San Rafael Desert

While spending a big chunk of last week camped on the edge of the San Rafael Swell and the San Rafael Desert, I had some great views into the desert and apparently it sparked my interest. This weekend I parked the truck just off of UT-24 and rode my ATV into the San Rafael Desert just to wander and explore.

http://castlecountry.org/geo/SanRafaelDesertATVRide.kmz


The road started out decent, but after a short distance I had planned on turning onto a faint road that was visible in Google Earth. Despite riding slowly and closely looking for the faint track, I managed to completely pass it up. I backtracked and eventually found it, but it was difficult to follow. I don't think it had seen any vehicle tracks for a long time. I followed the "road" south to an area where the USGS topo map shows a mine shaft and a drill hole. I hiked around a bit and found the drill hole, but not the mine shaft.


Staged just off of UT-24, with the San Rafael Reef in the background
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_8954.JPG

Riding along the "road"
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_8960.JPG

Crossing a wash
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_8970.JPG

Flowers still in bloom in late October
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_8978.JPG

Parked while looking for the mine shaft
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_8996.JPG

Bulldozed track where the mine shaft should have been
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9004.JPG

On the way to the drill hole
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9005.JPG

View along the fault
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9006.JPG

Dropping a Rock down a Drill Hole
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8njAYroz9fw


The road turned southeast and followed a long fault. It was easier to follow now, but there were some bad washouts that I had to pick my way around. I stopped at Crow's Nest Spring and found a mine shaft there that was also listed on the topo map, then continued on toward Cottonwood Wash and then around Dugout Wash and up to the San Rafael River. I spotted a gopher snake sunning itself on the road and stopped to get a few shots of it. On the way to the river there were some sand dunes that encroached upon the road, and I took a few turns throwing sand and riding around a few bowls.


Cottonwood at Crow's Nest Spring
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9028.JPG

Mine shaft along the faultline
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9033.JPG

Mine shaft
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9039.JPG

Cottonwood Wash
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9054.JPG

I found it strange to see scrub oak in the desert
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9059.JPG

Entrada Sandstone and the La Sals in the background
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9065.JPG

Dugout Wash
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9073.JPG

The Cone and Gruver's Mesa
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9082.JPG

Gopher snake
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9096.JPG

Gopher snake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsLxs4A9akw

Crossing Dugout Wash
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9101.JPG

Riding around a washout
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9102.JPG

Sand dunes
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9120.JPG

San Rafael River
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9110.JPG

View up the river bottom toward the Reef
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9125.JPG


After the road dead-ended at the river, I backtracked and then took another road toward Spring Canyon. The canyon was pretty interesting, with a bit of flowing water in the bottom and some colorful cottonwoods. There had recently been some very heavy flash flooding in the canyon, and even the San Rafael River looked like it had been flowing insanely high. When I finished checking out the area, it was getting late, and there were a lot of long, bumpy roads between me and the truck, so I went back the way I'd come and reached the truck just after sunset.


Two-track leading to Spring Canyon
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9140.JPG

The Cone
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9141.JPG

Spring Canyon
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9148.JPG

The San Rafael River at Spring Canyon
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9154.JPG

The road to Temple Mountain
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9183.JPG

Sunset on the La Sals
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9198.JPG

Sunset
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_9206.JPG

Back at the truck after sunset
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...40/IMG9219.JPG

http://picasaweb.google.com/Dennis.U...DesertATVRide#

:2thumbs:

Nice report :popcorn: All of the pictures are top notch but that picture of the gopher snake in strike pose is fantastic. Thanks for the awesome write-up.

Nice! :cool2:

As always you get out and see some cool stuff. I agree, that gopher snake photo is awesome. You should post that in the Dark Room. :nod: