Hike Slaughter Benchmark San Rafael Swell BLM, UT

Directions

Route Map

Download GPX

Slaughter Benchmark GPX Track

I need to offset my substantial website costs somehow! You can download a hike/drive GPX to assist you here. Before sharing my GPX tracks with others, please remember my site is otherwise a free resource.

Add to Cart

View Cart

Slaughter Benchmark is a bit of a drive to reach on the west side of the San Rafael Swell, but the roads leading out to it were overall is very good condition, likely passable by any car. We came in on County Road 920 (38.7645, -111.34961) and navigated here (38.63916, -111.11295), turned left, and followed this dirt road to the cliff edge.

Whiley and I set out to the north along a likely illegally-made ATV track, leaving it occasionally to stay along the rim and enjoy the views. A bit over a mile in brought us to the end of the mellow rim, the upcoming landscape replaced with drainages and eroded cliffs. The fist obstacle was a small rocky ridge running perpendicular to the crest, on which we could see a small keyhole feature that would serve as access to the opposite side of the small rocky ridge. Sticking to the ridge crest here resulted in a narrow catwalk and a Class 3 scramble into the keyhole. This option is beautiful, but you can keep the route easier by sticking to the left of the small rock outcrop along the crest and continuing to the keyhole. On the opposite side of the keyhole, a steep Class 2 slope led us down. To the north we could see our next objective, a wide break in the steep cliffs. Although my attached map may look like you can skip the long wrap-around, but the loose and dangerous cliffs would prevent an attempt at going up and over.

To reach the wide break in the dangerous cliff face, we side-hilled at its base. Keeping high would result in obnoxiously steep terrain, and too low would mean navigating many rivulets and drop-offs. We did a good job going in and coming back out with only the occasional backtracking of a few feet, so finding a route shouldn't be too tedious. Once at the wide break, we dropped into the drainage below and ascended to its head. The drainage was pretty, but mostly unremarkable. Steep Class 2 (maybe 2+) led to a false summit of Slaughter Benchmark, and mellow terrain brought us to the high point. The views of the San Rafael Swell were great. Thanks to Sam Grant for the route.

PEAKS ON HIKE
Elevation (ft) / Prominence (ft)

Peaks on hike

Elevation

Prominence

Slaughter Benchmark

6770 ft

690 rise

Hire me or show me some love!

Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!

Along the rim from the trailhead.

View back along the rim. The trailhead is at the end of the rim, center of this photo.

Close-up to the west.

The mellow terrain ended and we started along the eroded ridge crest. Left of center you can see the keyhole we're headed to. Far left is the wide weakness in the larger cliff band we'd be going to later. Stick to the left of the cliffs in the center of this photo to reach the keyhole.

If you stay along the ridge crest, you'll encounter this catwalk. You can see the wide weakness on the right.

Shot from within the keyhole. Catwalk above me. The ridge crest we came from is visible on the right.

Looking back toward the keyhole (left). We would now drop to the right in this photo and follow the base of the cliffs on the right to reach the wide weakness visible top right.

Looking back up the Class 2 slope toward the keyhole.

Class 2 as we traverse along the base of the cliffs.

Looking back toward the keyhole (center).

Wide weakness ahead. We entered and headed to the right down into the drainage below.

On the opposite side of the wide weakness, view looking back toward the weakness as we descend to the drainage below.

Within the drainage, headed to its head.

Head of the drainage, view toward Slaughter Benchmark's false summit. Class 2/2+ to get up there.

View back down the Class 2 slope. The head of the drainage is visible on the left, the drainage center, and the wide weakness we came down from visible top right.

Slaughter Benchmark ahead.

Slaughter Benchmark summit, view north.

Slaughter Benchmark summit, view west.

Slaughter Benchmark, close-up toward the canyons of the San Rafael Swell and the Henry Mountains (top right).

Slaughter Benchmark summit, view south along the rim. The trailhead is on the left at the top of the rim.

Hire me or show me some love!

Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I’m not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!