Mount Olympus

For a more commanding view of the Salt Lake Valley and surrounding areas, Mount Olympus provides a great objective.  This is quite a popular hike, and winter ascents are often made to the summit.  Rising almost 5,000 feet above the valley floor, the hike to the summit of Mount Olympus can be quite demanding, but well worth the climb once you get to the top.  Since most of this hike is on a west-facing slope, the earlier morning hours provide the coolest time of the day to hike when the route is in the shade of the mountain.  To reach the trailhead, drive along Wasatch Boulevard in the vicinity of 5800 South (approximately 1/4 mile north of Tolcate Hills Road) where you should see a brown sign indicating the Mount Olympus Trailhead.  You can park along Wasatch Boulevard or in a parking lot just north of the trailhead.  Vandalism of vehicles has been known to take place by juveniles in the parking lot, so don't leave any valuables in your vehicle – or if you feel more comfortable, park along Wasatch Boulevard.

The first section of the trail passes over private land, so stay on the trail as it switchbacks through the open grassy area above Wasatch Boulevard towards Tolcats Canyon.  After about a 1/2 mile, the trail crosses into the Mount Olympus Wilderness Area, which was established in 1984.  It's difficult to consider yourself hiking in a wilderness area when you turn and see the urban sprawl behind you, but the wilderness status was needed to protect the land.  Once you cross the usually dry creek bed of Tolcats Canyon, the trail climbs steeply through several vegetative zones to the ridge above.  It is not uncommon to see rattlesnakes in this area, so be alert.  By the time you reach the ridge at approximately 8,400 feet elevation, you're in the pine trees.  From this ridge it's a scramble of less than 1/4 mile to the left (north) to the 9,026-foot south summit of Mount Olympus.  Care must be taken in this area not to dislodge rocks onto hikers below.  While some sources put the one-way distance as high as 3.7 miles, based on my calculations, it is closer to 3.2 miles one-way with an elevation gain of 4,150 feet from the trailhead.  The north summit of Mount Olympus is 67 feet lower than the south summit, and requires more technical traversing to reach it from the south summit.  

View of downtown Salt Lake City from
the south summit of Mount Olympus

The two peaks of Mount Olympus ablaze
in sunset – Photo credit: Joseph Bullough