1. Water: durable bottles and water treatment, like iodine or a filter
2. Map: preferable a topo map and a trail map with a route description
3. Compass: a high-quality compass
4. First-aid kit: a good-quality kit including first-aid instructions
5. Knife: a multitool device with pliers is best
6. Light: flashlight or headlamp with extra bulbs and batteries
7. Fire: windproof matches or lighter and fire starter
8. Extra food: you should always have food in your pack when you've finished hiking
9. Extra clothes: rain protection, warm layers, gloves, warm hat
10. Sun protection: sunglasses, lip balm, sunblock, sun hat

• Confusion: There are three Twin Peaks in Salt Lake County.
  1. Smallest: 2 miles north of the University of Utah.
  2. Broads Fork Twin Peaks: Described in this section.
  3. Highest: American Fork Twin Peaks is located on the ridge between Little Cottonwood and American Fork Canyons.
  
• The trailhead also serves Lake Blanche.
• You can combine three summits on this trail: Twin Peaks, Sunrise Peak and Dromedary Peak.
• Views of Dromedary Peak to the south and the higher Sunrise Peak (also called O'Sullivan Peak) to the right.
• Marmots are abundant in this area and moose are often sighted.
• Eastern summit = 11,330 feet (2 feet higher than the Western summit)
• Twin Peaks Climbing Web Site

Trail Head Information (Web Site)

Overview

Broads Fork Twin Peaks, more frequently referred to simply as "Twin Peaks", is the highest and most prominent mountain on the eastern skyline behind Salt Lake Valley. With an elevation of 11,330 feet (east summit) and 11,328 feet (west summit), the Twins rise nearly 7,000 vertical feet above the valley floor.

The most commonly used ascent route is via Broads Fork, a class 3 climb of 5,100+ vertical feet with some scrambling and exposure. More difficult routes can be found in Broads Fork, as well as Deaf Smith Canyon, Ferguson Canyon, Tanners Gulch, Stairs Gulch, and Lisa Falls. The center of the Twin Peaks Wilderness Area, the peaks here are some of the most rugged to be found in the Wasatch. Needless to say, the summit views of Salt Lake City and the surrounding Wasatch Mountains are excellent.

Getting There

The Broads Fork trailhead is four miles up the Big Cottonwood Canyon road (UT-190). Get there by either Taking I-15 to I-215 east at about 60th south, or take I-80 east to Wasatch Boulevard. The parking lot fills quickly in the summer months.

Access to Deaf Smith is difficult and threatened by homeowners. The trail starts at the end of Golden Oaks Drive (just off Wasatch Boulevard) at a dirt road. Try to park in a manner that does not distrub the home owners.

Summary of Routes

Broads Fork Twin Peaks offers a variety of route options, ranging from relatively straight-forward 3rd class scrambles, to exposed 4th class ridges and steep spring snow climbs. Below is a brief summary of some of the more commonly ascended routes. Refer to the route pages for complete details on these routes.

The standard and by far the most popular route on the mountain. Even so, this is a challenging route which involves over 5,000 vertical feet of elevation gain, and an exposed 3rd class scramble.

• Easy access and great views in all directions.
• Only eight parking places available at the trailhead. Best to park on the shoulder of Mill Creek Canyon Road and walk through the Church Fork picnic area to the trailhead.
• Grandeur Peak summit elevation: 8,299
• Views: The Salt Lake Valley spreads out below to the west, and Mount Olympus lies at the front of the next ridge to the south. Behind you, to the northeast, are Mountain Dell and Little Dell reservoirs.

• Doughnut Falls is unique -- a waterfall that plunges through a hole in the rock and into a grotto.
• Although a popular family hike, climbing up to the falls may be too hazardous for children younger than age 6.
• Animals include: moose, beaver, fox, squirrels and chipmunks.
• Hidden Falls is on the canyon road up and only 100 yards from the road.

• Quartzite formations and possible avalanches.
• The parking area at the Mill B South Fork trailhead holds 24 cars, but you can also park along the road.
• Swimming is not permitted in watershed lakes.
• Two smaller lakes, Lake Florence and Lake Lillian, provide a better chance for wildlife viewing.
• The trailhead also serves Broads Fork Twin Peaks.
  You can combine three summits on the Twin Peaks trail: Twin Peaks, Sunrise Peak and Dromedary Peak.

• The trailhead parking area accommodates just 18 cars.
• Purple quartzite slabs.
• It's a steep, demanding trail capped by a Class 3 scramble to the rocky summit.
• How you handle the trail's first 100 yards best predicts whether you'll make it to the summit.
• Rattlesnakes appear fairly often, both on the trail and on the lower sections of the summit scramble.
• No exceptionally difficult or technical movements are required.
• The summit of Mt. Olympus consists of an enormous rockpile of angular quartzite boulders.
• Do not attempt the summit if there is any chance of lightning or rain.
• Descending from the rocky summit is generally more dangerous and more time-consuming than the climb up.

• Also known as Little Matterhorn.
• Named in honor of Chuck Pfeiffer, an early leader of the Wasatch Mountain Club.
• An early start will give the best opportunity to spot moose and deer.
• Trail passes Red Pine Lake.
• Before ascending the final 500 feet to the summit, you need to traverse a 100-yard long, knife-edged, boulder-capped saddle.
• The early Mormon pioneers quarried the brilliant quartz monzonite stone that graces the summit for the building of the Salt Lake Temple.

• Author's Pick for Best Summit: Mount Timpanogos
• Summit Elevation: 11,749 (2nd Highest in Wasatch - Mt Nebo = 11,928)
• The most popular hiking destination in Utah.
• Two trailheads lead to the summit.
  Timpooneke Campground in American Fork Canyon recommended.
• 4.4 miles to Timpanogos Basin from Timpooneke Trail
• Best to start your hike before dawn.
• Option: Leave a car at each trailhead and hike up the Timpooneke and down the Aspen Grove.
• The parking lot fills up by 7am during the summer. Best to hike midweek.
• A B-25 airplane crashed near the trail in 1955.
• The word Timpanogos comes from the Timpanogots tribe who lived in the surrounding valleys from AD 1400. The name translates as "rock" (tumpi-), and "water mouth" or "canyon" (panogos).
• A 14-mile (23 km) round-trip hike, with almost 5,300 feet (1,600 m) of elevation gain.

• Tiring but spectacular trail to the top of Mount Timpanogos; one of the best hikes in all Utah. The path climbs a succession of basins and steep slopes, then follows a ridge to the summit. Another branch crosses a pass to pretty Emerald Lake, then descends to an alternative start point at Aspen Grove
• Length: 4.4 miles to the junction in Timpanogos Basin, then Emerald Lake 5.6 miles, or the summit 6.5 miles
• Elevation change: 2,830 feet, 3,110 feet, 4,380 feet
• Difficulty: Strenuous; steep, and often exposed, so quite hot in summer
• Type: One way
• Usage: Medium to high
• Season: Late spring, summer, fall
• Trailhead: Timpooneke, along a short side road, or Aspen Grove, on the Alpine Loop
• Rating (1-5): ★★★★★

• Author's Pick for Best Waterfall
• Over 200 Feet Tall
• U.S. Forest Service fee access area.
• Recent avalanches resulted in the loss of many lives.
• The Sundance chairlift takes hikers and mountain bikers from the base elevation of 6,100 feet to the summit at 7,150 feet in a matter of minutes. From the summit, a pleasant downhill stroll leads to Stewart Falls at 6,800 feet, then back to Sundance.