I will be visiting a relative next week and will have a few days to kick around the Manti area. I would be able to do day trips but would want to be back to visit in the evenings. I don't really want to try to get to the Nat'l Parks this time. I did a little looking with Google Earth and noticed Maple Canyon, a climbing area/box canyon that might be interesting. Any ideas for me out there?
I'm not intimately familiar with the area, but up on the Wasatch Plateau (east of Manti) is very pretty and is probably the obvious choice for this time of year. Aspens, views, meadows, probably flowers.... I think the dirt roads up there are pretty decent too, I'm sure the locals could tell you.
If you have a hankering for canyon scenery, the San Rafael Swell is reasonably close.
Edit: There are some fires in the area, though (notable the Seeley Fire), so you might want to expect some smoke and keep plans flexible.
Getting the temple in sunrise/sunset light? It is an impressive structure and that is what Manti is famous for. Other than that it seems mostly agricultural in that valley. Other than that, I agree with previous reponses on the Wasatch Plateau
I live there/here, or at least two towns north, in Mount Pleasant.
There's not anything immediately obvious, at least this time of year. Maple Canyon is a great climbing area, but it's not easy to see it as photogenic. The rock is conglomerate of rounded cobbles, and a medium brown to dark grey. Very different than the sandstone canyons to the south. It's beautiful in the autumn; as its name implies, it's filled with maples.
We're starting to see some clouds building up almost into thunderstorms, so you could hope for good clouds at sunset, either facing east and looking for the Wasatch Plateau to be lit up, or facing west and going for a silhouette and lit clouds.
Getting up onto the top of the Wasatch Plateau is probably your best bet. If you're in a passenger car (without high clearance),
head north to Fairview and take the paved road, route 31, up into the mountains. Follow signs for Skyline Drive. If you have time, the gravel road south to Joe's Valley is pretty, as is the descent down the other side into Huntington Canyon -- but that area burned last week, and I haven't been up there yet to check out the damage. We had major rain on Thursday, and to my knowledge, the fires are out. Even then the Wasatch Plateau is best for about two weeks in the fall, when the aspens turn, as shown here and here.
You could try the small state parks Palisade (east of Sterling, the next town south of Manti), or Yuba Lake (northeast of Gunnison, one more town south), and try for some water/reflections.
I teach high school here and frequently leave in the summer for the bigger mountains or the Colorado Plateau redrock areas, sorry to say.
Well it looks like a trip through Huntington Canyon, and a day trip over to Goblin Valley. Thank you to Jackson, Kathryn and Mark for taking the time and providing me the advice. Hope to get a few nice images to post.
(1, valley floor and clouds; in between Ephraim and Spring City)
I was wrong. The fire over in the Huntington Canyon area is not out. I'm hearing different estimates of containment, but it seems like it's still burning, although thankfully a lot smaller than before. The air here is good enough to start with that you can smell it today, and see a little smoke coming over the top of the plateau.
I headed up to the top of the Wasatch Plateau this afternoon for a short hike and look around. The road is open, but there was a temporary DOT sign blinking that said that camping and stopping was not permitted in Huntington Canyon. I don't know what that means for the gravel road down to Joe's Valley Reservoir. As Jackson mentioned, the best information is probably through the link to the Seeley Fire.
It's disheartening. While I was probably a bit too harsh on the local area in my last post, it does have its attractions. They're simply either more subtle or a smaller scale than the obviously-amazing parks to the south. You should definitely head up to the top of the Plateau is you can, since it's so different from the valley and from Scottsdale. Daytime highs, even with the heatwave, often only hit the low eighties. It's cognitively strange to be up at almost 10,000' and be in a terrain of rolling hills -- the area has not been glaciated, so it's a relatively gentle topography. It's never a location for prime wildflowers, but you might find some in the riparian areas at middle elevations. The hellebore at the top is already past peak and wilting. Not much snow this past winter; everything seems accelerated.
Just FYI, Goblin Valley is a really neat spot, but can be very hot in the summer. Not as hot as Scottsdale, for sure, but hot for around here. Sunrise is best. As alternatives, Capital Reef and Bryce would actually take slightly less time to get to.
Here's some local images from the past few days, as I've been trying to get in some simple hikes.
Like I said, more subtle than the red rock parks to the south. But hey, it's still nice to have as a backyard.
