I tried to get up to the Wasatch Plateau with a '00 Beetle in 2003 without success from Spring City. The road became too rutted and muddy before reaching Skyline Drive. In 2005, I tried from Ephraim, which wasn't too bad. Much of it was freshly graded and newly graveled. It appears that the road is being widened in many places. Some areas were recently being worked on by heavy equipment (the signs leading up the hill stated up to a 5 hour delay was possible) and some sections were one-way on fresh dirt/wood bits from fresh cuttings. Being a Sunday during hunting season, I figured the 5 hour delay would be extremely unlikely. There was one muddy section that I had to shoot through to avoid getting stuck, but it was only 50-100 feet long with high enough portions to keep the car from sinking.
Out of both roads, the Ephraim road is way better. Awesome ~30mph for almost halfway, and I would estimate it will be even better in '2006. Unless Spring City's road has been bladed recently, it is far worse than Ephraim.
We had to go down to Ephraim due to snow blocking us from going north hence the need to go up via Spring City. We had done East Peak earlier and were trying to access from the east and that was looking good until we hit the snow, forcing us to turn around and go down to Ephraim. The upper road was a construction mess and the mud section you mentioned was almost successful in getting our 4WD Tacomas stuck. It looked like a slide had occurred there and they had just punched through it. After that, the Ephraim road was a breeze as you mentioned. Our only choice was to try the Spring City route which fortunately was fine for us. I can see why your VW would have a problem, you need high clearance towards the upper end.
The Spring City Canyon road was rough but not a problem for us in our high clearance trucks. We did hit some mud on Skyline Drive that was scary but it was the snow we hit again on Skyline Drive that made us traverse over No. Tent, actually a neater hike although longer than the normal route. I'm sure the Ephraim route will become much better as they continue to work on that road. I appreciate your input on this, these often become mini adventures.
For some reason, it won't let me put 10,285 feet in the elevation line in the edit section with a comma in it. When I removed the comma and just put it as 10285 it worked fine. Lesson learned.
Now corrected and thanks for the heads up.
Ah - welcome to the world of dot and commas. Here in Europe the roles of dots and commas are often reversed. In Germany the altitude would have read 10.285,00 feet. If we preferred feet to meters. Many a new SP member despaired of inserting coordinates just for this reason.
I have to admit that those of us in the USA do poorly when it comes to dealing with the metric system. We are stuck on feet and yards, pounds and other awkward measurements although we all understand the superiority of liters over quarts. Thanks Gangolf for your vote on this page. Check out the little bit of history that I've added to the external links page as I have an ancestor who started an indian war in this area. : )
Thanks Dan, I'll look at adding this information to the front page. I did look at that road on the map and wondered about it but of course when we did this peak, it was under some snow. Any input is appreciated.
Great job on the home page and I'll add a couple of details. From Main St. in Spring City take either 100 South or Center St. to 700 East (~ .6 miles) and the Canyon Rd. (no sign that I saw) is between those two streets at 700 East. Stay left at the first fork you encounter (at 2.1 miles) and 1.0 mile later is a cattle gate marking the national forest entrance. From the cattle gate to the skyline road is 8.3 miles. Although a few forks are encountered the main route seemed obvious. At the skyline road turn right/south and, as mentioned, it's ~ 3.3 miles to a meadow area below both North and South Tent Mt. peaks. Unfortunately, the sign mentioned on the home page is gone but between the mileage and pictures posted one shouldn't have any problems knowing the location. I parked off the road by some campers and headed up the North Tent slope and then followed the saddle as recommended (thanks, Dean, that worked well!). There's a dirt road that heads closer to the South Tent Mt. peak but that appeared to be a harder bushwhack and certainly added some elevation to the hike. The Forest Service appears to be doing some major work on the road up but as of 8/19/09 I estimate the first 4 1/2 miles were in good shape but high clearance would be needed the rest of the way.
