Gardner Peak Trail

Dixie National Forest, UT Pine Valley Mountains + Saint George Area

Trip stats

Distance
7.2 mi
Net Gain
2,100 ft
Time
3-5 hrs
YDS Rating
Class 1
Route
Out/Back

Ratings out of 10

Effort
3.1/10
Personality
4/10
Beauty
5/10
Solitude
2.6/10
What do these mean? →

Route map + Trailhead

Trailhead Coordinates

37.384170, -113.483560

The directions link below drops a pin on the trailhead coordinates and lets Google Maps pick the route. If the drive has rough roads or access issues that GPS nav might get wrong, I cover that in my trip report.

Get directions (opens Google Maps in a new tab)

Trip report

Jun 18, 2024 — The Gardner Peak Trail doesn't actually lead to the summit of Gardner Peak, but with some time to kill this afternoon, Austin and I decided to just enjoy the trail to its terminus. This was a nice hike with good scenery, a worthy add-on to my Pine Valley Mountains trip, even if it doesn't reach a peak. We started at the trailhead located just inside the Pine Valley Recreation Area boundary. My understanding is that you don't need to pay if you are parking at this trailhead, but we were dropped off by a family member who had already paid to enter, so I'm not sure. We could see Gardner Peak above, a forested dome adjacent to a much more interesting-looking craggy false summit.

The trail began through the lower elevation scrubland before ascending into the trees, gaining steepness as it continued north. We passed an old road labeled on maps as the Pine Valley Canal Trail, and it was tempting to just take this flat path either east or west. Instead, the less obvious Gardner Peak Trail continues climbing quite steeply. There were some occasional views to the south toward the taller Pine Valley Mountain peaks.

The Gardner Peak Trail reached a saddle before wrapping around the northern side of the ridge through a bit more vegetated terrain. This upper section of the trail winds through a shaded rock garden dotted with large boulders and pine trees and even passes through a small, charming meadow bordered by aspen trees. We got a view of Gardner Peak and a steep tower of boulders to its north. The trail began to thin out as it weaved around rocks and up various slopesk, gradually ascended to a flatter section where unusual rock formations appear scattered around.

We hiked past the craggy false summit we had seen from below, but the trail becomes faint and frequently obstructed by fallen trees past here. It only really started to lose its shape after around 8,400 ft, dipping in and out of little gullies and eventually entered a burn area. Past the burn area, we just continued to a viewpoint of a notable rock feature, deciding we didn't care to reach the brushy and unranked summit. Maps show the trail reaches a bit closer to the base of the peak, but we'd lost it and didn’t make the effort to locate it for the final few hundred feet.

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Photos

32 photos

  1. Gardener Peak Trailhead.
  2. Craggy false summit seen above, true summit on the right.
  3. View back toward the taller Pine Valley Mountain peaks to the south.
  4. Ascending the Gardner Peak Trail.
  5. False summit visible above.
  6. We passed an old east-west running road, but continued north up the steep slope seen here.
  7. Steep Gardner Peak Trail, ascending higher.
  8. Higher up, nearing the saddle.
  9. At the saddle on the west slope of Gardner Peak.
  10. Now on the northern side of the ridge where it's more vegetated.
  11. Views north.
  12. Ascending into the forest.
  13. Flatter section of trail higher up.
  14. A nice meadow along the way.
  15. Pleasant open hiking amongst boulders and trees.
  16. Views along the way.
  17. Higher up where the trail gets a bit less well-maintained.
  18. The Gardner Peak Trail leads up various slopes like this.
  19. Encroaching shrubs.
  21. A nice viewpoint of Gardner Peak (right of center), with cool formations on the left.
  22. A nice rock garden with interesting formations.
  23. Near the false summit, a view toward Gardner Peak. We continuing onward toward the peak.
  24. More nice open sections, Gardner Peak seen right.
  25. Entering a burn area.
  26. The trail was nearly gone by this point.
  27. View back through the burn area.
  28. We turned around when we neared the base of the cool formation seen ahead.
  29. View back the way we came along the flattish ridgeline.
  30. Nice view to the north.
  32. At the base of Gardner Peak, where we turned around.

Photo 1 of 1

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Hire or refer me as a web developer, or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so it's funded by yours truly. It also takes a ton of work to edit photos and write these reports. I really appreciate it!

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GPX track

Gardner Peak Trail GPX route and driving track

The complete GPX track is available to download, so you can load the route straight into your navigation app or device. The trip report, route info, photos and planning details stay free.

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