Hiking to Mt.Elliott, Book Cliff Mountains

Hiking to Mt.Elliott, Book Cliff Mountains

Mt.Elliott (7,142 ft) is located along the Book Cliff Mountains, in between Price, Utah and I-70. Ever driven to Moab from SLC? Then you’ve passed this peak and know exactly where it is! Near the town of Woodside, UT there is an abandoned gas station with people sometimes selling jerky. Look directly up and SW, and you’ll see this pointy peak clearly. You can’t miss it, it sticks out because of it’s jagged yet isolated summit. This obscure peak ranks #24 out of 29 on the Utah Country Prominence Peak list, and because of its low popularity, only a handful of people will make it to the summit each year.

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4.1 Check out my video!

5 Trail Map

6 Nearby Hike

7 Save me on Pinterest!

7.1 Share the love!

About

Timing this peak is tricky. I’d say the hardest part is the Price River needs to be low enough to cross – typically 50cfs or lower is ideal (check here for the current flow rate). I once planned to do Elliott in June, and during spring run off the flow rate was close to 200cfs! Obviously, I didn’t end up hiking it that day. The other hard part is that you don’t want it to be above 70-75F because there is hardly any shade and zero water along the trail. Dehydration and sunburn are the real deal in Southern Utah!

Because of this last part, I didn’t want to bring Charlie along. I didn’t want him to get too hot for 16 miles, have to carry a bunch more water for him, only for him to get sick, hurt a paw, or anything else. His max mileage these days is 10. Sadly, I left him home for this hike, even though dogs are allowed.

Lower flow rate and cool temps make Fall the ideal time to hike to Mt.Elliott! Be prepared with at least 3 liters of water, plenty of sunblock (we got sunburned even in October!), food, and other sun protection. Even though this hike is mainly on a road, the views on the summit of Mt.Elliott are worth it!

Side note: if you do have an ATV or dirt bike, then you only have to hike 1/2 mile to reach the summit.

Directions

From Price, Utah head south on HWY 6/191 for 37.8 miles (mile post 278) and you’ll see an unsigned dirt road on your left (East side of the road) – turn here and reset your odometer. If you drive past the abandonded gas station, you went too far. This is also a good spot to turn around if you initially missed the turn. At 4.3 miles cross a cattle guard, and at 5.2 miles the road narrows to one lane, there is a brown sign off to the right, and is now considered a “jeep road”, but as long as you have an SUV or larger you can make it.

Small cars will not appreciate the under carriage getting hit by all the shrubs and banged up by rocks. At 7.9 miles the road ends at the Price River. This is where we camped and parked for our trip, and there is a small turnaround. Here is a driving map to the dirt road turn off.

Here are a few pictures of the drive and signs.

This was actually driving out from our hike, since as we pulled in at night we couldn’t see anything.

Pass by an info sign on your left.

5.2 miles – road narrows with these four boulders and brown sign off to the right. If you have a small car, you’ll want to park here and walk the rest of the way. This would make the hike closer to 20 miles RT.

At 7.9 miles, reach the Price River. Only ATVs and dirt bikes can drive through the river. Even in early October the water level in this section was about thigh deep. (This is why we hiked across up stream about 20 feet).

Trail Info

Distance: 16 miles RT

Elevation gain: 2,842 ft

Time: 6-9 hours

Dog friendly? Yes, off leash

Kid friendly? No

Fees/Permits? None

Camping at the end of the road. Cold in the morning, but it warmed up to about 63F. Perfect temps for this hike.

Wow, that light!

Crossing the river was COLD! We carried out hiking shoes and a towel across the river so that we could immediately change into our hiking shoes. We stashed our Chacos in some bushes so we didn’t have to carry them the entire hike. Having a trekking pole was helpful to gauge the water depth. We didn’t cross right where the ATV road goes across because it looked deeper, so we crossed about 15 feet up river from that and tried to stay on rocks. The water is very opaque and murky, and the mud is extremely sloppy. Don’t be surprised if you fall in up to your knees or more, but also don’t wear flip flops!

Now the easy part begins – just follow the road up around the north end of a butress.

The road gets near the edge, and its pretty cool to look down and see the Price River from above. That road is the one you should have driven in on.

Views in the other directions – almost looks like the Grand Canyon or The Wedge!

At 3.3 miles, we had our first sighting of Mt.Elliott! Only 4.5 miles to go!

We took a break to apply sunblock. Even though it was only 60F, we knew we would get fried being in the sun all day this time of year in Southern Utah. I stopped to look over another ledge and the wind was whipping!

What most of the “hike” looks like – a long, lonely road.

Getting a better view of the Book Cliffs.

We were so close to our destination now! We knew we would have to leave the road, and this gave us a good look where we wanted to do that. Basically, we hiked to where the ridge in front comes down to meet the road, then hiked up from there. Keep reading.

The last mile of road hiking.

In case you’ve been wondering, all these roads were built back in the 1970s for oil exploration! Not much came out of the expensive project, but it did lead to easier access for exploring this terrain.

The one person we saw all day was a single dirt biker. We chatted for a few minutes and he asked us what we were doing “all the way out here”. I pointed to the peak and said, “We’re going there! Mt.Elliott!” And he kind of responding in an “oh that’s weird but interesting” tone haha! Only peak baggers would understand! He did tell us that it only took him about 30 minutes to reach that spot where we talked…it took us about 3.5 hours! He went on his way, and never saw him again.

Finally, after walking on the road for 7.3 miles it’s time to route find your way to the summit. You’ll see this large Juniper tree, and if you are tracking mileage you’ll know this is your turn.

You’ll be off trail now, but just aim for the saddle.

It’s not hard hiking this section, just a little steep.

Still really happy to be outside all day! Who cares if I have to bushwhack a little!

Mt.Elliott saddle! So cool to see the Swell and Highway 6 out there!

Keep following the ridge now.

There is some class 2 scrambling, depending on what way you climb up. Staying exactly on the ridge is impossible since there are cliff bands you can’t climb up.

Now how did I end up here!? Wrong turn lol.

Getting higher now. It looks like the edge drops off behind me, but it was never scary or too narrow.

David leads us up another class 2 area.

Whew, only a little more scrambling.

And finally, to reach the summit there is one class 3 move. It’s easy – we were both able to climb and and up by ourselves without help from each other.