Thanks for the clearer directions regarding the way up from Spring City. I've added that to the front page as well as the
info about the signage at the 3.3 mile mark. Also glad to hear the FS is working on improving the road, that is good news.
As Stansbury correctly notes, there is no sign in Spring City saying anything about Spring City Canyon. Center Street is paved to 700 East and beyond. Hang a left when you can see that the road heads east for a long way, before reaching the new homes to the south. There is absolutely no sign saying South Tent Mountain, but there is a road heading east and down and a sign saying Dead End Road. I took this road down to the northwest base of South Tent and parked just short of a small stream. I then walked the road leading gently up and south to the south end of the mountain, then bushwhacked up to the summit. Took a very direct route down and didn't find it too bad.
Update: We drove the Spring City approach this past weekend and the road up the canyon from Spring City was well graded and quick driving---no high clearance of 4WD needed. However, the final 3.3 miles on Skyline drive was much rougher and you could probably make it without high clearance or 4WD but it would be dicey.
We drove up Fairview Canyon and then south along Skyline drive. The road is deeply rutted and suitable only for high-clearance 4WD vehicles in dry road conditions. Passable only for the very intrepid when wet (as shown by the ruts of those who have destroyed the road surface). South of the mountain, the road is much better and suitable for all vehicles. A route from Ephraim and then north along the Skyline drive might be preferred.
nebben - Mar 5, 2006 3:50 am - Voted 10/10
Access from WestI tried to get up to the Wasatch Plateau with a '00 Beetle in 2003 without success from Spring City. The road became too rutted and muddy before reaching Skyline Drive. In 2005, I tried from Ephraim, which wasn't too bad. Much of it was freshly graded and newly graveled. It appears that the road is being widened in many places. Some areas were recently being worked on by heavy equipment (the signs leading up the hill stated up to a 5 hour delay was possible) and some sections were one-way on fresh dirt/wood bits from fresh cuttings. Being a Sunday during hunting season, I figured the 5 hour delay would be extremely unlikely. There was one muddy section that I had to shoot through to avoid getting stuck, but it was only 50-100 feet long with high enough portions to keep the car from sinking.
Out of both roads, the Ephraim road is way better. Awesome ~30mph for almost halfway, and I would estimate it will be even better in '2006. Unless Spring City's road has been bladed recently, it is far worse than Ephraim.
Dean - Mar 5, 2006 4:27 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Access from WestWe had to go down to Ephraim due to snow blocking us from going north hence the need to go up via Spring City. We had done East Peak earlier and were trying to access from the east and that was looking good until we hit the snow, forcing us to turn around and go down to Ephraim. The upper road was a construction mess and the mud section you mentioned was almost successful in getting our 4WD Tacomas stuck. It looked like a slide had occurred there and they had just punched through it. After that, the Ephraim road was a breeze as you mentioned. Our only choice was to try the Spring City route which fortunately was fine for us. I can see why your VW would have a problem, you need high clearance towards the upper end.
The Spring City Canyon road was rough but not a problem for us in our high clearance trucks. We did hit some mud on Skyline Drive that was scary but it was the snow we hit again on Skyline Drive that made us traverse over No. Tent, actually a neater hike although longer than the normal route. I'm sure the Ephraim route will become much better as they continue to work on that road. I appreciate your input on this, these often become mini adventures.
Gangolf Haub - Mar 5, 2006 11:29 am - Voted 9/10
10ft?Is this a highpoint in Florida? Topozone says 11285ft ;-)
Dean - Mar 5, 2006 2:24 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: 10ft?For some reason, it won't let me put 10,285 feet in the elevation line in the edit section with a comma in it. When I removed the comma and just put it as 10285 it worked fine. Lesson learned.
Now corrected and thanks for the heads up.
