Hiking in the Albion Basin (aka Alta Ski Area)

I love Alta!  It's my favorite resort for skiing.  Maybe I'm a snob and I like Alta because they don't allow snowboarders. Maybe it's because Alta (like Brighton) is still very affordable.  Or, maybe is just because it is such a pretty spot.

Even though it's July, yesterday, my wife and I trekked up to the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon for a trip to Alta, but this time, instead of bringing ski boots we donned hiking boots.  Even in the summertime, Alta is a very pretty spot!  We hiked from the the Albion Basin Campground, which is located right near the top of the Sunnyside Lift up to Cecret Lake, which is midway up the Sugarloaf Lift, off to the left, as you're ascending. The hike is about a mile each way, and the trail gains only about 500 feet in elevation, which makes it a popular hike for families with young children.

To give some perspective, I've taken an Alta trail map and drawn a couple lines to indicate the locations of the road to the the Albion Basin campground and the Cecret Lake Trail.  (I know it's bigger than my layout, but I thought it was important to leave it large so that you can read it.)

The Albion Basin campground is located very near the top of the Sunnyside Lift.  When you come off the lift, you are headed directly toward the campground.  Although it's possible to ski off to the left, most people ski down and then turn to the right.  There is an out of bounds fence located at the bottom where skiers make the turn onto the Dispy Doodle run to head toward Alf's Mountainside Chalet and the Cecret and Sugarloaf Lifts.  The campground is just beyond this fence.

To get here, drive past the main base of the Alta Ski Area.  The road climbs around the eastern side of the resort, touching the Patsy Marley run on the switchbacks on the way up.  The road traces the Crooked Mile run near the top of the Albion Lift, curving under the Sunnyside Lift near the Catherine Pass parking lot (one of two parking lots on this road).  

The road continues another half mile, looping around the Sunnyside Lift before arriving at the Albion Basin campground. There is a parking lot at the campground that is available for day use hikers (you don't have to pay the camping fee to park there).  There are pit toilets at the parking lot, and from there, you can see the base of the Supreme Lift.

One more note about parking.  Parking is limited, and on busy days, the Alta township sets up an information booth in front of the ski area.  They stop traffic on the road and tell people that the parking lots are full and recommend  that people ride the free shuttle shuttle.  There is no parking permitted along the road outside of the two parking lots.  I just told the information people that I intended to drive up the road to the campground and then turn around and come back down, so that they would let me continue; once I arrived at the parking lot, I had no trouble finding a spot.  Of course, the irony is that if the township hadn't been funneling so many people onto the shuttle, then I likely would not have found a place to park!

It's a short hike.  It took my wife and me only twenty to reach Cecret Lake.

Continuing up the trail, you pass under the Cecret Lift, near the top.

Gorgeous wildflowers fill a meadow with solid wall of Devil's Castle towering in the distance

Nearing the top, skiers at Alta know this area as the Razorback run

Larkspur on the short of Cecret Lake

The reward at the top of the trail:  Cecret Lake

Looking down from near the top of the Cecret Lake Trail toward the Sunnyside Lift.  The Albion Basin Campground is just out of the view of this photo to the right.