Pahvant Valley Heritage Trail

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Have a few hours, or a whole day to explore and see some sights? Stop by and visit Fort Deseret, Great Stone Face, Sunstone Knoll, Clear Lake, Devils Kitchen Petroglyphs, Pahvant Butte, Lace Curtain, Lava Tubes, and Hole-in-the-Rock Petroglyphs. These are nine points of interest located along the Pahvant Valley Heritage Trail intended to engage the public in preservation and stewardship of public land.

Located in a broad, arid, north-south trending valley in the Great Basin Physiographic Region, the Pahvant Valley encompasses most of southeastern Millard County, Utah. Its extent is defined by the Pahvant Range to the east and the Cricket Mountains to the west. The Pahvant Valley Heritage Trail is bounded by the town of Delta, Utah and Highway 50 and 6 to the north, the town of Fillmore and Interstate 15 to the east, the town of Kanosh and the Kanosh Road to the south, and Highway 257 to the west.***Keep in mind that access points to the majority of the points of interest along the Pahvant Valley Heritage Trail are located on dirt roads. All-wheeled drive vehicles are strongly recommended in those locations. The road to the Lava Tubes is extremely rough and is best driven with an all-terrain vehicle. 

Fort Deseret

Established in 1860 along the nearby Sevier River, the settlement of Desert was another outpost for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Settlers built a small community here and grew crops by damning the nearby river.

GPS: 39.2648, -112.6539

Great Stone Face

This natural geologic feature is said to look like images of Mormon prophet Joseph Smith. A steep rocky trail takes you closer to this natural formation, also known as the "Guardian of the Desert."

Located along the roadside just before the parking area is the Great Stone Face Petroglyph site. 

GPS: 39.2340, -112.7516

Sunstone Knoll

Sunstone Knoll is formed of volcanic vents that erupted during the early Pleistocene (1.6 million years to about 750,000 years ago). These eruptions left deposits of basaltic lava and volcanic breccia (angular, broken rock fragments held together in a matrix of finer grained material). Sunstone is a transparent, yellowish labradorite (a plagioclase feldspar mineral) found as crystals in these volcanic rocks and on the flats surrounding the knoll. 

GPS: 39.1489, -112.7188

Clear Lake

This area is managed by the Utah Department of Natural Resources.

This property is within Millard County, UT and covers 5,535.48 acres. This property was established on December 15, 1935 with the primary purpose of benefiting waterfowl, upland game hunting.

Species found on this property may include: wetland, open water, upland game, waterfowl, least chub. 

Go to the Utah DNR Waterfowl Management Area site for more information.

Lace Curtain

After the volcanic eruption that formed Pahvant Butte. Lake Bonneville carved a shelf around most of the butte except for the north face where intense storm waves cut a vertical cliff into the cone. The cut exposes an intricate lacey pattern caused by the partial cementing of the luff by minerals in ground water. The cliff is known as the "Lace Curtain" because of its while color and mysterious lacey pattern.

GPS: 39.1360, -112.5544

Pahvant Butte (viewpoint)

About 15,500 years ago, a volcano erupted from the bottom of the rising Ice Age Lake Bonneville. Pahvant Butte (also known as Sugarloaf) ejected shreds of basalt lava high into the air that quickly cooled into glassy particles the size of sand (volcanic ash) and gravel (volcanic cinders) collectively known as tuff. The explosion produced a crater on the south face of Pahvant Butte. When the eruption ceased, a volcanic cone called a luff cone was left to the mercy of erosion by Lake Bonneville.

GPS: 39.0807, -112.5773