Utah Forest Wilderness

“The great mountain wall leaps at once from the narrow platform of the valley to nearly its greatest altitude. Immense ravines, rivaling those of the Wasatch in depth, but narrower and with steeper sides, have deeply cleft the great tabular mass, and subdivided it into huge pediments… This uplift is crowned by volcanic peaks… deeply scored with grand ravines, well calculated to kindle the enthusiasm of the mountaineer and task his energy…”

–Clarence E. Dutton, Report on the Geology of the High Plateaus of Utah, 1880

Truly at the pinnacle of southwest Utah, the peaks of the Tushar Mountains are the multicolored jewels atop a forested crown. The mountains were named for the Paiute word for white, T’shar, an indication of long-lived summer snowfields. The peaks of the Tushar are the highest in the region, with three topping 12,000 feet. Marking the boundary between the Colorado Plateau and the Great Basin, the volcanic heights of the Tushars provide a striking contrast to the dominant plateau structure to the east. The Tushars contain both a dazzling diversity of views and a broad range of vegetation and wildlife. Matchless in southern Utah, the area boasts alpine scenery that rivals the best of Rocky Mountain National Park. Mountain goats can often be seen grazing in the stunning gorge of Bullion Canyon below Mt Brigham and South Edna Peak where a wide palate of colors graces the slopes with shades of purple, yellow, white, tan, light green and pale orange blending gently into the bright green of short alpine grasses and forbs. To the southeast, the smooth green folds of Delano Peak, the range’s highest point at 12,169 feet, descend to aspen and conifer forests further south. North of this point, the peaks around the abandoned mining camp of Kimberly provide a challenging and noteworthy experience for the wilderness traveler. The spectacular peaks of the Tushars were formed between 22 and 32 million years ago by volcanic activity that included a calamitous explosion that blew off the top of a massive peak perhaps as high as Himalaya. Truly a magnificent place, the Tushar Mountains are unquestionably wild, remarkably diverse, and strikingly unprotected. The Tushar Mountains deserve recognition and protection as wilderness due to their regional uniqueness, the presence of nationally significant geology and scenery, critical habitats for fish and wildlife and sensitive and endemic plant species.

The area faces threats from irresponsible off road vehicle use in mountain meadows and fragile alpine environments, overgrazing by domestic livestock, mineral exploitation and clear cutting of slow-growing high-elevation semi-arid old growth forests.

Opportunities for Primitive and Unconfined Recreation

The Tushar Mountains are located east of the community of Beaver in southwest Utah. The area is roughly bounded on the north by Interstate 70 on the west by Interstate 15, on the south by Circle Valley, and on the east by Utah state highway 89. These main highways provide striking views of the mountains, and each offer their own differing perspective of the area. Highway 89 runs through Marysvale Canyon along the Sevier River. The geology of the area takes center stage here as the dazzling multi-hued red, purple, and tan of Big Rock Candy Mountain emerge around a bend, the flanks of the Mountain sparsely sheltered with Ponderosa Pine. From Highway 89, the traveler can ascend the Tushars from the hamlet of Marysvale via Forest Road 123. This route serves as s jumping-off point for many excellent hiking trails such as trail #215 to 11,303 foot Copper Belt Peak, trail #74 down Bullion Canyon, and trail #50 skirting 11,306 foot Signal Peak. Other non-motorized trails accessed from here include the Skyline Trail, a National Scenic and Recreational Trail, an easy hike to Delano Peak, trail #172 to Blue Lake at the base of Mt Belknap, as well as numerous cross country hikes to named and unnamed peaks. A hike from the Blue Lake trail to the summit of Shelly Baldy Peak is especially rewarding, offering outstanding 360-degree views. Travelers along I-70 on the north pass through Clear Creek Canyon, home to Fremont Indian State Park, the largest concentrated Fremont Indian habitation site ever discovered. Views of Signal Peak and Fish Creek Canyon are worth savoring from the highway.  Traveling along I-15 on the west side of the range, the imposing figure of 12,122 foot Mt. Baldy dominates the ridgeline. In addition to the hiking opportunities listed above, more than 200 miles of non-motorized trails can be found in the Tushars, including trails to unusually-named places such as Little Twist Creek, Iant Ridge, and Senseball Lake. An area worth exploring again and again, the wilderness traveler will find this hauntingly beautiful locale at the top of their list of favorite places.

Unnamed Peak, Mt Brigham, South Edna Peak, Alunite Ridge in the Bullion/Delano - City Creek Proposed Wilderness, Tushar Mountains, Fishlake National Forest, Piute County, Utah

Plant Communities

Astonishingly diverse due to elevation change, the Tushars support alpine and sub-alpine vegetation, mountain meadows, dense aspen and spruce/fir stands, ponderosa pine and Douglas fir, mountain brush, sagebrush steppe, pinion-juniper woodlands, oak, mountain mahogany, and upland mountain grasslands.   The area contains endemic species such as the Tushar Paintbrush, as well as rare and sensitive plants.  Recent fires in the area, both natural and prescribed, have been of great benefit to vegetation, causing regeneration of Aspen and other species. For nearly 150 years, the Tushars have  been grazed annually and heavily by sheep and/or cattle. We’re now thinking differently about the value of these mountains.   If these meadows, riparian areas and aspen stands are managed differently in the future, these cool, high-elevation, moist ecosystems will have a shot at significant recovery.

Archaeology and History

The first known residents to leave their mark on the area were the Fremont peoples. The largest Fremont settlement ever discovered was found during the construction of I-70 in Clear Creek Canyon. Artifacts form the village, as well as petroglyphs are visible in the Fremont Indian State Park adjacent to the north end of the Tushar Mountains. Later residents were drawn to the district by gold and silver. As early as the 1860s, rich deposits of these metals gave rise to boomtowns such as Marysvale, Bullion, and Kimberly. Once known as the “Queen of Utah Gold Camps”, the Kimberly mine employed around 300 miners. The mines played out around the turn of the twentieth century.  The area’s exceptional scenery has long drawn visitors, and one vision of the area as a paradise for a railroad tramp became a widely known song -“The Big Rock Candy Mountain” by Harry “Haywire Mac” McClintock.

“In the Big Rock Candy Mountain, It’s a land that’s fair and bright,
The handouts grow on bushes, and you sleep out every night.”