Hike Cedar Mountain and East Cedar Mountain San Rafael Swell BLM, UT

Feb 19, 2021 — Cedar Mountain and its slightly smaller neighbor East Cedar Mountain are nice peaks on the west side of the San Rafael Swell. Aside from a loose Class 3 move, this route is Class 2. The trailhead is likely reachable by any car. We came in on County Road 920 (38.7645, -111.34961) and navigated to the trailhead, starting with Cedar Mountain first. Whiley and I began by paralleling a cattle fence, doing our best to avoid the large quantities of cryptobiotic soil. Please avoid busting the crust. We wound around through the desert for a half mile before reaching a prominent gully to the north of Cedar Mountain, starting up the first large slope we located. The slope brought us above a small dryfall, which we crossed on top of before ascending to the rim above (Class 2).

Once on the rim, we headed first to Peak 6910. The more efficient way to get to the peak would be to use our descent route as an ascent as well, but we wanted to make this into more of a loop. We kept just below a bubbly-looking black volcanic cliff band and found a Class 2 notch to ascend to higher ground. Once along the mellow ridge crest, we continued to the summit. Class 2 brought us down the south slope of Peak 6910, and we headed east toward Cedar Mountain.

Cedar Mountain is pretty straightforward, but there are lots of small cliff bands to avoid around its base. The route I'd recommend heads up the obvious steep north ridge/slope with some Class 2 boulder-hopping, a meander across some flatter terrain, followed by a couple of short zig-zags to reach the ridge crest. This brought us to just below the summit of Cedar Mountain, where a soft dirt sloping ridge gave us nice views. The last hundred feet to the summit requires some loose Class 2+ scrambling. It's easier if you wrap around the west side of the peak and ascend from the west instead of the north.

Back at the cars, we continued east toward East Cedar Mountain. A steady Class 2 slope took us to just below the summit. The grade leading up was pleasant for morning exercise and sustained. A short section of soft-dirt ridge with steep slopes on either side leading to a substantial drop-off gave us minor pause. Just past the soft dirt was a gnarly-looking Class 3 eroded dirty face. The result of a fall would likely be fine, but the steep slopes didn't give us too much confidence. We took our time digging our hands into the dirt as we made our way up this ten-foot crux. The summit was a few Class 2+ boulder obstacles away with no exposure, and the views were the best of the hike. We thought East Cedar Mountain was much better than Cedar Mountain. We returned the way we came.