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Walking through Tushars tundra and seeing mountain goats from afar on the highest mountain range in southern Utah.
The volcanic high Tushars looking west.
From left to right: Mount Baldy, Mount Belknap, Gold Mountain, Signal Peak.
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Hike Summary
0 - 0.7 miles: Bullion Pasture Trailhead to first high point at 11,200' 0.7 - 2.0 miles: to highest point on hike at 11,500' (this is just to saddle; option is to summit 11,673' peak) 2.0 - 3.5 miles: highest point to Copper Belt Peak summit at 11,383'
Overview
There's something about this little-known mountain range that keeps us going back. Actually, lot of things. It's a striking high volcanic range where you walk on tundra above tree line to look over southern Utah and through aspens and meadows with wildflower-lined creeks in the summer. It's only a couple of hours drive from St. George. Often times we see more mountain goats than people on the trails. So far we've hiked four of the Tushar summits, all of them over 11,000 feet. The hike to Delano Peak, the highest peak in southern Utah, is a defined and short path if approaching from the west. Hikes to Mount Holly and Shelly Baldy require a bit of cross-country navigation. This hike starts and stays high, with fantastic views as you cross grassy ridges and a talus-riddled saddle to drop onto an old mining road that leads to the easily-climbed ridge to Copper Belt Peak. There's a good chance you will see mountain goats, and we did on this trip. The trail is not marked and is faint in some places, so having GPS tracks and a map is helpful. This peak gets its name from the significant copper ore deposits in this area, and in fact, Copper Belt Mine lies to its northeast. Other mines in the area are Bully Boy, Cascade, and Shamrock.
Our Hike (topo map and our tracks at end of this post)
We stayed in our favorite campground, Mahogany Cove, on Hwy 153 about 13 miles east of downtown Beaver, Utah, sleeping in the bed of our truck. It's ~ 6 miles from there to the turnoff for FR 123, a graded gravel road that goes past Big John's Flat and the trailhead to Delano Peak, and to Bullion Pasture trailhead in about 10 miles from turn-off. At this elevation, aspens had already dropped their leaves and it was chilly, but beautifully sunny. The trail begins east from the parking lot, where you see the mountain range you will be traversing through. It goes to the right of the dark copper-colored peak furthest to the left. To the right of that, a higher, broader light tan peak (Peak 11,673') is the highest on this trail. Copper Belt Peak is behind this summit. The trail starts out very defined for the first 0.6 miles, where you encounter your first "bump" on the ridge after walking through a wide grassy saddle. It traverses the right (south) side of this bump, where you see the next dark bump. Unless you want to climb it, the trail goes around it to the left, 1.0 mile into the hike. For another 0.6 miles, hike along a relatively flat path through grass and volcanic rock to drop down onto another grassy saddle with a close-up view of the climb to come. We met two hunters from St. George here, and we had a nice chat with them. One is also a wildlife photographer: mike_wildphoto64 on Instagram. From this saddle, it's a 250' climb to the saddle between the round dark brown peak on the left and Peak 11,673' on the right. The climb to this peak is just 100 feet above the saddle. The talus slope here is steep, so the trail climbs high towards Peak 11,673' summit to avoid too much traversing through the talus. Once past Peak 11,673', the old road to the base of Copper Belt Peak comes into view; follow it to the base of Copper Belt and then hike up its southern ridge to the summit at 11,383'!!
For the Geo-curious: Walking through Volcanic Terrain
The map below shows our tracks (blue) through a geologic map of the Tushar Mountains on Google Earth. Each of the different types of rock are recorded as map units, with their corresponding color and abbreviation. On geologic maps, yellow always denotes the youngest map unit - the Quaternary Period which is 2.5 million years ago (Ma) to present time. The oldest is the prevolcanic sedimentary rocks - 170 million years old - from the Jurassic Period (Ja) unit in blue on the right side. Even after the explosive volcanic eruptions that formed the Tushar Mountains 22 Ma, this old Jurassic unit is still revealed at the surface. Our tracks begin at the Bullion Pasture Trailhead (lower left) in rhyolite (Tmbl), an extrusive rock that's high in silica and the chemical equivalent of granite (an intrusive rock). It originated from the inside of the Mount Belknap Caldera. Quickly, the trail crosses over the wall of the Belknap Caldera (line formed by red "T's") After briefly crossing a Quaternary landslide (Ql), we headed into the Bullion Canyon Volcanic rocks (Tbm and Tbd), where we would spend most of the time for the rest of the hike, higher on the ridge. This hike is significant for trekking through Mount Belknap caldera (collapsed volcano following magma chamber emptying) rocks as well as Bullion Canyon volcanic rocks to the southeast, two different volcanic terrains. So much more to explore in the unique Tushars: more peaks to climb and trails to hike. We're grateful we are able to experience these beautiful places.
