Less than a mile south of Mill Creek Canyon, Neffs Canyon was named after Franklin Neff, son of John Neff, who built the first flour mill. Franklin, along with his brother-in-law, Porter Rockwell, was given timber and road-building rights to this drainage. By 1899 the Taylor and Stout families farmed a large area of land under the name of Mt. Olympus Fruit and Livestock Farm Company. It encompassed the area south of Mill Creek nearly to the mouth of Neffs Canyon. Alvin Taylor, who gave the land in Mill Creek to the Boy Scouts, also started the Mt. Olympus Spring Water Company. The farm and water company were operated by the same people, but were commercially different entities.
Four springs and early snowmelt provide the flow for Neffs Creek. There are three springs in the main fork and one in Norths Fork, possibly named after an early pioneer, Levi North. The Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities owns the water rights to the four springs, but leases water to the Mt. Olympus Spring Water Company.
View Neffs Creek Interactive Map