Upper City Creek Canyon is one of the most pristine canyons along the Wasatch Front Rules against dogs, horses, and camping are in the canyon, coupled with somewhat difficult access, have made this a lightly visited area The hike to the meadows shows this light usages Expect a trail that is occasionally hard to find in grassy meadows, solitude, and a very natural setting On a July day, I was dazzled by butterflies and birds, with many more spotted than I have seen elsewhere in the Wasatch City Creek Canyon is quite...

City Creek is rich in history The canyon is currently home to one of the Salt Lake valley’s water treatment plants and has long had a history of providing water to the valley The upper reaches of the canyon held the site of several mines, none of which were very successful Then came prohibition, and moonshine was added to the story of City Creek Canyon The trail described here, Smugglers Gap, was used by moonshiners to smuggle moonshine from City Creek to the military base at Fort Douglas The hike is steep and heav...

Table Mountain on the northern end of the Henry Mountains has always intrigued me, its craggy slopes are studded with pillars and towers that look quite dramatic from a distance When I finally visited Table Mountain via Lost Springs, I wasn't disappointed The spires and towers are even more dramatic up close, and the views from the area of the badlands to the north and Capitol Reef National Park to the west are quite dramatic The higher elevation of this hike makes it a great one to do in the summer, when trying to...

Tucked up near the northern Henry Mountains, along the transition zone between the mountain and desert environments, is the Rock Corral This natural feature creates a rock "corral" that ranchers used and closed with a log fence to contain animals Long before ranchers, however, Native Americans also used the area Signs of their time at the site are found in petroglyphs they left behind, as well as one of the largest concentration of grinding areas I have seen I assume the ancient peoples collected grasses and seeds ...

With 314, Nevada has more mountain ranges than any other state The Ruby Mountains, south of Elko, are often touted as one of the crown jewels of the Nevada ranges Lamoille Canyon, the most visited area of the range, has been described by some as the Yosemite of Nevada I'm not sure I would go quite that far, but the Ruby Range is indeed beautiful, remote, and has an excellent thru hike that visits a large chunk of it The Ruby Crest Trail is between 33 and 37 miles depending on who you ask With small side trips for c...

Not really any good campsites from Burr Point until Happy Camping near the mouth of Happy or up above the narrows would be excellent Filtering the Dirty Devil is difficult, I would try and plan for after rains and hope to find pools in Happy to filter If you have to filter DD water, I have heard letting it sit to silt out, then straining with a coffee filter before using a water filter can work reasonably well I have been able to find pools elsewhere on my trips As for a loop, yes, going from Burr Point to Happy, ...

https://waterdatausgsgov/monitoring-location/09404900/#dataTypeId=continuous-00060-0&period=P30D&showMedian=falseThis link shows the USGS flow data for the east fork of the Virgin River downstream from hike I think it is more useful than the flow data upstream from the hike Less than 65 cfs results in an easy hike down the river I would guess anything less than 100-120 cfs is doable Higher flows than this might make it more difficult The section of the river that you must hike in to the exit is relatively smooth an...

Ran Upper, Lower, and the final 200 foot rappel We went a couple of weeks ago and had to bail out before the end of Upper This time we had less people and more ropes Doing both canyons and the optional big rap was a lot Wandered a little between the two canyons, first found an extra northern finger of Lower and followed that down to where the canyon opened up a lot Lower starts with 3 big rapid fire raps, culminating in the "Onion" We used the deadman anchor around the corner for the short rappel that looked ...

Crystal Geyser is a cold water geyser near Green River Due to its unpredictability, it can be an exercise of patience It can go off anywhere between every hour to 24+ hours! A 2005 study found 66% of the time the geyser erupts about every 8 hours However, a few years later, the eruptions become very sporadic and widely spaced In 2023, likely due to the heavy winter, eruptions have become more common again Feeling lucky Even if you don't get lucky enough to see it erupting, it is an interesting place to visit The ge...

Happy Canyon is an amazing place, with a long approach Because of the approach and relatively short canyon section, this is an adventure I would highly recommend to hikers with a bit of technical experience Hardcore technical canyoneers are likely to be disappointed with the long approach Happy Canyon is a hike many people underestimate! Many have had to turn back well before reaching the canyon or end up returning in the dark Be prepared for a long day Those with a high clearance 4x4 or ATV may be better-suited hi...