Adams Canyon, Layton's waterfall hike

The trailhead sits on Eastside Drive, the frontage road that runs east of US-89 above Layton's east bench, in the 84040 postal code near 600 North. From US-89 you turn north onto Eastside Drive and follow the signs to the paved lot. The frontage road east of the highway is the surest way to find it, more than any single house number.

The Forest Service lists Adams Canyon Trail 614 as 1.8 miles one way to the falls, about 3.6 miles round trip, with a little over 1,000 feet of climb. Hiking apps tend to report a steeper 1,400 to 1,500 feet. Either way it is a steady climb rather than a stroll: the start is loose and sandy, there is a creek crossing, and the last stretch to the waterfall is rockier than the rest. Most people spend three to four hours on it.

Yes. The trail follows the North Fork of Holmes Creek up to a waterfall of roughly forty feet, which is the destination and the turnaround for the maintained trail. The falls run hardest in May and June with the spring melt, which is also when the trail is busiest and the creek crossing is at its most serious.

The maintained trail ends at the waterfall. Above it the route is unmaintained and passes through a series of cliff areas, and it is where this canyon's rescues are concentrated, handled by Layton City Fire and Davis County Search and Rescue. The waterfall is the sensible place to turn around.

Yes, on a leash. The Forest Service permits leashed pets on Trail 614, and there is no motorized use on the trail. That is worth knowing in Layton, because the city's two largest parks, Layton Commons and Ellison, do not allow dogs at all, so the canyon trail and the Kays Creek corridor are the walking ground for a household with a dog.

Yes. Layton City opened a paved trailhead in April 2024 with flush restrooms, drinking water, a bike repair stand and an information kiosk, replacing the old gravel pullout. The lot's capacity is not published and it fills by early morning on a fine summer Saturday, and Eastside Drive is a frontage road with no sidewalk, so a full lot is a reason to come back another day rather than park on the shoulder.

Nothing. There is no fee, no permit and no gate on the trail or at the trailhead. Davis County's canyon trailheads are free, which is a difference from the famous Salt Lake County canyons one range south, where the Forest Service charges to enter Mill Creek Canyon.

The lower canyon is walked year round, and the falls are fullest in May and June. From roughly November through April the shaded parts of the canyon hold packed snow and ice long after the valley has cleared, so traction devices are the difference between a walk and a retreat. For summer, an early start beats both the heat and the full parking lot.

It is the North Fork of Holmes Creek, and it runs down out of the canyon and ends in Holmes Creek Reservoir at 2692 East Gentile Street in Layton, a couple of miles east of city hall. That reservoir is quieter than it looks: no swimming, no motors and no floating, managed for bass, and it takes a walk-in access permit from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources just to enter.