Hike of the week: Signal Peak
Unlike crowded Wasatch Front trails, this area has very limited use and makes for a great, though difficult, autumn hike.Trail rating: four starsScenic rating: two stars
The Pine Valley Mountains are a wilderness area and an island forest in a desert.
St. George is the hottest place in Utah, and yet just to the north of the city is a 10,325-foot mountain peak that rises 7,000 feet above Utah's largest Dixie town.
In fact, this mountain is so forested with pines that you may have trouble finding the actual peak. That's because unlike most other Utah hikes where you eventually climb above treeline or scramble to a rocky ridge, this one has trees all the way to the summit.
Unlike crowded Wasatch Front trails, this area has very limited use and makes for a great, though difficult, autumn hike.
Signal is the tallest peak in Washington County and also in southwestern Utah.
Distance: 13-16 miles round-trip, depending on whose mileage estimates you believe.
Elevation gain: 3,300 feet, plus another 600 feet of up and down terrain.
Difficulty: Strenuous.
Time required: six to nine hours.
Directions to reach the trailhead: From Cedar City, take U-56 west 30 miles to Newcastle, then go nine miles to the U-18 junction. Turn left on U-18 toward Central. Turn left (east) and drive 18 miles to Central. Go about eight miles to Pine Valley. At the town's historic church, go left (east) another four miles to the clearly marked trailhead.
Trail description: The path is wide and easy for the first 880 yards and then it is steep at times up some rock-line drainage areas. Still, there's no scrambling required. At about 3.5 miles out, a 9,800-foot summit is reached. The trail then sadly drops 600 feet in elevation and meets the trail from Oak Grove -- a different route option from the east.
The trail becomes very faint in a small valley and then climbs to a 9,797-foot elevation and reaches Deer Flat, a gorgeous meadow. After another 200-foot elevation gain the "Further Water Meadow" is reached (but there's no water here in the fall). Finding the actual Signal Summit from here is tricky. Go 0.6 of a mile west on the trail beyond the meadow's south end and look for a small rock cairn that marks the departure from the beaten path toward Signal Peak.
Because you're in such a thick forest, it's hard to see where you're going. It's about 1,000 feet of distance and a 300-foot climb to the summit, also marked by a cairn of rocks.
Cautions: This is a very hot summer hike and only seasonable water is available. Carry plenty of your own. Also, a good map of the area or U.S. Geological maps are helpful and even a compass because of all the tree cover and the lack of bald mountain peaks to spot. You could get lost very easily off-trail in the thick pines of these mountains.
Highlights: Although you get few glimpses of the surrounding area of Washington County below, the surprising tree cover makes this an unusual hike in the Beehive State. In fact, no other county high point -- that's a peak and not a plateau --is forested as Signal is.
Tidbits: Signal is only Utah's 187th tallest named peak, and a higher peak by the same name is 11,306 feet in Sevier County. Washington County's' Signal Peak got its name in World War II when several beacons were placed on the mountain to prevent planes from crashing into it at night.
Camping: The Juniper Park, Blue Springs and Pine campgrounds are all near the trailhead, with water and restrooms. A fee is charged for camping and also for using the trailhead on some days.
For more information: Contact the Pine Valley Ranger District, 1-435-673-3431.