Little Cottonwood Canyon

A Geologic Report

Holli R. Grow

Salt Lake Community College

Geology 1010

Professor Inkenbrandt

Due April 2, 2023

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 Little Cottonwood Canyon has come to be rather well-known due to its history, usage, and

composition. The history of Little Cottonwood Canyon is important and vital to understand how it was

shaped, used, and how it became what it is today. This is pertaining to the many different events that

have taken place and formed Little Cottonwood Canyon such as some volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, a

massive glacier, avalanches, mines, etc. The glacier is the biggest detail in history that shaped Little

Cottonwood Canyon, but the canyon was used for mines to find gold as well as hunting grounds for

many indigenous tribes such as the Shoshone, Ute, and Goshute tribes. Towns were created and

destroyed by avalanches, and earthquakes have well shaped the canyon over the years. In addition to

this, the Wasatch fault sits not too far away from Little Cottonwood Canyon, and this has created some

serious fault scarps. Magma has also played its part in creating this canyon as well; intrusive igneous

rock lies along the eastern ridge line of the canyon at the head of the canyon. This mass of magna came

about 35 to 33 million years ago as granodiorite, which is a hardened granite-like rock. This also is

evident in the much older Big Cottonwood formation, which is a layer of shales and quartzites that are

800 million years old. This aided the canyon in creating rich mineralization that can be found in the

mines as well (Utah, Geological Survey, 2020). All this was evident in my expedition in the way the

mountains were sloped and the canyon was shaped as shown on the map. This and other factors have

influenced and left an impression on Little Cottonwood Canyon and have chemically modified the

composition of the minerals, which can be shown in Figures 3-6. My discoveries when visiting the

canyon itself have shown the background/past, and how it has paved our future and the way we use it

today. Understanding these prospects is important to today’s society in Utah.

Nowadays, Little Cottonwood Canyon is used for many things such as skiing, snowboarding,

fishing, hiking, biking, and various other water activities or activities in general. The snow in the

mountains, shown in Figure 1, can make it well-liked by the towns and people surrounding it when they

use it for these activities. It is a popular spot to visit and has numerous signs and boards that tell the

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story of Little Cottonwood Canyon. I observed many trails and stops while driving through the canyon

that could take many hours or days to travel and explore them all.

A massive glacier had a big impact on Little Cottonwood Canyon as it shaped and carved the

canyon itself. Around thirty thousand years ago, a glacier, approximately 12-miles long, stretched in the

Wasatch Range and sculpted Little Cottonwood Canyon into its classic U-shape that we know today

(Utah Geological Survey, 2020). This affected where the mines were placed and how the canyon was

used in general. This massive glacier created a small, but impactful canyon. The distribution of the

aftermath and reconstruction of Little Cottonwood Canyon in general is shown in how it comprises a

deep, U-shaped gorge (Richmond, 1964). The proof of erratics, which are formed by glacial ice erosion

and the movement of ice, and moraines, which are landforms composed of glacial till deposited by

glacial ice, is evidence and traces of this glacier. This was evident as I hiked the trail and looked at my

map or the way the road curved around the mountain.

The mines are an important part of Little Cottonwood Canyon seeing as they are still evident

today, and they were a part of its past. The rocks mostly consist of granite, quartzite, and some altered

limestone. But the evidence of the mines, which were correlated to the veins in the granite, can

substantiate that there was once precious metals such as silver, lead, copper, gold, zinc, etc (Harper and

Petersen, 1990). The ore that was extracted had to be high in value in order to withstand the expense of

transportation (Kimball, 1946). This was important to the reconstruction and evolution of Little

Cottonwood Canyon; it showed evidence of the rich mineralization due to the prior occurrences

discussed. The beds of the canyon, composed of metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, can range from

Precambrian to Jurassic (Harper and Petersen, 1990). I observed this by taking some samples of some

rocks that I had found; one seems to be granite while the other seems to be something of quartz.

Fault scarps can show evidence of past earthquakes, and the Wasatch fault itself is a modern

day indication of earthquakes in the past and more to come. The fault has expanded and existed over

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the past ten thousand years, and it is currently overdue for another earthquake. Along the entire length

of the fault, which is approximately 240 miles, earthquakes usually occur around every 300 years. It

moves only about a millimeter every year, which is caused by a vertical displacement; the scarps are

evidence of this. This was evident in the slopes and peaks of the mountains as I traveled through the

canyon.

If we take a look at the steep slopes, as shown in Figure 1, we can see evidence of how this

range is prone to landslides and avalanches, which have happened in the past. These avalanches have

destroyed towns and villages and have since shaped the future of Little Cottonwood Canyon. This was

evident in the way that the snow was packed and the way the mountain was sloped in many of my

pictures.

It’s important to understand and recognize these features because it shows the possibilities and

risks of events like earthquakes, landslides, and avalanches happening again. Understanding the chances

and dangers of Little Cottonwood Canyon can further improve the way we treat these situations and

maybe prevent them in the future. I noticed these features as I was exploring the canyon, and now that I

understand the history and hazards within the area, we can further calm any uncertainty of the area as

we prepare for disasters and worse-case scenarios.

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 Works Cited

Campbell, L. S., & Steenburgh, W. J. (2014). Finescale Orographic Precipitation

Variability and Gap-Filling Radar Potential in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah.

Weather & Forecasting, 29(4), 912–935.

https://doi-org.libprox1.slcc.edu/10.1175/WAF-D-13-00129.1

Harper, K. T., & Petersen, M. S. (1990). Natural History of Little Cottonwood

Canyon, Utah. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 71(2), 381–386.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/20167193

Kimball, M. (1946,). The Mines of Little Cottonwood Canyon. How did they

originate and what is their history? Utah Humanities Research Foundation |

University of Utah Marriott Library | J. Willard Marriott Digital Library.

Retrieved February 25, 2023, from

https://collections.lib.utah.edu/search?gallery=1&rows=200&parent_i=105071

Richmond, G. M. (1964). Glaciation of Little Cottonwood and bells canyons, Wasatch

Mountains, Utah. Professional Paper. https://doi.org/10.3133/pp454d

Utah Geological Survey. (2020). Geological Guides to the Central Wasatch Front

Canyons. Retrieved from Virtual Tour Central Wasatch Front Canyons - Utah

Geological Survey

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 Photographs

Figure 1 – View of the slope on the

mountain side

Figure 2 – View of snowy slope/trail up the

mountain side

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 Figure 3 – Up close view of boulder on mountain

side.

Figure 4 – Up close view of one of many granite rocks

laying around

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 Figure 5 – Other boulder and rocks like Figure 4

Figure 6 – Composition of ground beneath the snow