Little Cottonwood Creek

Little Cottonwood Creek
River
The Little Cottonwood Creek in Murray City Park, Murray, Utah
Country	United States
State	Utah
Source
- location	Cecret Lake, Alta, Utah, Salt Lake County, Utah
- elevation	11,500 ft (3,505 m)
- coordinates	40°34′12″N 111°37′19.2″W / 40.57000°N 111.622000°W / 40.57000; -111.622000
Mouth	Jordan River
- location	Murray, Utah, Salt Lake County, Utah
- elevation	4,490 ft (1,369 m)
- coordinates	40°39′57″N 111°54′27″W / 40.66583°N 111.90750°W / 40.66583; -111.90750Coordinates: 40°39′57″N 111°54′27″W / 40.66583°N 111.90750°W / 40.66583; -111.90750
Length	27.72 mi (45 km)
Basin	46 sq mi (119 km2)
Discharge	for Murray, Utah
- average	111 cu ft/s (3 m3/s)
- max	5,290 cu ft/s (150 m3/s)
- min	99 cu ft/s (3 m3/s)
Little Cottonwood Creek and other Salt Lake County streams

Little Cottonwood Creek is one of the principal streams entering Salt Lake Valley from the east rises near the summit of the Wasatch Mountains a short distance south of the ski resort town of Alta and flows in a westerly direction through Little Cottonwood Canyon until it emerges into Salt Lake Valley about eleven miles from its source thence its course is north westerly through Sandy, Midvale and Murray, Utah until it empties into the Jordan River about six miles south of Salt Lake City. Its whole length is nearly twenty seven miles. The headwaters of Little Cottonwood Creek are in Little Cottonwood Canyon, a glaciated canyon in Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest and the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains eco-region. One of the main tributaries of the creek rises in Cecret Lake a small sheet of water situated near Alta. The entire Little Cottonwood Creek drainage basin encompasses 46 mi², ranging in altitude from about 4,490 to 11,500 ft.

Communities were founded around the creek soon after pioneer settlement of Salt Lake Valley in 1847 and supported agricultural activities. Following the discovery of gold, silver, copper, and lead in nearby canyons in the 1870s, ore-refining activities brought an influx of people to these communities. During the mid- to late 1900s, residential land use replaced agriculture as the dominant land-use type in the lower Little Cottonwood Creek drainage basin as the population of Salt Lake Valley expanded.

Land cover upstream from the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon is 60 percent forest land and 33 percent rangeland. The watershed in Little Cottonwood Canyon is protected as a drinking water source but receives extensive recreational use. The urbanized part of the Little Cottonwood Creek drainage basin includes that part from the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon to the confluence with the Jordan River. The stream provides electrical power generation for Murray City.