Winter, Lucy, Lucy’s Mom and I completed this hike along with Stewart Falls at the end of July. The first and second falls along the Timpanogos trail from Aspen Grove have a total distance around 2.7 miles, with around 800 feet of elevation gain. We took our sweet time with this hike and finished in just over an hour, including a 30 minute stop at the waterfalls. All Trails lists the distance and elevation a little less. We opted for an easier hike because we were supposed to meet some friends for the Stewart Falls hike, usually hikes this popular are not at the top of our hiking list.
Mt Timpanogos First and Second Falls
Similar to Scout Falls, the hike to first and second falls is along the summit trail for Mt. Timpanogos, but from Aspen Grove. We were surprised to find out that trail is paved most of the way from the TERT station to second falls. The views were great, and the wildflowers were in full bloom along this trail. The trail incline is pretty steady over this section. If you decide to continue on past second falls the trail quickly gets steeper heading up to Upper Falls, Emerald Lake, and the Timpanogos Summit.
First falls is more of a viewpoint along the main trail, whereas if you continue a little farther up the trail the second falls you can get up close and personal with it. In true fashion, we did a photo shoot at both water falls. The dogs LOVED every second of the hike, and exploring around the waterfalls.
First Falls – Timpanogos Trail from Aspen Grove
Second Falls – Timpanogos Trail from Aspen Grove
Stewart Falls
The second hike for the day was Stewart Falls, I have a full blog post on this hike HERE. It is a 5 mile r/t hike and took us 2 hours with a 20-30 minute stop at the waterfall to explore. Of course I couldn’t resist including the photos from the third waterfall of the day. The Stewart Falls trail is extremely heavily trafficked including families and was really busy on the day we hiked. The plus side is during the spring and summer the Aspen trees along the trail provide a TON of shade. We also ventured up to the upper falls at Stewart Falls with the dogs.
Before you go
The Aspen Grove trail head parking lot is large, but not large enough! It fills up very quickly on the weekends. We arrived at 7AM and the parking lot was full – we assume with people who were summitting Mt Timpanogos and began hiking at between 2-4 AM. Unlike the Timpooneke trail head, the Aspen Grove trail head is generally accessible in the Winter Season unless it is just after a bad storm.
These two hikes are within the American Fork Canyon Fee area. American Fork Canyon used to honor the interagency/national parks annual passes. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. American Fork Canyon is managed by the National Forest Service and has a $6 day-use fee. Another option is a $45 annual pass specific to the canyon, similar to Mill Creek Canyon. All the trails in American Fork Canyon are dog friendly and off leash (except those within the Timpanogos Cave National Monument).
Enjoying all of Winter and my adventures? Check out more hiking and trips we have taken on our archives page! And more hikes across Utah are also featured here! Other hikes in American Fork Canyon we have completed previously include the highly trafficked Stewart Falls Hike and Scout Falls.
Awesome waterfalls and letting the dogs walk the fallen the tree. Great pictures..
Thank you! The place command came in handy for that!