Bridal Veil Falls in Winter

We wanted to get an early start on our 52 Hike Challenge, but we’d never done a winter hike before. We weren’t at all sure how the boys would do in the snow and cold, so we decided to keep it simple and make our first hike a short, familiar one. Bridal Veil Falls seemed like a natural choice because this hike runs about one mile roundtrip along a paved trail to the base of a beautiful waterfall. This is the perfect beginner winter hike.

The parking lot at Bridal Veil Falls is closed in winter months. Still, there was enough room outside the parking lot for us to fit our van. We’ve had a lot of snow this year, and the trail is not maintained, but it had been well traveled and many feet had already packed the snow very nicely. It was cold and a little windy in the canyon, so we were glad that we had boots, snow pants, gloves, scarves, hats, and many layers underneath. The boys were especially excited because they got to use their Camelbaks that they got for Christmas.

This is the parking lot. You park outside, and then hike across the parking lot to the trail.

The trail is very simple and easy to follow. And it feels flat even though there is a small incline up to the falls.

No matter what we said, the little guy wanted to hike through the deep snow and not on the easy, packed down trail.

This trail leads slightly uphill for a half mile to the base of the falls. Along the way we admired the icicles in the river, and along the mountainside. There is definitely a different beauty in the winter than the summer, so it was a great experience to be out hiking in January. We stopped along the bridge to take a look before continuing along the trail. This trail does have an uphill slant toward the waterfall, but it is not steep or difficult at all.

We made a little stop on the bridge to look into the water.

We were amazed at all winter sights like the frozen waterfalls.

There may have been a few snowballs thrown on our hike, too.

Our boys loved tossing snow onto the ice. They called it floating snow because it looked like the snow was floating over the running water.

We thought that the tips of the plants being frozen was really funny!

If you haven’t seen Bridal Veil Falls, you should. It is one of the most impressive waterfalls in Utah. There were no fish to feed, but the icicles clinging to the mountainside made up for it. One year the waterfall was flowing as normal surrounded by ice. Another year the waterfall was mostly frozen. Either way, Bridal Veil Falls is beautiful in winter.

The waterfall was beautiful all surrounded by ice and snow.

We were lucky enough to have someone else hike by so we could take a family picture.

This American Dipper was hopping along by the base of the falls. He also dove into the rive water. That is one tough little bird. I was freezing just watching him.

After completing the hike to Bridal Veil Falls, we decided to drive up the canyon to Vivian Park and look around. We drove out South Fork Road all the way to Big Springs Park where we spotted deer, elk, and even moose. This is the first time we’ve seen these three ungulates on the same day.

There was a whole herd of elk just above Vivian Park.

Seeing these two bull elk on the skyline was awesome!

We spotted the moose further down South Fork road.

We had so much fun that we decided to try a new hike every week this year! Check out our list of Family Friendly Winter Hikes in Utah, or if you are looking for info on Bridal Veil Falls in warmer weather or directions to Bridal Veil Falls, click here.