Overview
South Willow Peak is the second highest peak in the Stansbury Mountains next to Deseret Peak. As far as I know the name is not an official one, at least it isn't named on maps, but South Willow Peak seems to be the name known by the local folks. Ericwillhite in his write up about the Stansbury Mountains says the people at the Wasatch Mountain Club have an unofficial name for it also, never the less the peak is often overlooked because of it's more daunting neighbor, yet ironically it is sometimes mistaken for Deseret Peak. It also has a sister peak north of it known as North Willow Peak,a few feet lower at 10521 Ft.Getting There
The trail head is at the top of South Willow Road where there is available free parking if you're not camping. You can get to South Willow Road, which is mostly a dirt road (warning: it can be closed during winter months from October thru April according to Icarreau) that heads west for about 7 miles, from a road that spans between Rush Valley and Grantsville. It's north 14 miles from Rush Valley or about 5 or 6 miles south from Grantsville.Red Tape
Red tape? I don't know of any other than the usual camping fees.
Camping
There are several camp grounds along the South Willow road, the main one being a loop camp ground at the head of the road.
External Links
Add External Links text here.
Hiking the Trail
The trail starts out at the same trail head as for Deseret Peak but about three quarters of a mile the trail crosses a stream bed and shortly forks. The left fork is the main trail up Mill Fork to Deseret Peak, but if your after South Willow Peak you'll want to take the right fork to South Willow Lake which cuts across the Dry Lake Fork basin and crosses over into Pockets Fork. Here the trail divides again. Continuing north along the trail takes you into the Mining Fork of the South Willow Canyon and South Willow Lake. However you can take the trail west up Pockets Fork which leads you to a divide, or saddle, from which you can hike south to Deseret Peak (hiking it from the north) or you can hike north which leads you to South Willow Peak. As one of my sons once said "it's a piece of cake".
