Bells Canyon waterfalls: great view, dangerous hike, police say

SANDY — It is one of Salt Lake County's most popular day hikes and its popularity continues to grow.

"It's absolutely beautiful," said Unified Police Sgt. Travis Skinner, who works on the department's search and rescue team.

But during the spring and early summer, when the melting snow runoff is at its peak, hiking to the Bells Canyon waterfalls — when certain safety precautions aren't taken — can also be one of the county's most potentially dangerous journeys. And with runoff expected to remain high over the next two weeks, officials fear they may be called many more times to Bells Canyon.

Since the beginning of spring, Unified search and rescue crews have already been called to Bells Canyon seven times, Skinner said.

On an average year, rescue crews are called to the canyon about four to five times a year.

Their latest callout was over the weekend when Kimberly Evans, 26, and her friend, Joseph Clark — who were on a first date together — slipped while trying to cross the 6-foot-wide stream at the upper falls, and were carried over the waterfall, dropping approximately 90 feet over both the upper and lower section of the falls.

Clark remarkably survived and has already been released from the hospital. Evans' body had not been recovered as of Monday. After searching two days, crews called off the search until water levels from the melting snowpack could recede, which could be any time from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.

Many of Evans' family members traveled to Utah from Wyoming and were at the search and rescue command post all weekend, waiting for word about their loved one.

The week before, Masour Ariazand, 58, lost his footing and fell in almost exactly the same spot as Evans. The man fell approximately 40 feet to the lower section of the falls. His legs became trapped in the logs that had collected at the bottom of the falls. Other hikers kept the man's head above water until rescue crews could pull him out.

Sandy Fire Capt. Chris Dawson said Bells Canyon has not been a problem in the past. This year, however, he believes one explanation for the increase in accidents is an increase in hikers.

"Part of the reason is we're getting a lot more exposure, a lot more people up there," he said.

The last fatality officials can remember in Bells Canyon was in 2005, when the body of a 44-year-old man trapped in the water near one of the waterfalls was found by hikers.