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OPEN
NO TRACTION RESTRICTION POSTED
Last updated at: Nov 4, 9:23 AM MT · UDOT Traffic
Little Cottonwood Canyon is open. Road surface: Dry. Weather: Fair. No traction restriction is posted for this corridor right now.
SR-210 | Sandy and Cottonwood Heights to Alta and Snowbird
Full camera stripLittle Cottonwood Canyon is eight miles of two lane road, SR-210, climbing from the Salt Lake valley floor to Snowbird and Alta. It is short, steep, and serious: the canyon averages some of the deepest snowfall in North America, and avalanche paths cross the road in more than a dozen places.
This page leads with the live UDOT verdict, then the cameras in driving order, the traction posting, the events UDOT is reporting, and the roadside weather from the mouth to the top. On a storm morning, this is the page that decides whether the ski day happens.
Canyon mouth (Wasatch Blvd)
Traction enforcement point on storm days. If your tires are wrong, this is where you find out.
Lisa Falls
Lower canyon. Avalanche paths begin to cross the road above this stretch.
White Pine trailhead
Mid canyon. Named slide paths stack up from here to the top.
Snowbird
First resort, about a mile below Alta. Canyon narrows and steepens above the village.
Alta
End of the road at about 8,530 feet, in the middle of one of the snowiest places in the continental US.
| Station | Air | Road surface | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alta - Base | 52°F | n/a | 3 mph SW, gusting 9 |
| Alta Guard Station | n/a | n/a | 0 mph N, gusting 0 |
| Alta - Mt Baldy | 35°F | n/a | 4 mph SW, gusting 11 |
| SR-210 @ Powerhouse | 36°F | Damp, 36°F | 2 mph E, gusting 4 |
Temperatures are Fahrenheit, as UDOT reports them. Data: UDOT Traffic.
roadwork : traffic construction
Lane and ramp closures for I-215 reconstruction. Project contact: 855-215-8368
roadwork : traffic construction
Intersection Signal/Lighting Work and Pedestrian Ramp Upgrades.
Data: UDOT Traffic
Alta's long term average snowfall runs around 500 inches a year, and Little Cottonwood's shape is the reason. Storms arriving from the Great Salt Lake pick up moisture, hit the canyon's steep headwall, and unload. The same terrain that makes the skiing famous makes the road beneath it a genuine avalanche corridor: named slide paths like White Pine, Little Pine, and the paths above the Snowbird village cross SR-210 on their way to the creek, and in a big cycle the canyon can take snow faster than crews can clear it.
UDOT runs one of the most sophisticated avalanche programs in the country here, with forecasting, artillery and remote control systems, and planned closures for control work. Those closures are a feature, not a failure: the road closes so crews can bring the paths down on an empty road instead of onto traffic. When the verdict at the top of this page says closed for avalanche control, it comes with a professional forecast behind it, and the reopening estimate in the events list is the one number worth planning around.
The canyon's traffic volume is modest by interstate standards, roughly 6,900 vehicles a day on the UDOT count, but it concentrates brutally: nearly everyone arrives between 7 and 10 in the morning and leaves between 3 and 6, on a two lane road with almost no passing and no shoulder to spare.
Little Cottonwood is where Utah's traction law has teeth. SR-210 is a designated traction segment under Rule R920-6, the Cottonwood Canyons are the state's Class 3 segments, and on storm days officers check vehicles at the canyon mouth. Since House Bill 196 passed in 2025, requirements can be posted up to 24 hours before a storm, non compliant drivers can be cited, and Class 3 adds a hard equipment standard: traction devices on at least two drive tires, or all wheel or four wheel drive on M+S or 3PMSF tires with at least 5/32 inch of tread left on every tire.
The rental car trap is real here. A front wheel drive rental on all season tires is not compliant when the law is in effect, no matter how confident the driver is, and the turnaround at the mouth costs you the powder day anyway. UDOT's Cottonwood Canyons Sticker Program pre inspects vehicles at tire shops across the valley each fall; if you ski the canyon all winter, the sticker is the cheapest time you will ever buy.
This page reads the traction posting from the live UDOT feed and states it in the verdict. If it says traction in effect, believe it at the mouth, not after the drive up. Our traction law page lays out all three classes and what each demands, next to the live status for every corridor.
There are two kinds of Little Cottonwood closure and they behave differently. Control work closures are planned, usually early morning, and they lift once the paths are cleared and the road is plowed; UDOT posts estimated openings and mostly hits them. Natural avalanche closures are unplanned by definition. A slide that reaches the road means heavy equipment, a debris pile that can be many feet deep, and a reopening measured in hours or, in the biggest cycles, days. Interlodge, when Alta and Snowbird order everyone indoors and even the walk between buildings is closed, is the extreme end of the same scale.
