ATV Adventures: Touring the waterfalls in Bullion Canyon
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- Cascade Falls in Bullion Canyon. You can see icicles hanging from the log.
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- Pine Creek from the Arrastra Stone. The indent in the rock shows the wear from crushing ore.
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- Cascade Falls from across the canyon. It was fun to see the volume of water coming down the falls.
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- Lynn Blamires
Lynn R. Blamires, Special to the Standard-Examiner
Cascade Falls in Bullion Canyon. You can see icicles hanging from the log.
This was the second day of a two-day ride from Marysvale. The first day was a cold ride over to Koosharem for lunch at the Koosharem Café.
This was the day that Sam Steed of the Rocky Ridge Resort was to take us on a tour of the waterfalls in Bullion Canyon. The snowpack on the Tushar Mountains was good this year and the runoff was in full swing, promising to make spectacular waterfalls. When I go on an ATV ride, water features are always a highlight of the trip. The roar of a big waterfall or the sound of water gurgling in a brook is music to my ears. So with that in mind, I was looking forward to getting close to these water features.
The day dawned cool as it had the day before, so we started later to let things warm up. Our group of 16 machines went west on the Revenue Gulch Trail (#77) west of Marysvale, avoiding the residents on Bullion Canyon Road. This trail wound through the foothills and joined the Bullion Canyon Road above the residential area.
Our first stop was at a place on Pine Creek where evidence of early Spanish mining still exists. That evidence was a large Arrastra Stone situated by the creek. It was a primitive method used to process gold out of the ore and still bears the marks of that process.
The creek was running strong, which whetted our appetite for the falls we were going to see. A closer look revealed ranks of icicles hanging from logs splashed by the water in the creek. That squelched any ideas of wading in the clear waters of Pine Creek.
Lynn R. Blamires, Special to the Standard-Examiner
Pine Creek from the Arrastra Stone. The indent in the rock shows the wear from crushing ore.
The plan was to make our first stop at Bullion Falls, but the trail was narrow and another ATV group was there ahead of us. We changed our plans and crossed Pine Creek, riding up to Miner’s Park, an outdoor museum featuring the mining equipment and living quarters used in the peak of the mining era here. It gives a hint of the hard life of a miner back in the day.
We rode past the park on our way to Cascade Falls. We crossed Cascade Creek twice as we zigzagged up the switchbacks to the view point we sought. We broke through ice on each crossing.
Reaching that point, we circled our wagons and climbed down a steep slope to the base of the falls. It was a thrill to stand that close to the roar of the water cascading down the mountain.
After enjoying a time at the base of the falls, we climbed back to our machines. Riding back down past Miner’s Park to the point where we crossed Pine Creek, we found the trail that goes to a view point for Bullion Falls. After the challenge of squeezing 16 machines into a very tight spot, we made a 15-minute walk to the view point.
Bullion Falls was across the canyon and while it was wonderful, we weren’t as close to it as we were to Cascade Falls. However, we could see those falls from this point and that is when I realized that the water starts to fall from a point much higher than I had previously realized. What a beautiful waterfall.
Lynn R. Blamires, Special to the Standard-Examiner
Cascade Falls from across the canyon. It was fun to see the volume of water coming down the falls.
Working our way out of the tight spot, we went back to the junction, crossed Pine Creek again, and made a quick turn to the east. We were still in Bullion Canyon, but this road reaches a high point of 11,000 feet and then drops down into Cottonwood Canyon. Snow would keep us from going over the top.
We rode up the switchbacks to a junction where we took a trail that dropped down onto Hennessey Point. This point is a flat place with an amazing view east down to Marysvale and the valley beyond.
It features the remnants of an old log cabin. I tried to imagine what it would have been like to live there. It would have been a short summer season and you would need food and wood to hold you over. With no neighbors you would have to learn to play checkers with yourself.
The Falls at Hennessy Point were also worth the trip, but of all the falls we saw that day, Cascade Falls was my favorite. When you go, take plenty of water, keep the rubber side down, and if you like waterfalls, you will love Bullion Canyon in the spring.
Lynn R. Blamires can be reached at quadmanone@gmail.com
Photo supplied
Lynn Blamires