Gangolf Haub - Mar 5, 2006 3:46 pm - Voted 9/10
Re: 10ft?Ah - welcome to the world of dot and commas. Here in Europe the roles of dots and commas are often reversed. In Germany the altitude would have read 10.285,00 feet. If we preferred feet to meters. Many a new SP member despaired of inserting coordinates just for this reason.
Dean - Mar 5, 2006 4:50 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: 10ft?I have to admit that those of us in the USA do poorly when it comes to dealing with the metric system. We are stuck on feet and yards, pounds and other awkward measurements although we all understand the superiority of liters over quarts. Thanks Gangolf for your vote on this page. Check out the little bit of history that I've added to the external links page as I have an ancestor who started an indian war in this area. : )
Dean - May 23, 2008 12:57 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Hi DeanThanks Dan, I'll look at adding this information to the front page. I did look at that road on the map and wondered about it but of course when we did this peak, it was under some snow. Any input is appreciated.
Stansbury - Aug 22, 2009 3:06 pm - Hasn't voted
Conditions 8/19/09Great job on the home page and I'll add a couple of details. From Main St. in Spring City take either 100 South or Center St. to 700 East (~ .6 miles) and the Canyon Rd. (no sign that I saw) is between those two streets at 700 East. Stay left at the first fork you encounter (at 2.1 miles) and 1.0 mile later is a cattle gate marking the national forest entrance. From the cattle gate to the skyline road is 8.3 miles. Although a few forks are encountered the main route seemed obvious. At the skyline road turn right/south and, as mentioned, it's ~ 3.3 miles to a meadow area below both North and South Tent Mt. peaks. Unfortunately, the sign mentioned on the home page is gone but between the mileage and pictures posted one shouldn't have any problems knowing the location. I parked off the road by some campers and headed up the North Tent slope and then followed the saddle as recommended (thanks, Dean, that worked well!). There's a dirt road that heads closer to the South Tent Mt. peak but that appeared to be a harder bushwhack and certainly added some elevation to the hike. The Forest Service appears to be doing some major work on the road up but as of 8/19/09 I estimate the first 4 1/2 miles were in good shape but high clearance would be needed the rest of the way.
Dean - Aug 23, 2009 8:17 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Conditions 8/19/09Thanks for the clearer directions regarding the way up from Spring City. I've added that to the front page as well as the
info about the signage at the 3.3 mile mark. Also glad to hear the FS is working on improving the road, that is good news.
Moogie737 - Aug 23, 2009 5:57 pm - Hasn't voted
Yes, for sureAs Stansbury correctly notes, there is no sign in Spring City saying anything about Spring City Canyon. Center Street is paved to 700 East and beyond. Hang a left when you can see that the road heads east for a long way, before reaching the new homes to the south. There is absolutely no sign saying South Tent Mountain, but there is a road heading east and down and a sign saying Dead End Road. I took this road down to the northwest base of South Tent and parked just short of a small stream. I then walked the road leading gently up and south to the south end of the mountain, then bushwhacked up to the summit. Took a very direct route down and didn't find it too bad.
Dean - Aug 23, 2009 8:19 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Yes, for sureThanks for your input. I've updated the sign information that you provided as well.
runbyu1 - Aug 16, 2012 6:07 pm - Hasn't voted
Spring City ApproachUpdate: We drove the Spring City approach this past weekend and the road up the canyon from Spring City was well graded and quick driving---no high clearance of 4WD needed. However, the final 3.3 miles on Skyline drive was much rougher and you could probably make it without high clearance or 4WD but it would be dicey.
paulhbrown - Sep 26, 2023 6:28 pm - Hasn't voted
Skyline Drive accessWe drove up Fairview Canyon and then south along Skyline drive. The road is deeply rutted and suitable only for high-clearance 4WD vehicles in dry road conditions. Passable only for the very intrepid when wet (as shown by the ruts of those who have destroyed the road surface). South of the mountain, the road is much better and suitable for all vehicles. A route from Ephraim and then north along the Skyline drive might be preferred.