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| Eroded Rock in Lee Canyon |
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| Hiking through Upper Narrows |
With our hardy group today, we continued down the wash and came to a section I call the Upper Lee Canyon Narrows. There are tall rock walls on either side. One wall has a small arch on top of it. But, the wash is still fairly wide here. Next, we came to an old car in the wash. This car has been here a very long time but was flooded with dirt and rocks only a few years ago with a Lee Canyon flood. Not far from this, we came to the top of the Lower Lee Canyon Narrows. Continuing into the rock walls, we were stopped by a 10-12' cliff. In the past, hikers put various logs and such here to try a drop into the bottom. These things were never secure and all attempts of that sort of thing were given up. The best way to get to the bottom is to go up! Up and around, there is a trail to the left. We climbed up and dropped into the narrows below where we took our break and photos. After a leisurely break in the coolness of the slot, we exited and did the big climb back up and around to the top end.
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| Antique Autos |
Now, we stayed on the trail and hiked up through the woods between the wash and the Lee Canyon embankment.
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| Hiking into top of Lower Narrows |
We passed the old green car (Packard?) and took photos. There are a lot of rusted cans in the area and a huge old tire that probably belonged to a construction vehicle.
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| Cliffed Out |
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| Connecting with the Up and Around Trail |
The trail led up to an overgrown old dirt road that climbs out of the canyon passing more rusted cans. This hill isn't as steep as the "up and around" hill but it is a challenging ending to the hike. At the top, we crossed Lee Canyon Road and connected with Cardamine Road, the dirt road that leads up to the Sawmill Trailhead. We hiked through the equine end of the trailhead passing a skittish horse being attended to by its owner. Then, we completed our hike at the top end of the large picnic area and trailhead. We had overcast skies all morning and it was perfect! Fun morning!
Stats: 4.8 miles; 800' gain; 3 hours
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| Six with Sticks (B Team) inside Lee Canyon Narrows |
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| Exiting the Narrows |
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| Exiting Lee Canyon |
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