The Mormon Pioneer Historic Trail from Little Dell Reservoir to Big Mountain in Salt Lake County is popular with hikers and cyclists for its long shady stretches by summer and beautiful leaf canopy by fall — and with cross-country skiers and snowshoers by winter.
But the woodsy route was not a blessing for the Donner Party, who largely owed their infamously late arrival in the Sierra Nevada in 1846 to the difficulties they had cutting trail through this part of the Wasatch Mountains. Travelers on the California Trail, the Pony Express Trail as well as the Mormon Pioneers later were funneled through this history-rich route.