Geologic map of the Tushars with our hike tracks on Google Earth.
Truck shot: on our way to Bullion Pasture Trailhead on FR 123, AKA Paiute ATV Trail #01.
The trail begins at the left of this sign. Trailhead reached via FR 123 coming from the south.
Starting from the trailhead in the morning - heading to the peaks on the left with the dark "copper" colors.
Copper Belt Peak is behind the pointy peak on the left. 
A good night's sleep in our truck bed last night and we are ready to go!
Just past the trailhead. 
Looking back at the trail we have just ascended (far right). I'm on the first "bump" on the ridge.
Trail goes across saddle to the left and around to the left of this next bump on the ridge (11,450').
Not too many hikes do I have to wear my puff jacket: pretty chilly this morning at 11,000 feet!
Heading to the saddle between the two peaks above my head to the right. 
Looking at Peak 11,673', the highest peak on the hike, to the right of the copper-colored peak. Trail goes up through the pass between these two high points.
Approaching the lighter-colored mini-ridge where the trail descends through its low point into a lower saddle where it then ascends the flank of Peak 11,673' to the right, then traverses through the saddle on the left of the darker peak.
We ran into two fully-outfitted hunters. The man on the left is a wildlife photographer.
Trail goes up to the saddle separating the two high points above. You have the option of summiting the point on the right, which is Peak 11, 673', the highest on this hike. The trail is just to the left of this summit.
Getting closer to Peak 11,673' on the right. You can see a faint trail on the left side of it.
Looking back at hunters (left) and our trail. Mount Baldy on the right.
Ascending toward saddle with Peak 11,673', the highest point on this hike, on Fred's right. We didn't ascend this peak, but instead walked around its left side.
Mt. Belknap, the second-highest Tushar peak (left), and Gold Mountain in center.
Added to our peak-bagging list! 
Past the highest point on the hike, you walk toward the old (probably mining) road to the right of Fred. Copper Belt Peak is just on Fred's left with small dark dome on top.
Seeing mountain goats lying down on rock outcrop in the distance (lower center).
Looking back at old road along ridge, Mount Belknap on the right.
Copper Belt Peak ahead. Planning our ascent: we left road near saddle of ridge to the peak' right.
Heading toward saddle on ridge just under Copper Belt (left).
It's an easy scramble to the top of Copper Belt Peak.
Looking west at the volcanic Mount Baldy and Mount Belknap from near Copper Belt's summit.
From Copper Peak's summit: Looking east at Mt. Baldy (left) and Mt. Belknap (right).
Another Tushar peak conquered!
Copper Belt Peak register.
Post-hike celebration with fresh cantaloupe at the trailhead. We use the foam pads in the truck cab to sleep on.
Caltopo map of our GPS tracks from Bullion Pasture trailhead (lower left) heading northeast to Copper Belt Peak.
Elevation profile shows the one-way approach to the peak. North points up.
4 Comments
12/1/2024 09:03:28 am
Lovely images. I wonder how many pounds of gear the wildlife photog packed up there! 12/1/2024 01:26:57 pm
Yeah really! His pack looked really heavy. And, they spent the night in the bed of their truck like we did, except they didn't have a cover like we do! And they stayed at the trailhead which was colder than Mahogany Cove Campground!
Christie Hallman
12/1/2024 01:42:14 pm
Another awesome adventure! Love your pics and descriptions! 12/1/2024 02:05:01 pm
Hi Christie! Leave a Reply. |
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Sue and Fred
About this blogExploration documentaries – "explorumentaries" list trip stats and highlights of each hike or bike ride, often with some interesting history or geology. Years ago, I wrote these for friends and family to let them know what my husband, Fred and I were up to on weekends, and also to showcase the incredible land of the west.
Happy Autumn!
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