Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
mountains. At the next fork, your route bears right and the East Rim Trail veers left.
The trail climbs through juniper, piñon, Gambel oak, and a few ponderosa pines,
then tops out in open sagebrush. Here the trail separates: The right branch heads
for Cable Mountain, the left for Deertrap Mountain.
The
CableMountainTrail
climbs gently to a knoll, from which you can see the
more than 10,000-foot-high pink cliffs of the Virgin Rim in the distance, before des-
cending into a manzanita and juniper forest. The trail gradually makes its way
northwest along a plateau to the point where pioneers built a cable tramway to
carry logs down to the Virgin River. The remains of the tram structure are fragile
and very hazardous—please stay back. Looking out over the Big Bend of the Vir-
gin River, you have a grand view of the Organ and Angels Landing, with the cliffs
of Cathedral Mountain serving as a backdrop. This trail has an elevation gain of
530 feet and a loss of 460 feet.
The
Deertrap Mountain Trail
slopes downward from the junction with Cable
Mountain Trail toward the head of Hidden Canyon. As you cross an open area dot-
ted with manzanita, several paths lead to the bottom of a draw (a shallow gully),
where there's a small seep (a source of intermittent water that creates the gully).
Follow the trail out onto Deertrap Mountain and to the rim of Zion Canyon, for a
breathtaking view of the Mountain of the Sun and the Twin Brothers, which are
practically in your lap, and the Court of the Patriarchs, which is directly across the
canyon. From here, you can walk north and south along the edge of the canyon.
The better-defined path runs north (.4 mile) to an overlook, from which you can
see the Great White Throne, Angels Landing, and, in the distance, the red tips of
the Temple of Sinawava. The southern path (.6 mile) is rough, and leads to a view
of the East Temple and Twin Brothers. This trail has an elevation gain of 760 feet
and a loss of 470 feet.
These hikes can be combined for an overnight trip from the Ponderosa Hunting
Club Trail Head; or for the really zealous, there's the option of combining these
hikes with the more strenuous East Rim Trail hike (described below), which adds
11.2 miles to the jaunt. See “Zion Canyon” in chapter 3.
6.2 miles RT to Cable Mountain, 7.8 miles RT to Deertrap Mountain, or 11 miles combination RT.
Moderate. Access: Ponderosa Hunting Club. From Zion National Park's east entrance drive 2 1/2
miles east on Utah 9, turn north onto the road to the North Fork and Navajo Lake—impassable when
wet or snowy—and drive for 5 1/3 miles to the Ponderosa Hunting Club. Visitors should register at
the small mailbox at the Ponderosa Gate—sign both in and out. Drive through the main entrance and
head left [west] on Twin Knolls Rd. for about 3⁄4 mile; turn left south onto Buck Rd. Bear right at the
first Y, then left at the next Y, following signs for the Gooder-Reagan cabin. The last few hundred feet
