Boulder Mountain is a little known area near Torrey, UT that is home to scenic beauty, high country lakes, and great fishing. Last weekend we headed down there and although I didn’t bring my main camera I thought I would share the experience anyway. Boulder Mountain is part of the Aquarius Plateau, and is the highest plateau in North America with a peak of 11,328 ft at Bluebell Knoll. The mountain is striking, especially when driving Highway 12 as you rise up out of the dry desert slot canyon country of Escalante and find yourself on a high mountain highway surrounded by aspen and wildflowers. The mountain can be rather damp as it creates its own weather and has daily afternoon thunderstorms.

Getting There

Access to the North Slope of Boulder Mountain is available through a couple different routes, and is highly dependent on the vehicle. The optimal vehicle for this trip is a high clearance 4×4 because most of the access roads are old logging roads that have not been maintained. For our trip we took the North Slope Road which begins near the intersection of Highway 12 and Teasdale Rd, just south of Torrey, UT. The North Slope Road provides access to Blind and Green Lakes, as well as Beaver Dam and Fish Creek Reservoirs via a spur. Additionally, W 125 S St from Teasdale extends into Boulder Mountain and provides access to the Left Hand Reservoir and Donkey Reservoir area, though I wasn’t able to make it all the way to the top in my vehicle. I was able to make it all the way to the trailhead for Blind Lake in my MINI Cooper Countryman despite recent rain and a good bit of mud that was starting to build up. Beyond the Blind Lake Trailhead the road deteriorates significantly, with large water/mud filled holes and boulder high pitch slopes. Here is a map:

Muddy Road to Blind Lake Trailhead

The muddy MINI

Clean and smiling at the beginning of trip

 

We hiked the mile into Blind Lake from the trailhead and made for the south side of the lake to find good ground for a campsite and then fished the evening. The following day we dayhiked south to Pear Lake, Beaver Dam Reservoir, Fish Creek Reservoir, and Honeymoon Lake.

Storing the flies we bought from the Quiet Flyfisher in Loa

Cold mornings make for surly looks

 

As we hiked to different lakes that day we saw the beauty of the area. It is astounding how empty this region is compared to the busy trails of the Uintas. The water here is gin clear which makes for great sight fishing.

Pear Lake

Fish Creek Reservoir

Honeymoon Lake

Blind Lake

Jhos hooked into a really large splake with an olive wooly bugger. It put up quite the fight and we were glad that we had brought along the net. This was our biggest catch of the weekend. And no, I won’t say which lake it was at…

Jhosmar’s catch – a splake I think

A close up of the catch

All tuckered out from catchin’ a big fish

On our third day on the mountain we packed up our camp and head over the hill to Green Lake, Left Hand Reservoir, and finally Solitaire Lake where we set up for our last camp.

Left Hand Reservoir

We had fun with the GoPro underwater

Getting the camera down to the fishes eye level makes for a more interesting photo

An old drained and breached reservoir along the trail to Solitaire Lake

GoPro Fishing Selfie on Solitaire

Our tools

The sunsets at Boulder Mountain are consistently beautiful. The late afternoon storms usually leave behind big puffy clouds to catch the last rays of sunshine and transform into a canvas of reds and oranges.

Solitaire Lake Sunset

Boulder Mountain was really fantastic. Beautiful scenery, clear water, great fishing, and not many people. Here is one last photo right before we arrived back at the trailhead on Sunday. We were a bit tired, and decided we would never backpack with waders and wading boots again.

Final Descent to the Blind Lake Trailhead