Behind the Reef - Little Wild Horse Canyon
West of Green River, Utah

by: Bob Norton

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Colorful climb up Wild Horse Canyon

The San Rafael Swell, located in Utah west of Green River and north of Hanksville, has particularly outstanding backcountry roads and routes. Very remote, be sure you head into the area with plenty of gasoline, water, etc. Unfortunately, many of these routes are threatened with closure due to existing Wilderness Study Areas and potentially many more WSA’s from the new Utah Wilderness Inventory. Comments are being taken now concerning this inventory, but time is short and they must be received by the BLM by June 21, 1999. Follow the links at:

http://www.access.gpo.gov/blm/utah/index.html

If you are familiar with any roads, however primitive, in the areas that the BLM claims to have "wilderness characteristics", please write! The more specific in this scoping phase, the better. It seems that the efforts to respect the roads and ways by motorized and mechanized users are ignored. The phrase "substantially unnoticeable" is applied constantly to such routes by the BLM and they believe must be further protected as "wilderness"! Here is their distorted view of roads:

BLM’s Analysis of Roads

Inventory units must be roadless. Roads were clearly identified and their impact on the naturalness of the area evaluated. If an access route met the road definition, its use and possible long-term need was documented. In order to ensure a consistent identification of "roads" as opposed to an un-maintained vehicle way, the following definition was used: "The word ‘roadless’ refers to the absence of roads which have been improved and maintained by mechanical means to ensure relatively regular and continuous use. A ‘way’ maintained solely by the passage of vehicles does not constitute a road."

"Improved and maintained"—Actions taken physically by people to keep the road open to vehicle traffic. "Improved " does not necessarily mean formal construction. "Maintained" does not necessarily mean annual maintenance.

"Mechanical means"—Use of hand or power machinery or tools.

"Relatively regular and continuous use"—Vehicular use that has occurred and will continue to occur on a relatively regular basis. Examples include access roads for equipment to maintain a stock water tank or other established water sources, access roads to maintained recreation sites or facilities, or access roads to mining claims.

On Memorial Day weekend, it came about that a number of persons interested in keeping Utah backcountry routes open met in the Swell. OHV, motorcycle and 4-WD users were well represented, a who’s who of activists from Utah and New Mexico. Lee Swasey participated in this meeting, a descendent of the Swasey’s that have a rich historical tie to this area dating from the 1880's. It was great to finally put "faces" with many of those that we have been communicating with via e-mail.

After chatting awhile, photos and videos taken, those with 4-wheel drives in the group headed to see the Black Dragon pictograph just north of Interstate 70. From there, we headed for the Devil’s Racetrack, originally a wagon road and used by ranchers. The BLM is threatening the trail, which runs through a WSA, with emergency closure. The situation is very sensitive at this time as users attempt to work with the BLM to mitigate problems and find avenues to keep the trail open.

A smaller group of 4-wheelers met again Sunday to drive another trail: Little Wild Horse Canyon. Southwest of Green River, we take the road west at Temple Mountain/ Goblin Valley Road and Highway 24. The colorful, wildly tilted San Rafael Reef fills our views to the west. We continue past the Goblin Valley State Park turnoff.

As we drive out of the reef on the west side numerous old mine shafts are visible on the side of Temple Mountain just to the north. Temple Mountain is said to be a virtual "vegetable soup" of rocks and minerals! Turning left, Chute Canyon Rd./1016 Rd. is suitable for cars as far as the location of Morgan’s Cabin. Morgan mined Uranium in the area and lived in a small shack at the site. Vandals recently burned this structure down. Too bad, reading some of his opinions of the "Feds" written on mining claim papers on the walls was very entertaining. Just south of this location is a narrow, scenic cut through the San Rafael Reef known as Chute Canyon. This is a wash that small vehicles, such as CJ-5's, used to be allowed to drive through.

Overlooking Morgan’s mining site, the Behind the Reef Road branches off to the north. The first stretch of road that climbs upward will be testy for those travelers early in the spring.