At this point, Bob, I think I'm taking off to backpack either in the Uintas, Great Basin NP, or SW Colorado. If I am in town, I'd be happy to show you around a bit, if you like. You can find my email through my website, below.
Thank you so much for the info about the area. You've gone above and beyond the call! The expected thunder showers may do well to spark up the opportunities for interesting light. I will drop you an email once my plan is better formed.
Discussion
9 repliesI will be visiting a relative next week and will have a few days to kick around the Manti area. I would be able to do day trips but would want to be back to visit in the evenings. I don't really want to try to get to the Nat'l Parks this time. I did a little looking with Google Earth and noticed Maple Canyon, a climbing area/box canyon that might be interesting. Any ideas for me out there?
Bob
If you have a hankering for canyon scenery, the San Rafael Swell is reasonably close.
Edit: There are some fires in the area, though (notable the Seeley Fire), so you might want to expect some smoke and keep plans flexible.
I live there/here, or at least two towns north, in Mount Pleasant.
There's not anything immediately obvious, at least this time of year. Maple Canyon is a great climbing area, but it's not easy to see it as photogenic. The rock is conglomerate of rounded cobbles, and a medium brown to dark grey. Very different than the sandstone canyons to the south. It's beautiful in the autumn; as its name implies, it's filled with maples.
We're starting to see some clouds building up almost into thunderstorms, so you could hope for good clouds at sunset, either facing east and looking for the Wasatch Plateau to be lit up, or facing west and going for a silhouette and lit clouds.
Getting up onto the top of the Wasatch Plateau is probably your best bet. If you're in a passenger car (without high clearance),
head north to Fairview and take the paved road, route 31, up into the mountains. Follow signs for Skyline Drive. If you have time, the gravel road south to Joe's Valley is pretty, as is the descent down the other side into Huntington Canyon -- but that area burned last week, and I haven't been up there yet to check out the damage. We had major rain on Thursday, and to my knowledge, the fires are out. Even then the Wasatch Plateau is best for about two weeks in the fall, when the aspens turn, as shown here and here.
You could try the small state parks Palisade (east of Sterling, the next town south of Manti), or Yuba Lake (northeast of Gunnison, one more town south), and try for some water/reflections.
I teach high school here and frequently leave in the summer for the bigger mountains or the Colorado Plateau redrock areas, sorry to say.
I was wrong. The fire over in the Huntington Canyon area is not out. I'm hearing different estimates of containment, but it seems like it's still burning, although thankfully a lot smaller than before. The air here is good enough to start with that you can smell it today, and see a little smoke coming over the top of the plateau.
I headed up to the top of the Wasatch Plateau this afternoon for a short hike and look around. The road is open, but there was a temporary DOT sign blinking that said that camping and stopping was not permitted in Huntington Canyon. I don't know what that means for the gravel road down to Joe's Valley Reservoir. As Jackson mentioned, the best information is probably through the link to the Seeley Fire.
It's disheartening. While I was probably a bit too harsh on the local area in my last post, it does have its attractions. They're simply either more subtle or a smaller scale than the obviously-amazing parks to the south. You should definitely head up to the top of the Plateau is you can, since it's so different from the valley and from Scottsdale. Daytime highs, even with the heatwave, often only hit the low eighties. It's cognitively strange to be up at almost 10,000' and be in a terrain of rolling hills -- the area has not been glaciated, so it's a relatively gentle topography. It's never a location for prime wildflowers, but you might find some in the riparian areas at middle elevations. The hellebore at the top is already past peak and wilting. Not much snow this past winter; everything seems accelerated.
Just FYI, Goblin Valley is a really neat spot, but can be very hot in the summer. Not as hot as Scottsdale, for sure, but hot for around here. Sunrise is best. As alternatives, Capital Reef and Bryce would actually take slightly less time to get to.
Here's some local images from the past few days, as I've been trying to get in some simple hikes.
Like I said, more subtle than the red rock parks to the south. But hey, it's still nice to have as a backyard.
At this point, Bob, I think I'm taking off to backpack either in the Uintas, Great Basin NP, or SW Colorado. If I am in town, I'd be happy to show you around a bit, if you like. You can find my email through my website, below.
Thank you so much for the info about the area. You've gone above and beyond the call! The expected thunder showers may do well to spark up the opportunities for interesting light. I will drop you an email once my plan is better formed.