Stave Spring is the only water source enroute.
Introduction: Most hikers take this trip as an overnighter to the Stave Spring environs, then hike the spur trails to Cable and/or Deertrap mountain before backtracking to the East Entrance trailhead. Through hikes to Weeping Rock require a car shuttle of about 14.4 miles. Hiking up Echo Canyon from Weeping Rock to Stave Spring—the only reliable water source—is strenuous, regardless of the load you carry.
Vegetation ranges from pinyon-juniper woodlands to stands of oak and pine, and views from the trail are far-ranging and panoramic. Much of the ponderosa pine forest atop the plateau was cut around the turn of the century. The sawmill that operated here is only a memory, but the draw works still standing on the rim of Cable Mountain offer mute evidence of pioneer ingenuity.
Description: The trail begins beyond the locked gate above the trailhead (0.0; 5740) and heads north past a destination and mileage sign. We follow a devious northward course through the broad upper reaches of Clear Creek amid an open woodland of pinyon, juniper, and Gambel oak, their sizes dwarfed by a scattering of ponderosa pines.
The White Cliffs, composed of Navajo Sandstone, rise above us to the north, their flanks stained orange-red in places due to the leaching of hematite from the red shales of the overlying Temple Cap Formation. Narrowleaf yucca, big sagebrush, rabbitbrush, prickly pear, and Utah serviceberry are common trailside shrubs, among which many seasonal wildflowers enliven the landscape.
The trail is actually an old road built to access timber atop the East Rim Plateau, and as we ascend Clear Creek canyon over weathered Navajo Sandstone, the tread is quite sandy. Streams bearing red mud invaded the sandy Navajo Sandstone landscape during the early Jurassic Period, and these waters caused the yet uncemented sands to slump. Now cemented into stone, these slump structures are evident immediately below the Temple Cap in the upper several feet of the Navajo Sandstone.
The Temple Cap sandstones herald our climb out of Cave Canyon, where, upon reaching a switchback, we promptly double back on a higher contour. A reliable spring issues from the canyon 0.1 mile above where we leave its floor.
A mostly gentle climb ensues on sundrenched slopes hosting a woodland of scrubby pinyons and junipers, but also harboring shrubs such as cliffrose, greenleaf manzanita, Utah serviceberry, and scattered Gambel oak. This 0.75-mile stretch of trail can become uncomfortably hot during summer. Next, we curve northwest around the shoulder of a ridge, then traverse above the White Cliffs, which embrace the abyss of lower Jolley Gulch. Enroute we capture fine views across the wooded reaches of Clear Creek’s valley to aptly named Checkerboard Mesa and a host of other forest-crowned tablelands.
After crossing the usually dry wash of Jolley Gulch (2.7; 6080) at the very brink of a dry waterfall, we briefly enjoy cliff-framed views stretching southward before resuming our traverse. Soon we curve into a minor, west-trending gulch, switchback, and shortly thereafter climb northwest onto the gentle slopes of the plateau, presently blanketed by the gray limestone of the Carmel Formation, which forms a gently rolling surface over much of the Markagunt Plateau in Zion.
The limestone tread provides more stable footing as we traverse west beneath the shade of relatively tall ponderosa pines and into a shallow draw. Curving northwest and climbing moderately above the draw, we regain the gentle, well-drained surface of the plateau, clothed not only by ponderosa pines, but by pinyon and juniper as well.
The wooded cliffs of Echo Canyon frame the West Rim
A protracted nearly level stretch of trail ensues across the plateau, where vignettes of the Pink Cliffs and of the vast forests of the Markagunt Plateau to the north help pass the time. Much of the Carmel Formation is masked by vegetation, but gray cobbles in the roadbed attest to its presence.
When we top out on a broad, oak-clad ridge (2.5; 6730), much of the East Rim Plateau stretches out before us far to the north and northwest. Presently we descend slopes clad in pinyon, juniper, Gambel oak, and ponderosa pine, and before long encounter a short spur trail (0.5; 6500) forking left into the draw harboring Stave Spring. A trickle of water issuing from the pipe is our only reliable water source. In 1901, 25,000 barrel staves were probably cut and split nearby. They made up the first load of ponderosa-pine lumber the brothers Flanigan sent down the cable works, primarily to convince skeptics of the feasibility of cabling lumber from the rim to the canyon below.
Camping at the spring is not allowed, so backpackers should tank up here and choose one of many potential campsites well away from the spring, preferably at least 0.25 mile away.
The trail continues descending below the spring, soon passing a reddish outcrop indicating our passage back into the realm of the Temple Cap Formation. Shortly thereafter we meet a signed junction (0.1; 6445) where we ponder our hiking options. The left fork is a spur leading to trails that end at Cable and Deertrap mountains. Some hikers may elect to stay overnight in the area, hiking to either mountain the next day before backtracking to the trailhead. Others may wish to tank up on water at the spring, then spend the night atop the plateau enroute to the two mountains. Still others may wish to hike on through to Echo Canyon and camp among the pines, slick-rock, and towering canyon walls of that drainage.
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Deertrap and Cable Mountains
Distance: 3.7 miles to Deertrap Mountain; 3.1 miles to Cable Mountain
Low/High elevations: 6445’/6910’ for Deertrap Mountain; 6445’/6900’ for Cable Mountain
Turning left at Stave Spring junction (0.0; 6445) onto the signed Deertrap Mountain Trail, we ascend a draw southward, initially across a sagebrush-choked flat. Soon the trail leaves the draw, climbing moderately southwest alternately through thickets of Gambel oak and grassy, wildflower-speckled openings. On the plateau, the grade eases as we stroll west to a signed junction (1.2; 6860) with the trail to Cable Mountain, forking right, and the Deertrap Mountain Trail, continuing ahead. Numerous potential campsites can be found enroute to either mountain, but backpackers must have an adequate water supply. Those bound for Deertrap Mountain will continue southwest from the junction and descend easily amid oak groves and grassy clearings into the densely wooded valley above and south of Hidden Canyon. Our trail traverses tan Temple Cap Formation rocks as we enter a draw, its gentle contours contrasting with the shadowy, cliffbound nadir below. We cross the dry course of the draw about 200 yards upstream from an ephemeral spring, then climb steeply west on Temple Cap rocks to a broad ridge crowned with Carmel limestone. From here we enjoy fine views stretching south-southeast over a landscape of domes and cliffs embracing the valley of Clear Creek.
Now we follow the descending trail southwest to the head of The Grotto’s abysmal canyon, then almost top another limestone-capped knoll (6921’). Deertrap Mountain appears to be little more than a broad, wooded bench slightly below us, and with the inspiring vistas we presently enjoy, some hikers may decide to go no farther. But hikers who wish to gaze over a 2500’ precipice into the gaping maw of Zion Canyon will follow the trail over the Carmel-capped knoll, switchbacking down over red Temple Cap rocks, and finally stroll across the rolling bench of Deertrap Mountain to the brink (2.5; 6740) of the great cliffs plunging into the canyon below.
Two of Zion’s most rugged hanging canyons, knifed deep into the plateau, can be seen in full profile opposite our viewpoint—Heaps Canyon to the northwest, above the Emerald Pools amphitheater, and Birch Creek due west, above the Court of the Patriarchs amphitheater to the northwest. Farther down-canyon, The Streaked Wall foregrounds one of the Park’s preeminent landforms, West Temple. With our eyes we can trace the Sand Bench Trail far below as it climbs to the wooded, slide-formed bench below a broad sweep of sheer, colorful cliffs.
