I heard that Salt Lake City had purchased the property owned by Sierra Partners and have opened it back up to the public for hiking, so I wrote to the National Forest Service to see if this were true and received this letter:
Yes, Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities recently purchased the
155-acre Doughnut Falls property and it is open to public recreation.
However, everyone should be aware that there is other private property in
the vicinity and that some property owners further up Mill D South Fork
(Cardiff Fork) do not allow public access across their land.
****************************************
Loren Kroenke
District Ranger
Salt Lake Ranger District
Wasatch-Cache National Forest
(801) 733-2675, Lkroenke@fs.fed.us
****************************************
Where it all started:
In November of 2004 I received the following letter about closing Doughnut Falls to the Public.
SIERRA PARTNERS
4069 KEANU
HONOLULU, HI 96816
November 22, 2004
Dear Mr. Olsen:
Sierra Partners is the owner of certain real property located in Big
Cottonwood Canyon, Utah and generally known as the Donut Falls Property.
Sierra Partners has decided that it will not allow any further use of the
Donut Falls Property by the public. Accordingly, Sierra Partners requests
that you remove all references to the Donut Falls Property on your web
site. In addition, to prevent any confusion on the part of the public
regarding the Donut Falls Property, please remove any brochures and hiking
information guides.
We believe that these measures are necessary to protect our private
property rights in the Donut Falls Property, particularly as we continue
to explore development opportunities for the Donut Falls Property.
Please feel free to email if you have any questions.
Sierra Partners
Donut1718@aol.com
I wrote to the Forest Service to see if the letter
above was true, and this is what they sent back.
Yes, the Donut Falls area is private property and has been recently
posted. The owners have requested the area be deleted from public access
websites/guidebooks etc. Please contact Salt Lake District Ranger Loren Kroenke or Recreation Manager Carol Majeske for the latest details.
You can email cmajeske@fs.fed.us or lkroenke@fs.fed.us or call them directly 801-733-2675 or 733-2662.