Heavy runoff restoring scenery after years of drought

OGDEN, Utah — While the heavy runoff has brought some flood damage, it has also restored some of the scenery we’ve lost over several years of drought.

If you drive by too fast you can miss where a highway pullout in Ogden Canyon has turned into a bit of a tourist stop.

“I think it’s beautiful, beautiful. This is very beautiful. It’s very unique,” a visitor told KSL.

It’s an impressive sight for visitors and locals like Alvin Thurgood.

“Definitely fuller. It provides more of an experience,” Thurgood said.

People who have watched these falls scale back over the past few years of drought are now stopping to enjoy the sights and sounds.

“It’s just entertaining to get outside and it hasn’t been like this for a few years so we’ve been watching it,” Susie Erickson said. “It’s actually slowed down since even the weekend.”

If you’re willing to go the extra few miles up Ogden’s Waterfall Canyon Trail you can see how the runoff has taken over.

Jacob Bluemel said, “This was my first time, so it was really gorgeous. Very Beautiful.”

The last quarter mile or so was covered in water and much fuller than people have seen in years. It’s just one example of many across the state. Some areas, like Gunlock Falls coming back to life after running dry.

“We saw a video of it like how it was last year,” Maria Rodriguez said.

She made the drive to Ogden all the way from West Valley with friends because they saw a video on TikTok.

“Like it has less water, and this year obviously we got more water so it was nicer,” Rodriguez said.

It was enough water to convince them to make the drive and the uphill journey to where the falls are crashing.

“Yeah, it was 100% worth it. I’d do it again,” she said.

The waterfall canyon hike is a two to three and a half miles round trip, depending on where you start.

It is steep in areas and very wet.