The Broads Fork trail begins at the parking lot for the Mill B South Fork trailhead. This is located at the bottom of the S-turn about 4.5 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon. The Lake Blanche trail follows the paved path at the east end of the lot by the restrooms. The Broads Fork trail, however, takes off at the west end of the parking lot.One of the things I like about the Broads Fork trail is how it includes a fairly even distribution of steep areas and flat areas. In general, the trail begins as a steep climb then levels off for a while. This pattern is repeated three times throughout the length of the trail.
The Broads Fork trail begins a moderate climb to the west, quickly rising high above Big Cottonwood Creek. This climb brings you about 200 feet higher in elevation over the first .25 mile. At this point, you come to a small ridge overlooking a portion of Big Cottonwood Canyon at the mouth of Broads Fork. The trail then switches-back to the southeast, following just under the east side of this small ridge for about a half mile and climbing another 400 feet in elevation.
Upon crossing over to the west side of the small ridge, the trail heads south, entering Broads Fork. At this point the trail becomes very flat, which is a pleasent reward after the first steep section. This flat section continues for about .25 mile before entering the second steep section.
The second steep section is about .5 mile in length and involves an elevetion gain of just over 500 feet. You should begin to hear the sound of the Broads Fork Stream near the start of this section of the trail. When you come to a footbridge and cross the stream you are about half way up this steep section. At the end of this section the trail opens up to a wide meadow, giving you your first look at the upper part of Broads Fork. The trail then crosses the meadow, remaining flat over the next .25 mile before entering the third steep section.
The third steep section begins at the south end of the meadow and is another .5 mile in length. This section, however, contains the steepest portion of the trail, involving a gain of another 700 feet in elevetion. This portion of the trail begins as a moderate climb, enters a large grove of aspens, and steadily grows steeper until leveling off above the aspens.
The final .25 mile is flat and brings you to a very large beaver pond that is almost big enough to be considered a lake. This is a great destination with awesome views of the surrounding mountains. Twin Peaks (11,330') lies to the southwest with Sunrise Peak (11,275') and Dromedary Peak (11,107') to the east respectively.
