[2] The 15-mile (24 km)-long canyon provides hiking, biking, picnicking, rock-climbing, camping, and fishing in the summer.

The canyon's most popular hiking trail leads to Lakes Blanche, Florence and Lillian.

In November 2011, a proposal to construct a gondola linking Solitude Ski Resort through Big Cottonwood Canyon to the Canyons Resort in Summit County drew criticism over concerns about its potential effect on sensitive terrain and watershed impacts.

In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps built a small stage area for public events.

[citation needed] The Storm Mountain area is also notable geologically for its rhythmites (a sea-level sedimentary deposit that records the cycle of the tides or periodic floods) and cross-bedded sandstones.