Dark Canyon – Bears Ears Road

[Peter Bakwin]

Want to hike Woodenshoe-Dark-Peavine loop early April. I know the Bears Ears Rd is pretty high and can be impassible if snowy or wet (sticky mud)! Is early April too early? Seems like it’s been a snowy winter.

[Caledonia Heather]

i have been watching the weather there the past week or so as I decided on a 4 day trip to cedar mesa next week. It looks like a solid block of warm dry weather so far in march, and the forecast is clear for the next couple weeks. I would think that you should be in the clear in April unless the weather takes a big turn later this month.

[Peter Bakwin]

Wondering if you went & can give some idea of snowpack above 8000′? Or if anyone has recent info on getting into Woodenshoe? I’ll try call MLSNF next week. Thx!

[Caledonia Heather]

I did some exploring into the area after hiking grand gulch. It got impassable near the highest elevations, but I was only a few hundred feet short of the bears ears Viewpoint, which is at about 8500. I think you will have no problems whatsoever in a week or two. May even be clear by now, it was really close to being melted off last weekend, though it’s probably still muddy.

[Peter Bakwin]

Thanks!  I saw pics on the Manti La Sal NF Facebook showing similar.  Unfortunately, it looks stormy right up to our April 3 start.  I think we’ll probably just walk the road – heck, it’s plenty scenic!  On the plus side, I expect there won’t be many people back there!

[Author]

Posts