Hiking Turtle Hill

It’s great to have a little local hill for when you need to get out for a bit but are short on time. Out in Eagle Mountain, we have easy access to a lot of rolling foothills in the Lake Mountains—Turtle Hill, so named in honor of a local’s pet turtle, is one of the most easily accessible spots for a quick summit, and a good jumping off point to explore other areas of the foothills.

I make a loop up the hill pretty regularly—at least once a week—so I figured I’d add a quick write-up about it.

The Lake Mountains are a mixed use area, without any specifically designated hiking trails. That means pretty much all hiking back here is along rough roads shared with ATVs and the occasional jacked up truck or jeep. There’s a great network of mountain bike trails back here, too, that Dan and I have been starting to explore.

Hiking Turtle Hill

Turtle Hill is easily recognizable from the Pony Express Highway, with the distinctive zig-zag road that goes to its top. There are two easily-accessible places (that I know of) to park for the hike to the top. Off of North Lake Mountain road, just past where it turns to dirt and right at the base of the zig-zag trail is a dirt pull-out. Maybe a hundred feet farther down there’s another parking spot with some parking barricades behind it.

Parking area at the start of the road up the west side of Turtle Hill

I usually part in this second spot. From here, a rough dirt road winds back into the foothills. The road eventually branches off and heads up the back (east) side of Turtle Hill.

Following the road back into the hills.

The road “Y”s and cuts across a deep wash that’s been carved into the soft sandy ground. I keep left to go up Turtle Hill, but there’s plenty of exploring off of all the other roads back here, too.

I’m always amazed at how scenic it can be out in the foothills, and at how remote it can feel. The rolling hills hide any signs of civilization (except for the massive powerlines), and cell phone service drops out in much of the area.

The road curves back to the west, and stays fairly mellow as it switchbacks up the back of the hill. The final bit up to the top is brutally steep, but thankfully short.

Views of the Oquirrh Mountains from the back of Turtle Hill, and the one steep section of the loop.

The steep stretch goes quick—just enough to get your heart pounding. Then, you’re up on the wide, rocky top of the hill with panoramic views.

View west, to the Oquirrh Mountains, from Turtle Hill

View east, to the Wasatch Mountains, from Turtle Hill

It’s rare to get through a whole hike out here without hearing ATVs roaring around, or the distant thud of gunshots echoing across the valley. Still, there are moments of stillness and quiet that make it hard to believe that you’re technically within the city limits of a population center of over 40,000 people.

The loop is about 2.4 miles, and only about 420′ elevation gain. Not a destination hike by any means, but for someone in the area it’s a quick and surprisingly scenic way to spend some time outside.

Hiking Black Crook Peak

At 9,274’, Black Crook Peak is the highpoint of the Sheeprock Mountains, a range in Utah’s West Desert. We’d made a failed attempt at hiking Black Crook Peak back in the Spring, and since then I’ve been itching to get back out there.

Our first attempt at hiking Black Crook Peak in the spring

Our first attempt was a prime example of how not to route find. I’d read that the south ridge of Black Crook Peak tends to melt out pretty quickly, and thought it would be a good spring summit hike. Most peaks at this elevation were snowy enough to require snowshoes, which we just didn’t feel like dealing with.

We headed out with little beta and a perhaps slightly inflated view of my new Subaru’s capabilities as an off-road vehicle. After rolling through the small town of Vernon, we found the turnoff onto Benmore road, and then took a right to follow the road up into the mountains. The road got rough enough to make me nervous, but we made it almost to the top. A large, steep patch of snow over the road shut us down, and we backed down until we found a spot to park on the side of the road.

We walked back up the few remaining switchbacks to where the road ended. We could see a ridge high above us that was dry, but the slopes leading up to it were snowy and scrubby, with no visible trails. We slid our way a couple hundred feet up toward the ridge before giving up. We either didn’t know where we were going or the route wasn’t quite as melted out as I’d read.

Second (successful!) summit attempt

When I saw that the Wasatch Mountain Club had a climb of Black Crook Peak scheduled for Nov 13, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to get back there. I signed up, and Dan let me drag him along on another I dragged Dan along on another “hare-brained adventure,” as he described it.

After almost two years of isolating because of the pandemic, and only hiking with each other or a handful of close friends, Dan and I were both a little nervous about meeting up with a group. But we were relieved that it was a small group of 6, including us, and that they were all vaccinated. We met the group in Vernon, and followed them out to the end of Benmore road, where we left my car at a large dirt turn-out and piled into the truck with the rest of the hikers.

We parked the truck just near where Dan and I had seen the first snow patch and backed down the road on our first attempt. Here, there was a faint trail winding up a short distance through the scrub oak, and then opening up on the way up to the ridge. A much, much easier path up to the ridge than the one we’d attempted a few months ago, and completely free of snow.

From there, we followed the ridge, which turned out to be a much more interesting and fun scramble than I’d expected. We generally stayed as high as we could on the ridge, which led to some interesting moves and a touch of exposure that bordered on Class IV in a few places.