The events list on this page separates the two as UDOT reports them. Read the comment text, not just the closure flag: 'avalanche control' with a morning estimate is a late start, while 'natural slide, no estimate' is a different day entirely, and the honest move is Brighton, Solitude, or Park City, all reachable without entering this canyon.
Spring deserves its own warning. Wet slide cycles on warm afternoons can close the road after a blue morning, and the canyon's glide cracks and cornices do not care what month the calendar says. A clear verdict at 8 AM is a statement about 8 AM.
SR-210 climbs about 3,700 feet in eight miles, an average grade near nine percent with steeper pitches, and it is two lanes almost the whole way. Up traffic and down traffic share the canyon's weather but not its problems: the climb is about traction, the descent is about brakes and patience. Ride a lower gear down. The driver who descends on the brakes arrives at the mouth with fading brakes exactly where the road flattens and traffic bunches.
There is no legal roadside parking in the canyon in winter, and the rule is enforced because a parked car in a slide path runout or a plow line is a genuine hazard, not a technicality. Use the resort lots and the park and ride at the mouth, and on the biggest mornings use the UTA ski bus, which runs the canyon on a dedicated schedule and turns the traction question into someone else's problem.
Following distance is the whole game on the descent. Snow packed SR-210 at 30 miles an hour needs triple the stopping room of dry pavement, and the car in front of you is being driven by someone reading the same polished surface. The cameras on this page show the actual surface at the mouth, mid canyon, and the top; when the top frame is white and the mouth is wet, the transition is waiting for you about halfway up.
When the snow leaves, Little Cottonwood turns into the valley's high country trailhead: Albion Basin wildflowers, Cecret Lake, the White Pine and Red Pine trails, and climbing across the canyon's granite. The road hazards change with the season. Afternoon thunderstorms build over the headwall and can flood the creek crossings and drop rock onto the road; the same steep paths that carry avalanches carry debris flows.
Cyclists ride the canyon all summer and the road is narrow. Drivers owe them the full lane of room the law requires, and cyclists descending at speed meet uphill traffic around blind corners. Everyone's margin is the center line.
Summer is also when UDOT does the canyon's heavy maintenance, because winter leaves no window. Expect single lane flagging operations in the events list on this page through the warm months, and expect them to pause for the ski season rather than finish neatly. The canyon is a work site that occasionally holds a road, in both directions, all year.
On the mornings when this canyon closes, the question every Salt Lake skier asks is where else. The honest comparison is live, not theoretical: Big Cottonwood, one canyon north, has its own traction postings and its own closure risk, but its avalanche exposure is lower and Brighton and Solitude sit at the top of a road that stays open on many Little Cottonwood closure days. Park City, reached through Parleys Canyon on an interstate built to freight standards, is the most reliable storm day drive of the three and the least like a canyon road at all.
That is the comparison this site is built to answer with data instead of habit. The comparison page puts Little and Big Cottonwood side by side with live verdicts, traction postings, and camera counts, and the Parleys comparison does the same for the interstate. Check it before you commit to a canyon mouth, because by the time you are turned around at the SR-210 enforcement stop, the other canyon's lots are filling.
And some mornings the right answer is the one nobody wants: every corridor posted, control work running, and a valley day. The verdicts on this site will say so plainly. We would rather lose your click than your afternoon, or worse.
Is Little Cottonwood Canyon open right now?
The verdict at the top of this page reads live from UDOT Traffic, including avalanche control closures and their posted estimates when UDOT gives them. No live feed, no verdict: we never guess at this canyon.
What does Class 3 traction law mean for my car?
Traction devices on at least two drive tires, or AWD or 4WD on M+S or 3PMSF tires with at least 5/32 inch of tread on every tire. Front wheel drive on ordinary all seasons is not compliant. The traction law page breaks down all three classes.
Why does Little Cottonwood close so often?
Avalanche paths cross SR-210 in more than a dozen places. UDOT closes the road for control work before slides can reach traffic, and natural slides close it until crews clear the debris. Both kinds appear in the events list here as UDOT reports them.
How many cameras are in Little Cottonwood Canyon?
Seventeen UDOT cameras on the corridor count, sequenced in driving order on the camera strip page, each with its own page. The strip is the fastest way to see the surface change from the mouth to Alta.
Can I park along SR-210 to hike or ski?
No. Roadside parking is prohibited in the canyon in winter and the ban is enforced for avalanche and plowing reasons. Use resort lots, trailhead lots in season, the park and ride at the mouth, or the UTA ski bus.