Cache Valley Hiking 6–Swan Peak Trail

Behind the numbers:

• 4.5 miles out and back (Jeff went 5 with backtracking)

• ~1300 feet elevation gain/loss – 600+ feet in first .75 miles

• 4 hour round trip at leisurely pace

Swan Peak is a mountain peak on the eastern edge of the Bear River Range that overlooks Bear Lake.  The elevation at the peak is about 9080 feet, so it’s a substantial mountain in the range.  The Swan Peak hike starts at Swan Flats, a small mountain valley about 4 miles off the canyon highway at about 8300 feet.  The trailhead is not well marked with a wooden signpost like many of the other more popular hikes in the area…this would be indicative of the remainder of the trail as well (poor markings).  Susan and I drove past the trailhead before reading the Cache Trails book more closely and backtracking to it.

The trail starts with a very short descent to a dried creek bed and then gets serious with the climbing.  The next ~.5 miles are basically straight up the face of the mountain, gaining ~650 feet over this stretch.  One positive of this is that there is good foliage to provide some shade and the higher elevation is a little cooler than the usual summer Utah heat.  However, this stretch is slow and strenuous.  A couple areas along the climb, downed trees and brush have obscured the trail and we managed to walk off course twice before reaching the next section of the hike.

Susan picked up a walking stick to help her up the steep part

After taking a breather when you hit around 8900 feet and the path levels, the next ~.7 miles are almost flat along open meadows just below the ridgeline.  This section provides spectacular panoramic views of the surrounding mountains, had pleasant breezes despite being exposed, and had a lot of colorful wildflowers growing along the trail.  This stretch alone would make the initial effort worthwhile in my opinion.

  

The next portion of the hike climbs quickly to the ridgeline (only about 100 feet vertical) and then drops over the other side and back down a little bit to pick up an old jeep road.  The guidebook talked about a pond in a fir tree forest to the east, so Susan and I walked there and found a woodpecker, but then couldn’t find the jeep road (or any trail out of the forest).  The jeep road trail actually continues south before the forest and pond so going to visit that area is really an aside and not part of the hike proper.

Mr. Woodpecker

Once we navigated out of the forest and picked up the trail again we wandered along the jeep road through relatively flat exposed terrain.  The jeep road continues until it starts to descend a bit, and this is where things get sketchy.  The guidebook indicates that to get to the peak you need to leave the jeep trail for an “indistinct path heading eastward” once you approach the south-facing slope.  If indistinct was supposed to mean nonexistent, then the book nailed it.  I left Susan and scrambled with Derby through brush up the climb to the east until I stumbled upon the peak (noted by a stack of rocks and a metal antenna).  I assumed from the peak the trail would become evident…it did not.  However, the view at the peak was spectacular allowing you to take in the entire Bear Lake Valley in one unobstructed panorama.  Unfortunately, I was now lost from Susan without a trail back to the path and was disoriented as to the way I came from so the view was mostly lost on me…Derby also seemed too distracted to take it in.

After scrambling on the hillside again with Derby, I decided to turn on the breadcrumb trail on my Garmin GPS watch.  It showed me how far off the paths I’d previously taken I was (and how much I wandered around) and allowed me to work my way back until I was within vocal range of Susan…whew!  I’d have been pretty bummed about losing my pregnant wife on the mountain alone while I had all the water, food, and technology with me.

Once regrouped, we opted to not repeat my climb to the peak and instead followed the jeep road a little further until it opened up to Bear Lake itself further down the mountainside.  The view did have some obstructions, but was very impressive nonetheless.  In the area near the terminus of the trail we encountered 2 other sets of hikers who each were having the same problems locating the way to the peak.

Turnaround point (Bear Lake in the background)

The return trip essentially backtracked using the same route without the detours with one notable exception.  We stayed on the jeep road longer and it took us above our previous path allowing us to get a bonus view of the north end of Bear Lake from behind Swan Peak.

Susan with the lake in the background

The return route was much less strenuous until the last .6 miles where we had to descend the steep hillside.  Here it was slow going since the trail was so steep and littered with loose debris that footing was difficult at times.  Susan even took to “scooting” portions of the descent.  Eventually, we made it back to the car dried out and tired (Derby in particular, who completed the last mile of the hike under protest…laying down in the shade whenever possible) having completed maybe the slowest 4.5 miles of hiking in history.

Susan scooting down the mountain

Overall, we rated this hike as one of our top 3 favorites of the ones we’ve completed despite the trail confusion and the difficulty.  The variety offered by the open meadows, the mountain views, the pine forests, and the lake and valley views along with the milder temperatures and wind and shade available made this hike a winner.  If someone would just mark the path to the peak it would be near perfect.

Susan wasn’t the only one worn out by this hike!