Adams Falls (Adams Canyon Falls)

Layton / Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

About Adams Falls (Adams Canyon Falls)

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Adams Falls (also known as Adams Canyon Falls) was an attractive 40ft rectangular waterfall on North Fork Holmes Creek that was a worthy reward for the adventure it took to get to it.

The underlying red cliffs also added more color to the overall scene, and its spray was refreshing after all the pretty hard hiking it took to get up here.

Adams_Falls_205_08092020 - Adams Falls with late afternoon rainbow as seen during my visit in mid-August 2020
Adams Falls with late afternoon rainbow as seen during my visit in mid-August 2020

I happened to visit this waterfall twice – once in late May 2017 and again in mid-August 2020.

During my late May 2017 visit, North Fork Holmes Creek had very high flow, and that made for a rather wet hike with quite a bit of trail erosion causing lots of rough unanticipated scrambling.

As a result, I wound up getting quite a bit more adventure than I had anticipated.

On my mid-August 2020 visit, North Fork Holmes Creek was significantly less vigorous, and I even noticed some degree of trail maintenance to rectify some of the eroded parts that I had encountered three years prior.

Adams_Falls_166_05272017 - Adams Falls or Adams Canyon Falls in high flow during my Memorial Day Weekend visit in late May 2017
Adams Falls or Adams Canyon Falls in high flow during my Memorial Day Weekend visit in late May 2017

While it was still not an easy hike overall, it was much easier than that first visit.

Both photos you see above show you the differences in Adams Falls, which illustrates how conditions can change depending on snow pack and time of year.

By the way, Adams Falls was named after Elias Adams who was an early settler of East Layton, which was the town from which this waterfall adventure began.

Nevertheless, despite some of the difficulties I had in hiking to this waterfall, it was quite obvious to me that this was seemingly Layton’s most popular hike.

Adams_Falls_078_05272017 - Lots of intermediate cascades on Holmes Creek as a result of high water conditions experienced on my late May 2017 hike to Adams Falls
Lots of intermediate cascades on Holmes Creek as a result of high water conditions experienced on my late May 2017 hike to Adams Falls

Overall, each time I’ve done this hike, my GPS logs had indicated that I had hiked about 4 miles round-trip.

This was despite a trailhead sign suggesting that it was 1.75 miles each way or 3.5 miles round-trip.

It took me 3.5 hours round-trip on my May 2017 visit (2 hours up and 90 minutes back down).

Meanwhile, it took me 3 hours total on my mid-August 2020 visit, which included brief interludes to the Lower Adams Falls.

Adams_Falls_144_08092020 - North Fork Holmes Creek was significantly lower and causing less trail erosion on the Adams Canyon Trail so I had a much easier time doing this hike on my second time around in the Summer of 2020
North Fork Holmes Creek was significantly lower and causing less trail erosion on the Adams Canyon Trail so I had a much easier time doing this hike on my second time around in the Summer of 2020

That kind of indicated how much easier the hike seemed to be the second time around as compared to the first.

Adams Falls Trail Description – from the trailhead to Adams Canyon

The hike began from a pretty spacious unpaved lot though there was also parallel parking available on Eastside Road (see directions below).

The trail initially followed some fencing preventing the public from accessing some kind of rectangular pond.

Then, the trail ascended a series of switchbacks with high wooden fences to prevent people from taking shortcuts.

Adams_Falls_014_08092020 - Looking back over one of the switchbacks on the initial climb up 10 switchbacks at the start of the Adams Canyon Trail. This climb was especially brutal in the nearly 100-degree day when I did this hike in mid-August 2020
Looking back over one of the switchbacks on the initial climb up 10 switchbacks at the start of the Adams Canyon Trail. This climb was especially brutal in the nearly 100-degree day when I did this hike in mid-August 2020

There were at least 10 of these switchbacks, including a sign talking about Elias Adams in one of the switchbacks.

After the tenth switchback, the trail climbed a little more as it approached a rest bench with a couple of unmarked spur trails heading off to the right.

Those trails happened to lead to the Adams Canyon Lower Falls, which has a separate write-up since it was an optional detour.

Nevertheless, the Adams Canyon Trail had gained some 250ft over mostly sandy surfaces up to this point.

