Cottonwood Mountain (Peak #36)

Cottonwood Mountain as seen from I-15.

Cottonwood Mountain is not a very prominent mountain. There are certain stretches on I-15 where you can catch a glimpse if you know what you're looking for. But even then, it is easy to get confused.

So I thought I would hike it. If nothing else, to straighten it out geographically inside my mind.

I left my house at a quarter after six in the morning and drove past Paragonah and along Little Creek toward Upper Bear Valley. I parked next to a wooden sign just off the graveled road.

The first quarter mile was probably the steepest of the entire hike, but it didn't last long. Immediately after that I descended as much as I had gained. This first part of the hike I had done one other time while out deer hunting.

The trail brought me through a grove of quaken aspen. There were a handful of inscriptions on the trees, but nothing too old.

Not far past here the trail split and I took the right-hand fork. At first I lost the trail because it narrowed, then petered out. After some trial and error I found it again and didn't lose it.

For the next two miles the trail meandered along Willow Creek, a stream bed that was now dry. Despite it being mid-summer, I walked cool in the shade of the canyon. Around me grew lots of oak brush and as I got further along it mingled with lofty pines.

The route I took was admittedly a circumnavigation of the mountain. I planned to wrap around its eastern and northern flanks before walking southward to reach the peak.

Looking at Cottonwood Mountain from the east side. 

A horned lizard or horny toad.

Three miles into my hike I met up with the cattle that I knew had to be around here somewhere judging from the clues they left. At the bottom of a mountain slope spring water had been captured inside a pipe, drizzling the liquid into an aluminum basin where the cattle could drink. The trail passed right through here and I gingerly tiptoed past the cattle, trying not to step on any fresh cow pies.

Here the trail left the canyon and began to wrap around the mountain. Looking at this part on Google Maps I thought it would be a dirt road, but it wasn't. Only a trail. Based on the width of the the cut through the trees, I'll bet it was a road at one time.

From here the trail wraps around the north side of Cottonwood Mountain.

Cattle on the trail.

As the trail began to truly climb in elevation I was pleased to see Peak #2 in the near distance. This was the second peak I climbed during my journey of climbing peaks after the age of fifty. It has no name that I know of and certainly there was no trail.

I made it to the northern end of Cottonwood Mountain. From here I had to leave the trail and bushwhack the final mile to the peak. It wasn't too bad, but occasionally I had to push through sapling aspen or brush to get through. The slope definitely got steeper, but the views got better.

Peak #2 as seen from the northern flank of Cottonwood Mountain.

Cottonwood Mountain has two peaks, the northern one being higher. I hoped to ascend both.

After three hours of hiking I arrived at the northern peak, the higher of the two. There was no view to speak of, most of it being covered with oak brush. Atop a large boulder was a glass jar with a notebook inside. This was the peak register. Judging from that, most years had about two groups summit the mountain and some years had none. Without a doubt, not many people made it up here.

At the summit.

Little Creek Peak as seen from near the summit.

Since there was no view at the top I certainly wanted to hike to the southern peak. This wasn't too difficult. It required a 267-foot drop over a bushy slope. The hardest part was climbing up the north slope of the southern peak, which was forested in heavy timber.

Near the top was a clearing with views back toward the northern peak. I also found several old wooden posts laid on top of each other in a square. It was definitely man-made, but not complex enough to be a structure. Perhaps it was a holding pen at one time.

From here it was another fifth of a mile to the top of the southern peak. Once again, the views weren't great. I could see nothing on the north side. An opening on the other side allowed me to see Iron Peak to the south. Looking east I could see both Little Creek Peak and Sandy Peak. I could also see part of the freeway.

Sandy Peak (left) and Little Creek Peak as seen from the southern peak.

Panoramic view from the southern peak.

I returned the way I came, all the way back to the northern peak. Here I found a narrow trail that led off the east side of the mountain that would potentially shave off a couple miles of hiking. That it did. I followed it downhill until it met up with the trail near Willow Creek. ♠

An old Utah juniper tree with a wide trunk.

Cottonwood Mountain

Distance to Peak: 4.8 miles

Net elevation gain:1,351 feet

Final elevation: 9,124 feet

Total elevation gain: 2,933 feet

Total roundtrip distance: 9.2 miles

Total time: 7 hours 6 minutes