Santa Clara Cinder Cone, November 27, 2014

Note: The reason why I’m posting these trail descriptions is because these are trails I’ve tried to research online and had difficulty getting much information from websites other than trails.com or another similar subscription website.  I don’t have a problem with commercial websites, but their information isn’t really much better anyway.

This is another site I remember from summer field geology in 1984.  It’s listed as “Cinder Cone” on the trail sign, and maps don’t really assign it a name, either.  To the north is a smaller, similar cone that is quarried for fine-grained highway cinders that bears the name Santa Clara Volcano.  The best description of the local geology can be found at UtahGeology.org (http://www.utahgeology.org/road_logs/uga-29_first_edition/SP_guide/snowcany.pdf) in the form of a road tour guide that includes nearby Snow Canyon State Park.

The trailhead is well-marked, with ample parking along the right side of the road at the top of a rise along Highway 18 near the northeast corner of Snow Canyon.  Whether or not the area is within the State Park, no fees are collected for parking and hiking.

There are two trails that ascend the cone.  The route nearest the parking lot is steep, loose and treacherous if you don’t have good shoes, and from what we observed, descending is not any easier.  The alternate (south) route winds around the east shoulder of the cone.  We took the south route for both ascending and descending, resulting in approximately two miles of hiking, including a full circuit of the crater rim.  Not that the alternate route is easy, but the footing is more secure.

Keep your eyes peeled as you walk along the trail.  A large number of cinder fragments are everywhere, and if you look long enough, you may find a few specimens of coveted “cow shit bombs”, prized by geologists and teenage boys.  Ejecta from the vent at just the right temperature becomes viscous enough to form these odd shapes on landing.  The basaltic lava from these volcanoes (dated variously from 10-27 thousand years old) contained a fairly high percentage of gas.  Try picking up a 12-15 inch specimen and the lack of weight may surprise you.  I don’t know if these pieces are light enough to float in water as some from Craters of the Moon are.

The summit provides excellent views of Snow Canyon to the west and the Pine Valley Mountains to the northeast.

A trail runs down into the crater from the north (lower) rim.  We didn’t bother; the vent is filled in with sediment.  But along the west rim, another small vent provided a bit of a surprise.  The vent is barely noticeable at less than 20 feet wide; most people probably walk past it without recognizing what it is.

If you look closely at the photo below, you might be able to see a small patch of lava that solidified in the vent at the end of what must have been a very short-lived side eruption.  Neat!