The Cottonwood canyons, from the valley floor up

Big Cottonwood Canyon, the northern of the two, carries Brighton and Solitude on SR-190. Little Cottonwood Canyon, the southern one, carries Snowbird and Alta on SR-210. All four sit within roughly 40 minutes of the valley floor in clear conditions, and the two canyon mouths are only about ten minutes apart along the foothill road, so choosing a canyon is a smaller commitment than it sounds until a storm arrives and the roads become the story.

No. Both canyons are protected Salt Lake City watershed, and city ordinance prohibits dogs and other domestic animals everywhere in them, including a dog that never leaves the car. The fine is 650 dollars. The only exception is a residential dog tag available to people who actually live in the canyons, limited to one dog per address. Millcreek Canyon, one drainage north, runs on different rules and is where valley dog owners go instead.

Only one of them, and only in summer. Guardsman Pass climbs out of upper Big Cottonwood and drops over the ridge toward Park City and Midway; it is paved, slow, scenic and gated shut through the winter. Little Cottonwood has no through route at all. Otherwise both canyons are out and back drives: SR-190 ends at Brighton and SR-210 ends at Alta, so plan on returning down the same road you climbed.

The upper end of Little Cottonwood is one of the snowiest measured places in the United States. Alta's long running average sits north of 500 inches a season, and big winters go well beyond that. Big Cottonwood's resorts run somewhat behind that figure but still far ahead of most of the American West. The mechanism is the Great Salt Lake and the shape of the canyons, which wring storms out against the headwalls.

Yes, and locals do it year round. In summer and early fall the draw is hiking, wildflowers in Albion Basin, the Silver Lake boardwalk and the Guardsman Pass drive. In winter a clear day after a storm turns both canyons into scenery you would cross a country for, no lift ticket involved. The one caveat is winter rules: when the traction law is active it applies to every vehicle on the road, sightseer or not.

The reliable window is late July through the middle of August, with the exact peak sliding a week or two either way on the winter's snowpack. Albion Basin sits above 9,000 feet at the top of Little Cottonwood, so its summer starts late and ends early. Cecret Lake is the classic short walk through the bloom. Go on a weekday morning if you can; the gravel summer road and its parking are managed and fill fast.

No. Neither canyon charges an entrance fee, and the state highways up them are free to drive. What costs money is what you do once you are up there: resort parking on winter weekends, lift tickets, and paid lots at a few of the busiest summer trailheads. The exception worth knowing about is winter parking at Alta, which uses a paid reservation system on weekends and holidays, covered on the canyon winter access page.

Three of the four. Brighton, Solitude and Snowbird all welcome snowboarders, and Brighton in particular has one of the oldest snowboard cultures in the sport. Alta remains skiers only, as it has been since it opened in 1939, and shows no sign of changing. If the group mixes skiers and riders, Little Cottonwood still works: Snowbird and Alta sit on the same road and share a connection for skiers.

The mouths of both canyons sit in the valley's southeast corner, roughly 20 miles from downtown. In ordinary traffic that is 25 to 35 minutes to either mouth, then 15 to 25 minutes of canyon road to the resorts. On a powder morning those numbers stop meaning anything: the canyon roads meter, queue and sometimes close outright, which is exactly why the road rules get their own page.