Climbing up some fun scrambles along the ridgeline. (Thanks to Akiko and Cigi on the hike for taking so many great photos, including this one!)

Making our way along the ridge to the summit, staying high on the rocks. (Thanks to Akiko and Cigi on the hike for taking so many great photos, including this one!)

Finally at the summit!

Benchmark at the Black Crook Peak summit. (Thanks to Akiko and Cigi on the hike for taking so many great photos, including this one!)

Dan and I at the summit.

View from the summit of Black Crook Peak

View from the summit. The mountain range in the distance on the right, just above the rocks, is the Desert Mountains.

The way back down felt longer, as we reversed all of the scrambles we’d done on the way up, but it was still fairly quick back to the truck. All-in-all, hiking Black Crook Peak made for a beautiful and challenging day, with a fantastic group and great weather.

Desert Mountain Summit

It was only about two weeks after Dan and I got engaged at the top of Black Crook Peak that we made it out to the Desert Mountains. From that summit we’d looked out across the endless nothing and saw those craggy ridges, like mountain islands rising out of a sea of sand and shadscale, and something about the aptly named Desert Mountains caught both of our imaginations.

Topping out at 6480’, they’re not particularly noteworthy. But it was the isolation, their dramatic rocky appearance, and the promise of solitude that drew us to make a trip out there.

Getting to the Desert Mountains

We decided to do just a one night trip, more of a scouting trip, and left the Friday after Thanksgiving. The drive took us past Little Sahara Recreation area, along Weis Highway/Jericho-Callao Road. The road’s only paved up to slightly past the turn to Little Saraha, and then quickly turns to well-maintained dirt for the remaining 20 or so miles.

The Desert Mountain range is split pretty distinctly into two sections, separated by a well-maintained road through a low pass. We veered off of Jericho-Callao Road to go up through the pass, and about half a mile along the road found a dirt track heading off to the right.

Maybe half a mile in, we found an impacted site with a fire pit and a level spot to park the car. After setting up camp, we decided to use the last few hours of daylight to explore. Dan had seen a low point on the ridge that he wanted to try to get to, so we set off around 3pm with some small daypacks.

Hiking to Desert Mountain Summit

We followed the dirt track through the campsite until it faded into the low scrub, then started to work our way up a to a low point on the ridge.

We kept making our way cross-country from the end of the dirt track, aiming for the big dip, just at the edge of the shadows.

Getting closer to the ridge! The terrain was steeper and rougher than it looked from the bottom, so it was slow going—definitely need to be on the lookout for loose rocks and rattlesnakes.

Finally made it to the ridge, and spent a minute enjoying the views and considered what to do next. We’d planned on hiking to the summit of Desert Mountain the next morning, but after a quick look at the map, we realized that we were actually most of the way there, with just a short stretch of not-too-sketchy-looking ridge to cross to reach the summit. We had just enough daylight if we pushed it, so we decided to go for it.

Looking back at where we started up the ridge toward the summit.

Looking up the ridge toward Desert Mountain Summit. The high point in the distance, where the rock changes to a lighter color, is the summit.

The ridgeline was rocky, but nothing too technical. We easily picked a Class II route along it, skirting around the rock outcroppings, and found ourselves at the summit right around 4pm.

I’m not sure I could image a place more fitting of the name Desert Mountain, with it’s rough and barren terrain surrounded by expansive views of the basin and range, uninterrupted by any signs of civilization except a few dirt roads (and the damn power plant, but we don’t need to go into that here). There are few places I’ve felt more solitude, more out there, more like I was on another planet. It’s not an impressive summit by the numbers, but it’s one of my favorites regardless.

Structure at the summit of Desert Mountain

Wood structure near the summit of Desert Mountain. Turns out the summit benchmark is hiding in the shadows just at the base of this structure (I think).

We thought we found the summit benchmark up there. After reading a bit about these benchmarks on Summit Post, I realized that the mark we saw wasn’t the actual benchmark—it’s a reference point directing to it. I think the actual benchmark is hiding in the photo of the wood structure, just at the base of it, but I guess we’ll have to make another trip up here to confirm.

Reference marker near the summit. We missed the actual benchmark.

After a few minutes of enjoying the views and taking photos and the summit, we both felt a stark chill blowing up from the shaded north side of the summit. We were about to run out of warmth and daylight, so it was time to hoof it down.

The descent was quick, and we had just enough daylight left to take a detour to check out an interesting rock formation just below where we were camped. I was falling utterly in love with this place, with the perfect sunset light, the beautiful rocks, the open endlessness of the desert in front of us and a summit behind us, and silence, the pure and untouched silence.

Back at camp, we got a small fire going and reheated some Thanksgiving leftovers. We were treated to a crystal clear night with stars that rivaled what I’ve seen in any designated dark-sky area, crisp and twinkling, with the blush of the milky way clearly visible. But the cold drove us into our sleeping bags pretty early for the night.

