Hike Black Crook Peak Wasatch-Cache National Forest, UT

Oct 04, 2020 — Black Crook Peak, the highest point of the Sheeprock Mountains, seems to be approached from pretty much all sides. I chose the south ridge route because it required the least driving from Salt Lake City and also because the scramble was rumored to be pretty fun. I was able to make the drive the entire way in my mid-clearance, and probably 2WD can make it as well, with maybe an additional half mile or so of walking since the road gets a little more steep and rocky as it progresses.

From a parking spot off the road, I continued along the road to a major curve before the road headed south, and located an animal trail on the right, leaving the road. I could see the steep slope above that I'd have to ascend to reach the ridgeline. The animal trail leaving the road is not obvious, but I recommend looking for it to gain the slope in order to avoid bushwhacking entirely. Once on the slope, the animal trails were abundant, and I found myself leaving one only to stumble upon another. They were definitely pretty helpful for the first bit, keeping the side-hilling steep, but not unpleasant. I don't know if I can recommend a specific route up the slope, but I'd say head up toward the rocky outcrop along the ridge crest. I kept just left of the outcrop, not quite hugging the rocks, and was able to find nice social trails that avoided all brush and a fair amount of the Class 2 talus.

Eventually I made it to the top of the steep slope and was on the sloping ridge crest that would lead me to Black Crook Peak. I started north, encountering some Class 2/3 rocky outcrops, and staying just left of the ridge crest initially. Once Black Crook Peak came into view, I found my way back to the ridge crest and was able to stay on it (or very close to it) for all of the technical sections of the entire route. It will be temping to stay to the left on the safer-looking slope since the rocky outcrops look intimidating from below, but definitely just stay high. From experience, I can say the slope on the left of the crest are a lot more work and miss the scrambles. I could trace the route ahead: rocky ridge, a hump in the ridge that would add some vertical gain, and the, more rocky ridge leading to Black Crook Peak.

The route started off with some easy Class 2 and a Class 3 downclimb on solid rock, followed by an ascent on more Class 2/3 toward the hump along the ridge. The rockyness faded away and was replaced by a lightly brushy walk up toward the hump. I kept just left of the high point of this hump to avoid additional vetical gain, but it's straightforward to work around it. This hump will need to be re-ascended later on the way back. On the hump's northwest side, the terrain was easy and grassy, and led me down to the east ridge of Black Crook Peak.

Black Crook Peak looks a little intimidating from its base, but a very clear Class 2 gully avoids the scary-looking rock by staying right and ascending on pleasant talus to the final ridgeline. Once along the ridgeline, I was tempted to keep left yet again to avoid the scary-looking ridge crest, but definitely stay high. There is a Class 3 gully that was fun and less steep than it looks, and the crest goes much more easily than trying to avoid it. I know because on my ascent I stayed left and descended via the crest and preferred the latter by far. A final Class 3 gully just left of the crest led to the summit of Black Crook Peak, what I considered the crux. From the summit, I looked around at the other options others had taken to ascend Black Crook Peak, and ultimately I'm glad I did the peak using the pretty fun east ridge route.