The creek rises near the summit of the Wasatch Mountains, a short distance south of the ski resort town of Alta, and flows in a westerly direction through Little Cottonwood Canyon until it emerges into Salt Lake Valley about eleven miles from its source.

Thence its course is north westerly through Sandy, Midvale and Murray, Utah until it empties into the Jordan River, about six miles south of Salt Lake City.

One of the main tributaries of the creek rises in Cecret Lake, a small sheet of water situated near Alta.

Following the discovery of gold, silver, copper, and lead in nearby canyons in the 1870s, ore-refining activities brought an influx of people to these communities.

During the mid-to the late 1900s, residential land use replaced agriculture as the dominant land-use type in the lower Little Cottonwood Creek drainage basin as the population of Salt Lake Valley expanded.

The hydrology of the urbanized reach of Little Cottonwood Creek is highly variable and complex because of the canals and diversion structures employed by different water users.

A system of diversions for withdrawal of irrigation water began to be developed on many Wasatch Front streams soon after settlers arrived in Salt Lake Valley in 1847.

To meet domestic needs, water is withdrawn from several Wasatch Front streams, including Little Cottonwood Creek, as they emerge from headwater canyons and enter Salt Lake Valley.