After a long day of hiking in Lone Peak Wilderness, my friend and I attempted to wake up early to explore elsewhere near Salt Lake City. Unfortunately we were a bit more exhausted than not and ended up sleeping through all our alarms. Instead of having a crazy hiking day, we decided to take a long drive into Diamond Fork Canyon to find Fifth Water Hot Springs.
The drive out to the Three Waters trailhead was ridiculously beautiful with all the fall colors in the already picturesque canyon. So. Many. Colors! Three Waters was quite busy when we arrived in the early afternoon. The trailhead was packed to the brim with cars. We got lucky and saw a few people leaving and snagged their spot.
The 2.5 mile hike out to the hot springs is fairly moderate. It’s not completely flat but not terribly steep either. You’ll know you’re getting close when you begin to smell sulphur. The further downstream you are, the cooler the pools are. We didn’t hike up much further past the first waterfall, but we could see more crowds upstream.
For excellent route beta, visit this link.
Gear: Mountain Hardwear Scrambler 30, Norrøna Lightweight Bitihorn Pants, Icebreaker Tech T Lite, Chaco Z/1® Pro Sandal
