Willow Heights or “the Willows,” is a backcountry ski area across the highway from Solitude Mountain Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It’s a lesser known but awesome place for either a short tour or all day yo-yo fest.
Open, low-angle bowls next to steep tree runs covered in well spaced pines is the main course at Willow Heights. And for dessert? You can ski right down to the car on a long, ridgeline run through aspens along the south-facing slopes, which can be spectacular as long as the sun hasn’t baked the snow too much.
The ridge between Willow Heights proper and USA Bowl is also a perfect place to make some turns on high avalanche danger days. The slope is very low angle and the groves of aspens anchor the snowpack. In the Willows itself, a few bowls and open faces are less steep, but can have some rollovers which may still be a good avalanche starting point.
Much like the ski resort of Solitude across the street, Willow Heights rarely sees a lot of crowds. While Big Cottonwood hot spots like Silver Fork Canyon or Argenta can be so crowded a person can get rich manning a toll booth on the skin track, the Willows stays empty thanks to lack of parking, low angle slopes and no visible uptracks from the road.
There are two ways to get to Willow Heights. The first is to park on the side of the highway at the Willow Heights trailhead. This entrance is an obvious trail that winds up through aspens and brush up to a lake. It’s a popular placde for summer hikers and there’s even a sign with a map at the trailhead. This way is good if you’re out for a scenic tour, but to get to the goods, it’s a longer approach across the lake and the flats.
For ski touring parties who are all about downhill, parking on the road by the upper village at Solitude is the way to go. Of course you can park in the lot, but a recently installed pay-gate may put the kibosh on that for most dirtbag skiers. In any case, parking here gets you access to the cabin road. Skin or walk up the road and keep any eye out for a skin track on the left that heads west to the obvious ridge. This is a very fast and easy way to ascend and start skiing quickly.
Willow Heights may not have “hero” terrain like couloirs or 50+ degree headwalls, but what it lacks in adrenaline, it makes up for with great tree skiing, easy access and no crowds. Plus, there’s even a squatters cabin on the north-west slopes where you can seek shelter during freak storms or hang out for a smoke break.
As always, before heading out into the backcountry, first check the Utah Avalanche Center forecast.
Will you tell me the location of the ‘squatters cabin’ in Willow Fork? I live on the old Willow trailhead, and am curious. Thanks – Jim
I stumbled upon the cabin once by accident as a skin track went right by the cabin, but even then, it’s easy to miss. The best I can say is that it’s tucked into the thick pine trees on the east side of the drainage.
At the time, it didn’t look like anyone had used it in a very long while.
Thanks for the info. I may head up there in the next couple of days and nose around.
It seems most people skin on the south (right side when heading up canyon) side of Willow. The pines start as you get about 1/2 way past the lake. Are you talking about a skin track that headed off to the right (south east) through the thicker pines and then opens up to open hillside with intermittent aspen groves (where the bench is located), or staying more to the east and up through the gully?
Hope you don’t mind the additional questions. It’s a relatively small area, but finding something in the pines could take some time.
Jim
I don’t quite remember exactly. I think it was just as or right after the skin track splits to the right and goes straight up the steep pines… this is after crossing the wide meadow at the bottom… hope this helps.