Hike Snow Benchmark in Red Mountain Wilderness, Utah

Stellar views of the sheer cliff walls and chasms of Snow Canyon State Park from the highest summit of Red Mountain Wilderness.

From Red Mountain Trail looking down into one of Snow Canyon's "chasms."
This canyon traces a normal fault with the west side of it (right) dropped down from the east side.

Trip Stats
Location:  The highest point in Red Mountain Wilderness, north of St. George, Utah
Distance/Elevation gain:  7.2 miles out and back/900'.   Trailhead = 4,688'.  Summit = 5568'.  
Coordinates:  ​Summit = 37.25134  -113.68304
Trailhead: Red Mountain Trail on Hwy 18 north of St. George.
Date hiked:  October 19, 2024
Maps/Apps:  Topo Maps US
Considerations:  Red Mountain Trail becomes more faint beyond the turn-off for the Snow Canyon Overlook view.  There are no trail signs.  Experience with navigation/a good map are necessary.  The summit of Snow Benchmark is a short scramble from the trail.  
Links:  Red Cliffs Desert Reserve
Geology:  Large block of Navajo Sandstone deposited by wind in Early Jurassic period (same rock unit as Zion National Park).  The "chasm" or canyon that drops into Snow Canyon traces a normal fault, caused by crustal spreading.

Quote: 
"Joy to the world
All the boys and girls
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea
Joy to you and me."
-  song written by Hoyt Wayne Axton, performed by Three Dog Night

Biological Soil Crusts Rule!

Related

Snow Canyon Overlook

Red Mountain Primitive Trail

Winter Images from Snow Canyon

Lady Liberty's Flight

Overview 
Snow Benchmark, a brown juniper and pine-covered dome rises in contrast above the orange and white sheer Navajo Sandstone cliffs of northern Snow Canyon State Park near St. George, Utah.  You can see it from town if you are near the opening of Snow Canyon to the south.  I've been looking at it for a few years, knowing it was the highest point in the Red Mountain Wilderness.  Finally, Fred and I took two friends to its summit via the northern end of the Red Mountain Trail just north of the Diamond Cinder Cone.

This hike travels the first few miles of the 9.5-mile Red Mountain Trail that treks almost due north and south on a gorgeous plateau with spectacular views of Snow Canyon State Park to its east.  Its northern trailhead is just north of Diamond Valley and its southern entrance can be accessed from 200 East Street in Ivins.  It's notorious for search and rescue calls due to hikers getting lost, because there are no trail signs and it's easy to lose the trail and get off into a canyon or wash.  It treks across areas of slickrock, through deep sand in parts.

This is one of the most gorgeous areas of Utah and I would venture to say the country.  I can't believe I live so close to it.  A green blanket of pinyon pines and junipers, interspersed with austere patches of bare slickrock, rises and falls, covering eroded sandstone domes and ancient sand dunes, and then abruptly ends at sheer orange and white cliffs where waterfalls tumble after a drenching rain.  From this perch 1,300 feet above the canyon floor, minuscule walkers and bikers move up and down West Canyon Road in Snow Canyon State Park.

Our Hike
The first mile of the northern Red Mountain Trail begins at a large parking lot and treks over a lot of big rocks scattered on the wide trail.  At an elevation above 4,500 feet, you travel through pinyon pines and Utah junipers in an undisturbed forest.  Lots of prickly pear, manzanita , sagebrush and scrub oak grow in the sandy soil and in sandstone cracks.

I could just sit on a pink-orange sandstone slab for awhile and breathe in the juniper and pine of this lovely place.  Maybe I would get to hear the "kaw" call of a few pinyon jays.

​At 0.8 miles, reach the fence for the Red Mountain Wilderness boundary.  Another mile down the trail, at 1.8 miles from the trailhead, reach the intersection for the Snow Canyon Overlook, a spectacular view with a sudden drop-off with Snow Canyon 1,600 feet below.  The hike to the overlook is 0.5 miles - a left turn (south) at the intersection.

Instead of taking the left trail at the intersection, keep straight on the Red Mountain Trail heading west/southwest.  At 2.3 miles into the hike, the trail runs close to the rim of one of Snow Canyon State Park's deep chasms.

At 3.0 miles, we found a drainage to follow up toward the summit, arriving to it in another 0.5 mile.  As with a lot of other hikes in this southern Utah area, there was a lot of biological soil crusts, AKA cryptobiotic soil to avoid stepping on.  

Why "Benchmark"?
A bench mark is a fixed point of elevation used as a point of reference for other topographical elevations.  The metal survey disc that marks the Snow Benchmark has a triangle carved into it, indicating that it's a triangulation station, which means it's a position by which other secondary markers are related. Triangulation is a method used in mapping regions using angles and distances between various points.

​It's called "benchmark" because surveyors would put an angle iron into a chiseled horizontal line to form a bench on which a leveling rod was placed.  This ensured that the rod would be placed the same every time the bench mark was used for calculation.

Someone had scratched the elevation onto this marker, as there was no stamped number next to "feet."

USGS Survey marker for Snow Benchmark

Afterward, we celebrated on a tailgate with tortilla chips and three different kinds of salsa from our local farmer's market, supplied by Robin.  She brought these because that was the tradition of my hiking buddies many years ago in the Coachella Valley.  After most hikes we would celebrate with chips and salsa and Corona beer with lime!  Great memories - relish the good times and good life!

Hiking south on Red Mountain Trail with Snow Benchmark (rounded tree-covered dome on right) in sight.
Interesting tilted sandstone cross beds on the trail.

The first mile of Red Mountain Trail is super rocky!  Entering Red Mountain Wilderness at 0.8 miles from trailhead.

Getting further into Red Mountain Wilderness with Snow Benchmark on the right horizon.

Chasm into Snow Canyon:  this stream empties into the main canyon, where West Canyon Trail is.

Leaving Red Mountain Trail heading south to take a right turn (west) to summit Snow Benchmark.

We found a beautiful drainage to follow to the base of Snow Benchmark.  From here on, avoiding cryptobiotic soil that covered much of this terrain.

Beauty in a tree trunk on the way up.

After ascending the drainage, the topography flattens out before the final ascent.

Picking our way through the brush and trees near the summit.

Looking back at the east wall of the huge chasm during our ascent.

Pretty easy summit to get to!

From the summit looking south into Arizona (right) and Red Mountain plateau (left).

Snow Benchmark summit - 5,568', looking southeast at Snow Canyon.  The Red Mountain Trail continues south through the light-colored slickrock upper right.

Some cool stuff on the trail:  Biological soil crusts, iron oxide coating(?), Sue and Fred,
apres' hike chips and salsa courtesy of Robin!!

Robin on the way down from the summit.

One last look down the chasm into Snow Canyon State Park on our way back.

A last look at Snow Benchmark from a patch of white slick rock.

Caltopo map of our tracks to Snow Benchmark from upper Red Mountain Trailhead off of Highway 18.

References
A Field Guide to Biological Soil Crusts of Western U.S. Drylands.  Bureau of Land Management.

​Warren, S.D.  2014.  Role of Biological Soil Crusts in Desert Hydrology and geomorphology:  Implications for Military Training Operations.

Biological Soil Crusts:  Ecology and Management.  2001.  U.S. Department of the Interior.