Page Type:
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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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40.71100°N / 109.828°W |
Route Type:
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Hike/scramble |
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Time Required:
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Most of a day |
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Difficulty:
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Class 2+ |
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Approach
From near the center of Vernal along Highway 40, turn north at the sign for Maeser and follow the road north to 500 North. Turn west here and follow 500 North to 3500 West. Turn north here. There is a sign for Red Cloud Loop Road. Follow the Red Cloud Loop Road through Dry Canyon. If you have time, make sure to stop at the pictographs and petroglyphs along the way.The road becomes a good gravel road at the Forest Service boundary. Follow the Red Cloud Loop all the way to a junction with the road to Ashley Twin Lakes. A sign points the way to Ashley Twin Lakes, but be aware of missing signs as they tend to disappear. Follow the road towards Ashley Twin Lakes. It quickly becomes a 4wd road.
Ignore the side tracks and stay on the main track until you reach a sign post on the left (without a sign). This is important. Hopefully the post will always be there. Notice the photo attached to this section. This place is marked as 10296 on the topo map.
Park here. This is the trailhead.
Very important picture! Keep a close eye out for these two post on the left side of the road! They mark the correct turn-off/trailhead. There is a maze of old logging roads here, so hopefully these post will always be here.
Route Map.Route Description
From the sign post, follow the old road west. This used to be a logging road, but you won’t get a vehicle very far up it now days because of all the fallen trees. Ignore all the faded side tracks until coming to a major junction with another old road heading west (left). This is the trail marked on the topo map. Follow the old road west and up the through the forest. The road eventually fades away near timberline.When the road fades away at timberline, look for a trail climbing up to the south rim of the basin. I left several cairns to help you find the trail. The trail is in good condition, even though it isn’t used much. Follow the trail as it switchbacks to the rim.
Above the rim of the basin, and on the plateau, the trail fades away, but it is well marked with cairns. Since it is above timberline, it is easy to see from one cairn to the next.
Follow the marked route for a short distance to the south. Now you are ready to leave the trail and climb the east slopes of Marsh Peak. Climb up the slopes to the summit. The route is fairly steep, but not overly so. Much of it is grassy, but with some sections of boulders to walk over. The view is spectacular from the summit, which is marked with a cairn. Not far south of the summit are ruins are a helicopter-serviced radio tower. The tower is gone, but two weather ravished small buildings remain.
One way distance to the summit, assuming you can drive to the trailhead, is about 3.1 miles, with just over 2000 feet elevation gain.
escending the south slopes route.