White Pine Lakes is a beautiful mountain lake nestled at the base of White Baldy in Little Cottonwood Canyon. It shares a trailhead with the far more popular Red Pine Lake, Gloria Falls, Pfeifferhorn, and lesser known Maybird Lakes and Upper Red Pine Lakes. There is also a White Pine Lake near Tony Grove in Logan Canyon.
Directions
As of 12/01/25 this is a fee area $10/vehicle for a 3-day pass, $20/vehicle for a 7-day pass, $60/vehicle for a year pass, or $80/vehicle for the America the Beautiful National Parks Pass that includes all the National Parks and Monuments in the country.
Purchase pass online here.
All of these trails follow the same trail for the first 0.9 mile to the river. This part is great in all seasons and a fun place to snowshoe.
It is stunning in the summer and fall wildflowers or fall color!
As you hike up the trail here are some views.
The trail to White Pine Lake diverts next to the river, switching back behind you when looking at the stream.
This view shows that view, with the stream behind me. The left path is the one coming up from the trailhead, the White Pine in the middle path and all of the other destinations head up at this junction taking the right path.
This trail is pretty wide as it was once a mining road. It is quite rocky as it rises up through the forests and meadows.
The trail is beautiful. There is one place you will probably need to step on the stepping stones to cross the water, but it shouldn’t be too difficult.
The last mile gets a bit steeper.and rockier.
Looking behind you have an impressive view of the ridgeline between Little and Big Cottonwood Canyon, including Mount Superior and Monte Cristo. In mid-summer the wildflowers are divine.
Ahead you will see White Baldy.
It is always interesting to me to see how landmarks are situated, so I’ll show you White Baldy as seen from the other sides. If you were to go over the mountain to the right of the above picture, you would see Upper Red Pine Lakes and Red Pine Lake a bit below. Then the opposite side to the left is American Fork Canyon, near Silver Glance Lake, Silver Lake, and Silver Lake Flat.
I labeled a map on Google Earth so you can see a bird’s eye view.
Returning to the trail, you can see White Baldy ahead.
The trail weaves back and forth through the granite scree.
Then you come around the corner and can see White Pine below in a bowl.
The trail was lined with yellow blooms at the beginning of August.
Isn’t that turquoise-blue color glorious?!
While hiking we saw a deer, grouse, pika, sparrows, and butterflies.
Besides the yellow flowers lining the paths, there were also clumps of Indian Paintbrush, Fireweed, and other wildflowers.
A few more of stunning White Pine!
Stats: Distance – 10.5 miles roundtrip
Approximate hiking time – 4-7 hours
Elevation gain – 2,716 feet
Difficulty – Difficult
Trail – well maintained trail of dirt and rocks
Bathrooms – At Trailhead
Seasons to hike – May – October
Permits needed – As of 12/1/25 this is a fee area and is $10/vehicle or a requires a National Parks Pass
Pets allowed – No
Other challenging trails nearby are Maybird Gulch to Maybird Lakes, Sunset Peak, Mount Superior and Monte Cristo, Red Pine Lake, and Sugarloaf Peak. Easier hikes are Gloria Falls, Albion Meadows, and Cecret Lake.
