Millcreek Canyon in the Winter

Today we've got Lisel, sharing how to ski or snowshoe with her baby. Plus, her baby skis!

The first thing my 14-month old does in the morning is run to the door and beg to go “bye bye.”  She doesn’t care if it is -30 degrees out and a blizzard, so we get out- a lot. At first, I was nervous this winter about finding activities to keep us busy, but we have found some places that we really love! 

Millcreek Canyon is one of my favorites!  From November to July, they shut down the road 3.8 miles up the canyon and groom the snow.  It makes for a perfect hiking, snowshoeing, skiing, and sledding trail. It is a dog-friendly trail, and my little one loves that.

Before having kids, I wondered how I would get out and ski with a baby. 

This trail is a great beginner-friendly trail for anyone who is wanting to try cross-country skiing or skinning. 

Skinning is my favorite way to go on this trail because I get to ski while carrying my daughter, Olive, on my back.  Skinning is using a backcountry ski set-up to go uphill. 

There are skins that go on the ski that allow the ski to go uphill without sliding.  The bindings are a little different too in that there are settings for the heel to come up when going uphill.

I like to carry my daughter in a backpack, and let her ski part of the way down. 

The trail is not to steep, but steep enough that I can ski down the whole way without losing momentum.  I see parents taking their kids up on sleds and then sledding down the whole way! 

There is a yurt about 5 miles up the road, but we haven’t made it that far yet.  That is our goal for this month!

There is no phone service this far up the canyon, and there is a 3 dollar fee upon leaving the canyon. One of my favorite things about this canyon is that it is so accessible and close to downtown Salt Lake.  It doesn’t get as busy as the cottonwoods, especially on the weekends. This beautiful trail should be on everyone’s bucket list! (Check out Camille's past winter hiking post about Millcreek Canyon here.)