Exploring rock climbing in the Desert Mountains

The next morning, we set off in search of some of the climbing areas, driving back out the pass and following Jericho-Callao road around the north side of the range. Here, beautiful granite formations tower over you, and there’s seemingly endless potential to explore.

We followed a dirt track back a little ways until we found a spot called Practice Wall with some easy routes that we could set up top ropes on. Not exactly a towering, epic cliff, I know, but it was a perfect spot for two people who have been out of the climbing game for over a year to give the gear a good shake-out.

We both got a couple of routes in, then continued our circumnavigation of the range, stopping to check out a few other promising looking crags in the process, and then it was time to head home.

Rather than head back the way we came, we decided to chance it on exploring a different route home. From the summit, we’d seen a road stretching almost due north from the Desert Mountains, and figured it must cut through the mountains and meet up with the Pony Express Route on the other side (a guess that we confirmed with maps and GPS before driving too far along it). The road was in good condition, and eventually took us through Erikson Pass, on the flanks of the Sheeprock range and in the shadow of Black Crook Peak, before meeting up with the familiar terrain of the Pony Express Route. It wasn’t any faster than the main access, and likely impassible in bad weather, but it was a fun and scenic detour in good weather.

There’s so much more to explore here, and with it being such a short drive I’m sure it won’t be too long before we make the trip back.

Hiking Maple Peak – West Tintic Mountains Highpoint

Ever since our hike up Black Crook Peak, Dan and I have been embracing the desert hiking. We’ve established a (very) loosely defined goal of summiting as many Great Basin range high points as we can. With that in mind, we headed out to Maple Peak, the highpoint of the West Tintic Mountains.

Panorama from the Maple Peak summit

Getting out to the West Tintic Range

We wanted something relatively easy and close to home this weekend—mainly because we’d slept in too much Saturday morning and didn’t have time to drive somewhere far and still summit. We eventually decided on hiking Maple Peak, the high point of the West Tintic Range.

I’ve written a bit about the Tintic mining district, but this would be my first time exploring the mountains around it.

Cherry Creek Road seems to be the main access to the West Tintics, and it’s a very well-maintained dirt road that rises and falls and winds its way through the range. I love how every mountain range out here seems to have its own unique character. The West Tintics are much mellower than other ranges we’ve explored, full of wide valleys and rolling hills. We also passed numerous campsites, which were remarkably deserted for a gorgeous Saturday afternoon.

We more-or-less followed the directions on SummitPost to find the start of the hike (though we missed it once and had to backtrack).

We came south through Vernon on UT-36. Just before 36 meets up with Highway 6, we made a right onto Cherry Creek Road (unmarked).

The road wound through a construction area, crossed a set of train tracks, and then turned to dirt and headed out into the rolling hills of the West Tintics.

From the turn off of 36, it was 11.2 miles to where we parked, at the start of the jeep road mentioned on SummitPost. There’s a large clearing on the left, just before the road crosses a cattle guard. The jeep road starts at the back of this clearing.

Parked in the large clearing just off of Cherry Creek Road.

Large clearing just off Cherry Creek Road where we started hiking.

Stupidly, I started up the Jeep road in my Subaru, but quickly realized that I like my car too much to risk it. It might have been possible to get a half mile or so up the road if I really didn’t care about my paint job, but just wasn’t worth it.

Hiking Maple Peak, Utah

The weather was perfect for an early December hike. The mellow terrain, low elevation, easy route-finding, and good access make Maple Peak a great winter peak. As with most desert hikes, there’s no shade or shelter, so it would be pretty scorching to do in summertime.

The 4×4 road made for easy hiking, and we followed it up to the ridge.

The start of the rough Jeep road that goes almost to the summit.

The road eventually passes through a cattle gate, and then gets much rougher and steeper. It meanders alongside the ridge, until disappearing a little below the first rock outcrop near the summit.

From the end of the road, it was fairly easy, fun cross-country route finding. We picked our way through the rocks, past some interesting formations, and enjoyed amazingly open 360 views from the summit. This might be one of the best views for the least amount of effort that I’ve found.

Dan checking out some rocks near the summit.

View from the Summit of Maple Peak.

Selfie of Dan and I at the summit of Maple Peak.

Obligatory summit selfie.

We retraced our route back down and reached the car just as the sun was setting, which put us at just about 2 hours car to car. We decided to take advantage of the last bit of light to go check out Cherry Creek Reservoir—we’d been able to see it from the summit, and Dan is always looking for new potential fishing holes. It ended up being just about 2 miles further down the road from where we’d parked. Pretty, especially with the sunset, but not a super promising fishing location.

Sunset on mountains behind Cherry Creek Reservoir.

Catching the last of the sunset at Cherry Creek Reservoir.

Below the reservoir, this pipe was spewing water out quite dramatically. Not sure what happened or why, but the sprays of water made for an interesting photo in the sunset.

All in all, a great quick afternoon hike out in the desert, and another Great Basin highpoint that we can check off of the list.

The Empty Road

Reconnecting with the joy of nature

Tagged with Desert Hiking

Hiking Turtle Hill