Ford Creek to Diamanti Canyon

Last weekend I hiked a stock trail that runs between Ford Creek and Diamanti Canyon, both of which drain into Price Canyon. I noticed the trail in Google Earth years ago, and tried snowshoeing up it this winter without success. There aren’t many hiking trails in Carbon County, especially not that are accessible when there’s snow on the ground. I had hoped most of the snow would be melted off by now. I parked on the side of US-6 and climbed up to the old highway, then followed it to Ford Creek and walked up the road adjacent to the creek. The lower portion of the trail appeared to have been worked by a bulldozer quite some time ago, but just past a small rocky ledge the trail narrowed considerably. Along the trail were some small cougar tracks but they appeared to be somewhat old.

Climbing up from Highway 6
Climbing up from Highway 6


Old Highway 6
Old Highway 6


Explosives bunker along Ford Creek
Explosives bunker along Ford Creek


Ford Creek road
Ford Creek road


End of bulldozer work on the trail
End of bulldozer work on the trail


View up Ford Creek toward Ford Ridge
View up Ford Creek toward Ford Ridge


Narrower trail nearing a ridge
Narrower trail nearing a ridge


The trail topped out on a ridge with views into Price Canyon. It turned west and entered a more densely-forested area. Some tree-trimming showed that the ranchers who run cattle in the area have been maintaining the trail. There were mostly deer tracks on this part of the trail, but I still saw an occasional cougar track. I wore a bear bell just so I didn’t accidentally sneak up on a cougar or bear. I encountered a shed deer antler, and about a minute later found another, both right on the trail. Finding two shed antlers this early into the hike made me optimistic that I’d find many more, but I didn’t see another antler for the rest of the trip. I heard running water and glanced at my GPS, thinking I surely couldn’t already be at the canyon between Ford Creek and Diamanti Canyon. I was right. Instead of a creek running with snowmelt, I had reached a spring bubbling out of the ground. It appeared that rocks had been stacked up all over the spring source to keep cattle from trampling it. I’ve never seen so much water spring from the ground–my photos don’t do it justice. There were relatively fresh boot prints around the spring, but none in either direction along the trail, so I’d imagine there’s another trail that comes straight up from the highway to the spring.

Cactus on the ridge west of Ford Creek
Cactus on the ridge west of Ford Creek


Price Canyon
Price Canyon


Rabbit remains
Rabbit remains


Deer remains
Deer remains


Price Canyon
Price Canyon


Animal scat containing some thin plastic sheeting and grass
Animal scat containing some thin plastic sheeting and grass


Deer antler on the trail
Deer antler on the trail


Another deer antler on the trail
Another deer antler on the trail


Pine tree bent over the trail
Pine tree bent over the trail


Spring erupting from the ground
Spring erupting from the ground


Water troughs below the spring
Water troughs below the spring


I continued on past the next canyon, seeing bear sign along the way. I hiked up a ridge and across a relatively flat area before descending toward Diamanti Canyon. The trail was steep and snow-covered on the last stretch before bottom of the canyon. I decided not to cross the snowy slope, especially since I couldn’t see where the trail continued after reaching the canyon bottom. There had also been no clues in Google Earth that showed where or even whether the trail continued from there. Perhaps I’ll return another time to explore further. I hiked quickly back down the way I’d come in and made it to the Jeep in half the time it had taken me to hike up the trail.

Bear claw marks on an aspen tree
Bear claw marks on an aspen tree


Upper Price Canyon with Reservation Ridge on the horizon
Upper Price Canyon with Reservation Ridge on the horizon


Bear scat
Bear scat


Small drainage flowing with snowmelt
Small drainage flowing with snowmelt


Worked section of trail over a small cliff band
Worked section of trail over a small cliff band


Nearing the top of the ridge
Nearing the top of the ridge


Old bottle
Old bottle


Flat stretch leading to Diamanti Canyon
Flat stretch leading to Diamanti Canyon


Broken glass from a bottle and a mason jar lid
Broken glass from a bottle and a mason jar lid


Trail through the aspen
Trail through the aspen


7 VK 99 aspen carving
7 VK 99 aspen carving


Steep trail into Diamanti Canyon
Steep trail into Diamanti Canyon


Snow on the lower trail
Snow on the lower trail


Photo Gallery: Ford Creek to Diamanti Canyon
GPS Track and Photo Waypoints:
[Google Earth KMZ] [Gmap4 Satellite] [Gmap4 Topo]

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