Hop Valley (Zion NP), Pine Valley Equestrian Camp, and Red Mountain, Utah

This is the third blog, in a series of four, about my trip into Southern Utah in October.

Zion National Park.

After leaving the Kanab area I decided to see if I could find somewhere to camp near Virgin on Kolob Terrace Rd. since I would have to drive up that road anyway to get to my next ride in Zion National Park.
There are many dispersed camping spots, some along the river, but most of them were already taken. Also most of the side roads are not very horse trailer friendly. I found a cow corral that would have worked great, but someone was already camped near it in a tent. Finally I decided to just park in a large pullout next to an information board. It's a surprisingly busy road, but it finally quieted down over night.

My random camping spot on Kolob Terrace Rd.

The next morning I continued along the steep and windy road through some amazing scenery to the Hop Valley Trailhead. I watched my truck suck back an awful lot of fuel on the way up. You drive into the park for awhile, then back out, and then back in again just before the trailhead, however I guess the parking area is not in the park boundary because there is no fee required. There was no one else there, so it was easy to fit my rig in, but it is just a loop, so there is not a lot of parking room.
This is not in the main heavily trafficked part of the park, and even though I had hiked in Zion before, this was an area I had never been and it is BEAUTIFUL.

Hop Valley Trailhead.

The trail starts out in an open area, that looks like a painting, and then eventually you drop down into the valley. You are in and out of the park boundary because there is some private land to cross here and there. Once in the valley the trail is sandy, there are some water crossings, green grass, and cows grazing. I saw two sets of backpackers, about midway, but that was the only humanity I encountered all day. There is also a horse camp site you can use for packing in, but a permit is required for that.

On the Hop Valley Trail.

Like riding into a painting... on the Hop Valley Trail.

Found a memorial bench: It says "for all that need a rest".

Dropping down into the valley.

The destination at the end of the valley.

A few water crossings on the Hop Valley Trail.

Cows grazing on the Hop Valley Trail.

Fall colors on the Hop Valley Trail.

After awhile you climb a little ways out of the valley to a viewpoint, it is hard to believe how pretty it is.

From there the trail switchbacks downhill and continues on to the junction with the La Verkin Creek Trail. Although I went down the hill briefly it wasn't long before I came across a large slab of rock and from what I understand it remains very rocky on the switchbacks all the way down. I had started to learn that in Utah when they say a trail is rocky, they really mean it, whereas in Central Oregon, a trail can have a tiny section of rock and be deemed not recommended for horses! My plan had been to ride into that area again another day from the Lee Pass Trailhead, so I decided not to continue any further. As it turned out, I ended up not doing the Lee Pass version after all, but I was told that the way I went is the prettier of the two rides.

At the viewpoint on the Hop Valley Trail.

At the viewpoint on the Hop Valley Trail.

Heading back on the Hop Valley Trail.

Since I had had no cell service all day or the night before, I hadn't been able to make a call ahead of time to the place I wanted to stay next. By the time I made it back into cell range no one was answering the phone. I left a message, and then had to figure out a Plan B.

Washington Legacy Park outside of Hurricane was recommended to me as a nice central location to camp where I could trailer out to nearby trails. But it turns out they only answer phone calls in the morning. You can call way ahead of time and reserve, but I was not in reservation making mode on this trip, since it was kind of hard to know ahead of time exactly what I was going to be doing each day. I drove by anyway to check the park out, but then decided to go to the one and only horse camp in the area, in Pine Valley.

The Pine Valley Recreation Area has several campgrounds, one of which is for horses. It is a pretty big camp with 15 spots but only 8 are for equestrians, 5 of those 8 are double spots, and you have to pay twice as much for those. Two of the spots are reserved for horse people until 6 pm, after that anyone can use them. Each of the horse sites has only one log corral that is not divided, and it is fairly roomy.
There are 3 bathrooms, 7 water spigots, (the water was not on when I was there) and dumpsters. There is a day use area with a steel corral divided into 4 sections with a water trough in the middle, a loading ramp and hitch rails. It's $5.00 per day to use the day use.
Camping is $17.00 per night and the double spots are $34.00.
While I was there, the other campgrounds in the area were already closed.

Pine Valley Horse Camp...spot #10.

The camp is at 6900 feet so it was a chilly night, but the next morning after thawing out, I took a look at the map at the trailhead and picked one of the many trails to try. I wanted to do a loop and I knew no matter which trail I picked there would be some serious elevation gain, judging from the steepness of the cliffs surrounding me. From the camp you can ride to all the different trailheads on fairly level ground, pick one, and start climbing. I started up the Browns Point Trail, got to an area where there was a nice view, then continued on. The trail was rocky in places at first, but suddenly it became a sheer rock ridge, still steep, with drop offs on either side. I don't know if I would have continued if my horse had not been a little tired that day, but it looked like the rock went on for quite some time, and I didn't want to be forced to come back down it, so I turned around. There were some more views from there, down into the town of Pine Valley.

Entering the Pine Valley Wilderness.

Lots of climbing on the Browns Point Trail.

Views on the Browns Point Trail.

The Browns Point Trail turned into this.

Views down onto the town of Pine Valley.

When I got back down into the valley I rode to some of the other trailheads and then looped around by taking the road back to camp. That was the extent of my exploring, but there are many other trail options. Apparently this is rattlesnake country, but I didn't see any, it was not really warm enough for them to be out and about. I spent another even chillier night and then was glad to drop back down to a lower elevation the next day.

Lunch break at a viewpoint on the way down.

On the road back to camp.

On my way back towards St. George and Hurricane I stopped at the Red Mountain Trailhead which takes you to an overlook of Snow Canyon. This ended up being one of my favorite rides. The trailhead has lots of room for horse trailers and there is a map of the area. I went south along a horse trail which then looped me over to the first of two overlooks. This trail was deep sand with cactus, but it kept me off the main trail where all the hikers were.

Lots of parking at the Red Mountain Trailhead.

A very sandy horse trail.

Views back over to Pine Valley.

On the trail to Snow Canyon.

At the first overlook there are some hitching rails set up, which some other riders were using at the time. The view into Snow Canyon from there is astonishing. I took it all in for quite awhile and then rode on to the second overlook which is the main one that people hike straight to from the parking lot. Then I continued on to the other side of the canyon, from there the trail keeps going for another 7 miles, but I turned around and took the very rocky hiker trail on the way back.

Snow Canyon.

Snow Canyon from the main overlook.

Snow Canyon.

Snow Canyon from the west side.

The trail back was rocky the entire way.

After this ride, I drove over to Washington Legacy Park. I had finally connected with a lady on the phone, and she said I could stay there for the next four nights.
More about that in the upcoming fourth and final blog about this trip....to be continued!


GPS COORDINATES TO HOP VALLEY TH

GPS COORDINATES TO PINE VALLEY

GPS COORDINATES TO RED MOUNTAIN TH