Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / Utah / Wasatch Range

Mount Timpanogos via Timpooneke

Mount Timpanogos Wilderness, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest (Pleasant Grove Ranger District)

Mount Timpanogos rises above Utah Valley in the Wasatch Range, and the Forest Service calls its Aspen Grove trail one of the most used on the forest. Most people climb it in a long day, but published trip reports describe a night in Timpanogos Basin, below the summit ridge, as a way to break up the nearly 5,000 feet of climbing.

Plan carefully: vehicle access is limited on weekends, and overnight camping rules were not confirmed for this page.

The hike

The Timpooneke Trail #053 starts beside Timpooneke Campground on the Alpine Loop in American Fork Canyon. Hiking Project describes it climbing through aspen forest, a meadow and alongside a stream to Scout Falls, at about 1.5 miles, a common turnaround for a short hike. The trail then climbs the Giant Staircase past more small falls and meadows and crosses rocky slopes into a large basin below the final ridge.

The Outbound puts Timpanogos Basin about 6.5 miles in, and the summit roughly 1.5 to 2 miles beyond, at 11,749 feet. From the basin, the Timpanogos Summit Trail #054 crosses a rocky slope and switchbacks to a summit shelter, according to Hiking Project. The Outbound gives the round trip as 15.72 miles with 4,970 feet of gain.

Hiking Project describes a loop option: descend from the summit over the snowfield above Emerald Lake, which it says requires proper safety equipment and knowledge, then follow the Mount Timpanogos Trail #052 over a saddle to rejoin the Timpooneke Trail. The Forest Service says Trail #052 itself climbs from Aspen Grove through Primrose Cirque to the Emerald Lake basin, where it meets the Timpooneke and summit trails.

Wildlife is part of the draw. Hiking Project mentions mountain goats near the trail and summit and pikas near the top, and The Outbound notes moose. The Ultimate Hang, in 2013, hiked up Timpooneke and down Aspen Grove, and found the Aspen Grove side steep, narrow and snow-covered in places in early July.

For another Wasatch overnight with a summit day, see Lone Peak via Jacob’s Ladder.

Tips

Camping

The Forest Service pages for this trip say fires are not allowed anywhere in the Timpanogos Wilderness and that groups are limited to 15. They don’t spell out where overnight camping is allowed, so check with the Pleasant Grove Ranger District (801-785-3563) before you go. Camp well away from water and the trail, on durable ground.

Inside Intel: The Ultimate Hang camped in Timpanogos Basin, at about 10,000 feet, in a small stand of bristlecone pines a short walk from where the two trails meet, and filtered water at Emerald Lake. The writer criticized groups pitched close to the water at Emerald Lake and suggested camping away from the shoreline. A reviewer on The Outbound camped in a secluded part of the basin just below the toilet.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

A night in Timpanogos Basin:

Camp near 10,000 feet below the summit ridge means cold, rocky ground, so a well-insulated pad matters as much as a warm bag. See the pads testers rate.

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Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.