Upper Millcreek Canyon road is closed for access until Dec. 15, according to the U.S. Forest Service's Uinta-Wasatch-Cache road conditions page.

Separately, the Forest Service is warning hikers across the national forest not to travel on wet trails and routes. The agency says damage from foot and tire traffic on saturated ground sometimes cannot be repaired.

The warnings come during what KSL reported is expected to be one of Utah's wettest Octobers on record. Statewide soil moisture hit nearly 78% saturation by Nov. 2, a level never recorded in fall since modern measurements began 20 years ago. That is nearly four percentage points above the normal peak during spring snowmelt.

"We're kind of in uncharted territory," said Jordan Clayton, a hydrologist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and director of the Utah Snow Survey.

Trail warnings for Millcreek hikers

Many trails in the national forest are behind closed gates, under snow or very wet. Citations will be issued to anyone accessing a road, trail or area beyond a gate, the Forest Service states.

Drought easing statewide

El Niño-driven storms dumped roughly 3.4 trillion gallons of rain across Utah in the two weeks before Nov. 5, KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson noted. The share of Utah in some form of drought dropped from over 90% to about two-thirds, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor as reported by KSL.

About 36% of the state remains in severe or extreme drought, down from over 50% the prior week. Utah's collective reservoir system stands at 50% capacity, 10 percentage points below the same time last year, per state data.

What comes next

Higher fall soil moisture is associated with more efficient spring snowpack runoff, the system that supplies roughly 95% of Utah's water. Clayton said it is too early to know how the conditions will play out because they are so much higher than anything documented in fall during the NRCS network's 20-year history.

"The snow has to come. It can't just be the moist soils," he said.

Long-range models appear to favor moisture lingering through at least November, but higher probabilities of above-normal temperatures could factor into snow levels. The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center will release its final outlook for meteorological winter later in November.

Upper Millcreek Canyon visitor fees remain $5 per car, $3 for seniors and $50 for a yearly pass.