Road Trip Campin’ IV: Tushar Mountains

July 18-21, 2019–Part 4 of 4 of a nine-day camping trip through south-central Utah. We covered about 600 miles, camped in four different places, and were joined by friends at various points along the way.

The last camp of our trip was in the Tushar Mountains. I’d never been in this part of Utah and the drive was wonderful. Traci and I stopped at Butch Cassidy’s childhood home just outside Circleville. Next we met up with Traci’s mom and our two kids in Junction, then started the steep ascent into the Tushars along UT-153. We climbed about from about 6,000′ in town to our camp spot at 10,200′, and I shifted the truck into 2-low for part of the drive. A total of 11 people camped with us during the weekend.

Tunnel in Red Canyon
Tunnel in Red Canyon

Butch Cassidy’s childhood home near Circleville
Butch Cassidy's childhood home near Circleville

Shed near the Parker residence
Shed near the Parker residence

After setting up camp on Thursday I went for a ride on my dirt bike to Three Creeks Reservoir, enjoying the switchbacks on UT-153 and wishing I had a road bike. There were elk grazing on Big Flat as I returned to camp, and that evening we watched a decent sunset across the flats.

Near Three Creeks Reservoir
Near Three Creeks Reservoir

Elk grazing at Big Flat
Elk grazing at Big Flat

Tushars over Big Flat
Tushars over Big Flat

Big Flat sunset
Big Flat sunset

On Friday Ken, Paul, and I hiked to the summit of City Creek Peak. We took Ken’s Jeep to the trailhead and hiked along an old road until we reached the Skyline National Recreation Trail, which we followed the rest of the way to the summit. Some mountain goats were grazing near the summit as we approached, but they dropped off the east side of the ridge and we never got to see them up close. The views north from the summit toward the higher peaks of the Tushars provided a preview of where we hoped to hike the next day.

Parking spot for the hike to City Creek Peak
Parking spot for the hike to City Creek Peak

Heading up the “road”
Heading up the "road"

Spider webs in the pine trees
Spider webs in the pine trees

The Tushars from the trail
The Tushars from the trail

Trailside columbine
Trailside columbine

A patch of snow along the trail
A patch of snow along the trail

View down City Creek
View down City Creek

Trail sign
Trail sign

City Creek Peak in sight
City Creek Peak in sight

Mountain goats
Mountain goats

Terraces below Mount Holly
Terraces below Mount Holly

Ken and Paul nearing the peak
Ken and Paul nearing the peak

Final climb to City Creek Peak
Final climb to City Creek Peak

Piute Reservoir
Piute Reservoir

City Creek Peak panorama
City Creek Peak panorama

Ken on the summit
Ken on the summit

The sunset was beautiful that evening, and we watched the International Space Station streak across the sky.

Enjoying a fine sunset at camp
Enjoying a fine sunset at camp

International Space Station streaking across the night sky
International Space Station streaking across the night sky

Saturday morning Chris, Georgia, and I set out to hike Mount Belknap, the second-highest peak in the Tushar Mountains (I’d already hiked Delano Peak, the highest in the Tushars, three years earlier). We only made it as far as Poison Creek where we found a locked gate, and even getting that far in my wife’s Honda Pilot was somewhat difficult. Hiking along the road would have added nine miles round-trip to our hike, which was way too much for any of us. Instead we retreated to where we had cell service and I found another nearby easy hike that was within our reach, Twin Lakes. I didn’t know what to expect from our hike to the lakes but info on the internet seemed to be pretty sparse so I assumed the area was visited infrequently. Along the way we spooked some elk that ran away from us, crashing through the trees, so we heard them more than saw them. We crossed Merchant Creek on a sketchy log and reached the southernmost lake first. A rock wall on the downstream side of the lake possibly indicated that a dam was built there to increase holding capacity. Beyond the second lake we found a now-dry irrigation canal that used to carry water into the lakes from Merchant Creek. After looping around the lakes we returned to our vehicle and then back to camp.

Locked gate on the way to Mount Belknap
Locked gate on the way to Mount Belknap

Big John Flat and Shelly Baldy Peak
Big John Flat and Shelly Baldy Peak

J.S.B. 2014
J.S.B. 2014

Hiking toward Twin Lakes
Hiking toward Twin Lakes

Georgia at the southernmost of Twin Lakes
Georgia at the southernmost of Twin Lakes

Dam(?) at Twin Lakes
Dam(?) at Twin Lakes

Twin Lakes
Twin Lakes

Twin Lakes
Twin Lakes

Old irrigation canal that used to feed Twin Lakes
Old irrigation canal that used to feed Twin Lakes

Leaving Twin Lakes
Leaving Twin Lakes

Some sort of primrose(?) along the trail
Some sort of primrose(?) along the trail

Chris helping Georgia across Merchant Creek
Chris helping Georgia across Merchant Creek

Oh my god, they killed Kenny! You bastards!
Oh my god, they killed Kenny!  You bastards!

Big Flat ranger station
Big Flat ranger station

Drinking water sign and spigot at Big Flat
Drinking water sign and spigot at Big Flat

That night, like all the others during our trip where friends joined us, we played some games at camp and enjoyed time around the camp fire. On Sunday morning everybody scattered and headed toward their homes. I really wanted to finish driving the rest of US-89 from Junction north to I-70, but I didn’t want to descend the steep road that we’d driven in on, so we headed west to I-15 and followed an easier, more familiar route home.

Heading home along UT-153
Heading home along UT-153


Photo Gallery: Road Trip Campin’ IV: Tushar Mountains
GPS Track and Photo Waypoints: [Google Earth KMZ]

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