Adams_Falls_250_05272017 - After all the switchbacks in the beginning and deviating from the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, the Adams Canyon Trail then entered Adams Canyon
After all the switchbacks in the beginning and deviating from the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, the Adams Canyon Trail then entered Adams Canyon

The trail would gain about another 100ft further above the switchbacks beyond the rest bench.

Eventually, after a half-mile from the trailhead, the path joined up with the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

The Adams Canyon Trail continued to the right as it entered the canyon itself.

As I entered Adams Canyon, I got some nice panoramic views looking back towards Layton and the Great Salt Lake.

Adams Falls Trail Description – hiking and scrambling in Adams Canyon

Adams_Falls_247_05272017 - Looking over the northern fringes of the Great Salt Lake and parts of Layton from the Adams Canyon Trail as it was entering Adams Canyon
Looking over the northern fringes of the Great Salt Lake and parts of Layton from the Adams Canyon Trail as it was entering Adams Canyon

As the trail entered Adams Canyon, there was a bit more tree cover as the path narrowed, which provided some welcome relief from the sun.

After about another quarter-mile from the junction, I reached another fork with the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, where that trail descended towards a footbridge over North Holmes Creek on the right.

The left fork continued on the Adams Canyon Trail, which was the fork that I followed to continue towards Adams Falls.

The trail now pretty much followed along the North Holmes Creek for the remainder of the hike.

Adams_Falls_059_05272017 - Context of an eroded part of my late May 2017 Adams Canyon hike where I was on the left side of this creek and needed to continue straight along the embankment while trying not to get wet in North Holmes Creek
Context of an eroded part of my late May 2017 Adams Canyon hike where I was on the left side of this creek and needed to continue straight along the embankment while trying not to get wet in North Holmes Creek

During this stretch, the path continued climbing while passing by some small intermediate cascades.

On my late May 2017 hike, parts of the trail appeared to have eroded quite a bit, which made this part of the hike seemingly more rugged.

I wasn’t sure if this was from years of wear and tear from the popularity of the trail or if a large chunk of earth got swept away from the higher water levels of Holmes Creek.

Whatever the case, there were moments where I had to quickly walk along sloped embankments with dropoffs.

Adams_Falls_140_08092020 - Approaching a footbridge during my August 2020 hike that definitely wasn't there during my late May 2017 hike
Approaching a footbridge during my August 2020 hike that definitely wasn’t there during my late May 2017 hike

I also had to figure out how to walk on the sides of Holmes Creek itself without getting wet in the spots where there was no trail between the embankments and the creek.

Under such conditions, progress on the Adams Canyon Trail was slow, and I sensed that such high water conditions weren’t really the norm here.

When I came back to do this hike again in mid-August 2020, it seemed like the eroded parts of the trail were bypassed by new bridges, which made this hike significantly easier.

It also helped that North Fork Holmes Creek did not flow into the trail itself, which further made the hike much easier than the first time around.

Adams_Falls_084_05272017 - The Adams Falls Trail crossing a slanted wooden bridge roughtly 0.8 miles from the Bonneville Shoreline Trail junction
The Adams Falls Trail crossing a slanted wooden bridge roughtly 0.8 miles from the Bonneville Shoreline Trail junction

Regardless, at about 0.8 miles from the Bonneville Shoreline Trail junction, the trail crossed North Holmes Creek over a slanted wooden footbridge.

In my mind, this bridge was kind of the landmark where the Adams Canyon Trail started to degenerate more into a rough semi-scramble as opposed to the more straightforward trail that persisted up to this point.

Indeed, the rougher upper parts of the Adams Canyon Trail started to force me to scramble hand over feet in the steepest sections.

There were also more attractive cascades that the trail meandered alongside, including one small waterfall where a large boulder formed a kind of “cave” or alcove with water running through it.

Adams_Falls_114_05272017 - Looking back over one of the attractive intermediate cascades with a large boulder forming kind of an alcove or 'cave' on the way up to Adams Falls
Looking back over one of the attractive intermediate cascades with a large boulder forming kind of an alcove or ‘cave’ on the way up to Adams Falls

Further upstream beyond this spot, the trail then went around a bend in the creek.

After this bend, the steepening trail skirted North Fork Holmes Creek, which made for some tricky scrambling in the high water conditions that I encountered in May 2017.

