Trail Pictures

Mount Olympus is one of the more prominent mountains on the Salt Lake City skyline.  It offers spectacular views of the Salt Lake Valley along the whole trail. The trailhead is located on Wasatch Blvd. about 1.7 miles south of the 45th south intersection.  Pete's Rock, a popular rock climbing cliff, shares the parking lot.  The parking lot fills up quickly on the weekends, so you'll probably have to park on the side of the road.

From the trailhead, the trail climbs quickly up a series of switchbacks.  After about a mile it enters into Tolcat Canyon.  Tolcat Canyon has a seasonal stream that is one of the few places to get water on the trail.  Once you cross the stream, the trail starts to go up some switchbacks again. The trail eventually enters the trees between two of the ridges of the mountain.  It exits the trees at a saddle with evidence of picnic use and camping.

From the saddle the summit is only 600 vertical feet away.  Some easy scrambling is required to get up this last section.  Be careful there are always rattlesnakes around the trail.  Follow the footpath up, if you find youself looking over a cliff, turn around and the trail should be nearby.

This hike has a lot of exposure to the sun.  It's generaly good to start early and get up the mountain before the sun is too high in the sky.  Stay on the trail.  Every year search and rescue has to retrieve several hikers from the mountain who wandered off the trail and found themselves stuck on a cliff.