The Leap Creek Trail starts behind the Browse Ranger station located 7.5 miles west of exit 30 on Interstate I15 between St George and Cedar City, Utah. This trail continues to the Big Point Summit of the Pine Valley Mountains and has excellent views of the Kolob Canyons to the east. Trail elevations are 6250 at the Ranger station, 6600 at the first flat knoll 1.25 miles from the Ranger station, and 9380 at the summit.
Overall rating = difficult to reach the summit
Distance: 4.5 miles to the summit – difficult
Elevation gain: 3100 feet – difficult
Terrain: stony steep path – difficult
Exposure: steep at top – moderate
To see the trail rating system used here see Trail Rating System
Getting There
Take exit 30 from Interstate I15 and drive north west on the graded gravel Forest Road 037 4 miles to a large parking area. From here take an off road vehicle the remaining 3.5 miles to the browse station. This last section of road is very rough and can easily take 1 hour to traverse.
The last 3.5 miles of the road beyond the parking area is gated from first snow until about mid May.
For a one page printout of the directions click Directions to Leap Creek
The Trail
The trail starts behind the Browse Ranger station, crosses Mill Creek, and then winds its way gradually uphill for 2 miles before heading up the steeper section. We hiked 1.25 miles to get views of the Kolob Canyons from above the tree line.
Here are some of the pictures we took.