Under such conditions, I opted to hike into the creek itself on its far right side to avoid doing a pretty daring steep scramble further up the embankment (just to try avoiding getting wet).

Once again, when I got to this part in mid-August, the hiking was pretty straightforward given the lower flow of North Fork Holmes Creek.

Adams_Falls_138_05272017 - This was perhaps the most impressive of the intermediate cascades on North Holmes Creek on the way to Adams Falls
This was perhaps the most impressive of the intermediate cascades on North Holmes Creek on the way to Adams Falls

At about 0.2 miles from the footbridge over North Holmes Creek, I had to traverse a narrow rocky ledge before winding up in front of the most impressive intermediate cascade seen so far.

Adams Falls Trail Description – from the intermediate waterfall to the main waterfall

Aside from its photogenic quality as a legitimate standalone waterfall, I had to scramble on the trail alongside the cascade’s right side.

This eventually brought me to the top of the attractive intermediate falls and beyond.

Then, the trail continued to get rougher as it hugged the right side of North Holmes Creek while involving some more steep climbs.

Adams_Falls_175_08092020 - The same cascade as the prior photo, but this time this was under the lower mid-August flow during my visit in 2020
The same cascade as the prior photo, but this time this was under the lower mid-August flow during my visit in 2020

Eventually at about 2 miles from the trailhead, the trail then reached an unbridged crossing of North Holmes Creek.

This was pretty much before the Adams Falls, but it could not be seen without getting into the creek.

During the time that I did this hike in late May 2017, the creek was running pretty high so inevitably, I had to get my feet wet as the water was easily ankle- to shin-deep.

I’ve also seen trip reports where at lower water levels, it was possible to easily cross North Holmes Creek without getting water inside Gore-tex hiking boots or even day hiking low-top shoes.

Adams_Falls_180_05272017 - Looking back at the last crossing of North Holmes Creek before Adams Falls in late May 2017
Looking back at the last crossing of North Holmes Creek before Adams Falls in late May 2017

However, when I came back in August 2020, North Fork Holmes Creek was much lower, but it was actually still high enough to get low-top shoes miserably wet.

Nevertheless, once I made it to the other side of the creek, that was when I could finally see Adams Falls in all its glory (just like in the photo at the top of this page).

When I showed up at about 9:30am, there was still enough of a morning shadow to take decent photos.

However, this was a west-facing waterfall so afternoon provided the best lighting.

Adams_Falls_183_08092020 - Another look at the last crossing of North Fork Holmes Creek in mid-August 2020 conditions, where this crossing was a lot more trivial than it was three years prior to this
Another look at the last crossing of North Fork Holmes Creek in mid-August 2020 conditions, where this crossing was a lot more trivial than it was three years prior to this

Of course, waiting until the afternoon to do this hike would mean the initial sandy switchbacked climb from the trailhead to the Adams Canyon Trail junction would be a brutally hot stretch.

And if you’re not acclimated to the altitude, it could make an already tough hike even tougher right off the bat.

In fact, when I did do this hike on a hot Summer afternoon, I noticed quite a few people struggle with the trail, especially past the slanted bridge.

So despite the tree cover for most of the remainder of the Adams Falls Trail once it entered Adams Canyon, it was still mostly uphill, which further added to the difficulty of the hike.

Adams_Falls_243_08092020 - On the return hike from Adams Falls, I narrowly missed stepping on this small rattlesnake as it was slithering across the Adams Canyon Trail
On the return hike from Adams Falls, I narrowly missed stepping on this small rattlesnake as it was slithering across the Adams Canyon Trail

That’s something to consider when partaking on this adventure and attempting to time it for the afternoon.

Speaking of the afternoon, when I used my downhill momentum to go quickly back towards the trailhead from Adams Falls, I narrowly missed stepping on a rattlesnake that was crossing the trail!

Indeed, even though I thought I could make good time on the trail, that snake bite could have ruined the remainder of our trip.

But aside from that, I still made pretty good time making my way quickly downhill to the trailhead.

Authorities

Adams Falls resides near the city of Layton in Davis County, Utah. It is administered by the Davis County government. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.
Tagged with: layton, adams canyon, bonneville shoreline trail, antelope island, great salt lake, salt lake city, us 89, davis county, utah, waterfall



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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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