Fairy Forest

The Fairy Forest Trail is a magical hike in the western Uintas. This trail crosses over a riverbed that floods in the springtime. We recommend saving this hike for later in the season once the river has dried up. The Fairy Forest was originally a spot where hikers would bring painted rocks, ribbons, and wind chimes to decorate fairy houses along the trail. This is no longer permitted, and most of the unnatural material from the trail has been removed due to massive efforts by local volunteers. Please respect the re-naturalization of this trail, do not bring human-made objects to place along the path, and do not bring paint or chalk to decorate the trail.

Even without human-made objects, the Fairy Forest remains a magical place, perhaps even more so now that a lot of litter is gone. Hikers visiting the Fairy Forest are encouraged to keep the magic alive along this trail. Please feel free to create fairy houses with branches and leaves and make your own art out of the rocks and pebbles that line this route. The Fairy Forest truly is a wonderful, whimsical place where kids and adults can let their imagination run wild and allow themselves to become enchanted by the beauty of the forest.

To hike through the Fairy Forest, begin at the Shady Dell Campground on the south side of Highway 150. Follow the well-marked path as it loops clockwise around the Fairy Forest.

Enjoy your time building, exploring, and admiring the whimsy of this trail. When you are ready to head home, simply continue along the loop to make your way back to the campground where you began.

Trail Highlights

Fairy Forest Rehabilitation Effort

The Fairy Forest was originally created as a community art project with thousands of painted rocks, wind chimes and colorful ribbons. Though the intentions were good, this project was creating harmful litter and waste in the beautiful forest. Over the past several years, there have been massive efforts to clean up the Fairy Forest. Over 100 garbage bags of litter have been removed from the trail by local volunteers. Hikers are now encouraged to build fairy houses and rock art without the use of human-made objects. Please respect the forest: do not bring paint, chalk, or ribbons into the Fairy Forest, and please enjoy adding to the natural wonder of this area by building a fairy house out of branches and leaves or creating something beautiful with natural objects alongside your loved ones.