The winter-time freeze/thaw cycles loosen blocks of sandstone from the hillside. Where do they land? On the road, of course!

Judging by the tracks, we may have been the first with 4-wheel drives to traverse the road this year. The heavy rains of last Autumn have created additional erosion and one spot had gotten a bit narrow. No problem! A number of our group donned shovels to repair the route for others to safely use. And...most importantly, the necessary mechanical means was utilized to maintain this loop road.

Periodically the road is maintained by mechanical means

Brett Davis tries out the big rocks

Some of the rock fall did not prohibit us from having a bit of fun, though. Brett Davis, President of the Utah 4-WD Association, feels obligated to drive over all of the of largest imposing obstacles with his "Chevroleep Scramblerado". (You will have to ask him!)

The road is pretty tame beyond this stretch, albeit teeth ‘rattlin. I recommend taking a short branch route to the left, about .4 of a mile from the start. It overlooks other mining sites and dead ends at a narrow canyon. Hike the short distance in...it is very colorful and there are some interesting erosion patterns carved into the rock.

After the initial long climb, the Behind the Reef Road continues southwesterly along the backside of the reef. It passes through another area with remnants of uranium mining activity as it loops northward, eventually connecting with the big county road in McKay Flats.

But we do not intend to complete that route this day, we find our turnoff at an interesting "mushroom" capped rock. Downstream, Little Wild Horse Canyon becomes a very narrow hiking trail through the reef. It is said to be very spectacular. The entire reef area to our left (southeast) of the road is within a current Wilderness Study Area, so vehicles are banned. The route that we plan to take to the north is within the Muddy Creek-Crack Canyon inventory unit. And of course, it is alleged to have "wilderness characteristics" which threaten closure.

The wash in Little Wild Horse Canyon is dry much of the year and consists mostly of sand, gravel and boulders. Our group of 4-WD’s will drive to the point where an old mining road connects with the wash bottom. The canyon has seen motorized and mechanized use for decades and there is absolutely no evidence of any damage. The infrequent flash floods in the canyons of southeastern Utah do have a way of "hosing out" such as trees, weeds, tracks, any living thing unlucky enough to be caught in one!

Rockcrawling opportunities

A few large boulders provide some entertainment for the "Big Dog" 4-wheelers as we continue up the wash. We pass a huge cairn. I don’t know the significance of it, perhaps a boundary marker for the block of state land?

At one point, hills to our left are sparkling. Investigating, we find selenite. It is fascinating for those that have never seen it. Selenite appears somewhat similar to mica, but the layers of transparent rock are much thicker. The best may have layers about ½" thick and be very clear. Although milky and thin, the selenite eroding out of these hills is interesting and we collect some. The children particularly enjoy this.

We find the road exiting the wash. There is plenty of evidence to show that this road to the top of the bench was constructed by a bulldozer. A little sand at the bottom, followed by a hard sand/gravel surface, we find some erosion at the right side on the first long climb. Stock vehicles would have trouble if they "fell" into the holes.

At the base of the last long climb to the top there is a section of much more significant erosion. Falling into the hole here would be very bad. We figure that any 4-WD that drops in will just have to remain there, becoming handy fill! A bypass of this eroded section exists. However, we continue up the original road, straddling the crown. We all manage not to fall off the hillside at the right or the eroded "canyon" at our left. Brett did provide some thrills though as a pesky, slippery boulder tried to slide his vehicle into big trouble!

The last section to the top consists of some rockcrawling up eroded ledges. The wrong line will stop progress, sometimes leading to a tippy, wheel lifting situation. With capable vehicles, we make the climb without much trouble.

From the bench top, the panoramas looking back at the San Rafael Reef and canyons are outstanding. From here northward, the road is well used and connects to the main county road at McKay Flat.

While not a particularly difficult route, Little Wild Horse Canyon is typical of the routes throughout the area that have a long history of motorized and mechanized access. These routes provide solitude and an enjoyable semi-primitive backcountry experience for the entire family and for those that would not be able to hike the long distances into such areas. They are worth fighting for.

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