Hike Hancock Peak and Miras Nipple Loop Dixie National Forest, UT

May 15, 2022 — After hiking Mount Dutton, the high point of the southern Sevier Plateau, I was excited to check out some of the more difficult to reach summits in the area. From a distance, Hancock Peak and Miras Nipple seem to blend into the landscape, and the mountains are far enough away from the highway that they are easily overlooked. Upon closer inspection, this area is really stunning and I was very happy to check it out. I spent some time trying to piece together trails and cross-country travel to form a loop to get a nice sense of the area. It turns out there's actually a pretty good trail system in sections of these mountains, despite likely not getting much use. My plan was to link up the two peaks via the ridgeline connecting them, but I wasn't confident how well the route would go. Fortunately it was a very nice outing. To reach the trailhead, navigate here (37.78224, -112.17792) and head northwest. The road is excellent to this point, but then becomes a little rockier and not suitable for low-clearance. Take a right here (37.79097, -112.19243) and follow this road to here (37.85595, -112.21059), and make a left.

Labeled on topo maps as the Showalter Trail, but undocumented anywhere else I could find, I realized I could be in for a bushwhack. The trail parallels Hancock Creek for a time, and I lucked out to find it's in excellent shape. Plus the landscape is open enough that even if there was no trail, it wouldn't be too difficult to hike cross-country. I reached the junction of Hancock Creek and Carter Creek, then left the official trail to head up the Carter Creek drainage. I knew I'd be returning on the Showalter Trail on my way back, so it was nice to know there would be a good trail in place for that portion of my loop to come.

There was a somehow quite good, old trail along Carter Creek as well, but this one wasn't marked on any maps. It's likely not an animal trail either since many limbs were clearly cut back using a saw. I wasn't complaining, no bushwhacking for me! The trail continued through hilly meadows and the babbling creek was a nice touch. Suddenly Hancock Peak came into view. I was immediately stunned. What an incredible feature! I wasn't expecting to see its sloped form and eroded cliffs tower so high above, nestled between the blooming landscape around me. I continued onward to its southern base.

On my attached map you'll notice two lines around Hancock Peak. The eastern side was my approach. It was more direct and had nice views of the eroded features of Hancock Peak's south side, but was steep and required some side-hilling to avoid cliffs and an aspen grove. The western side was my descent, a bit more tame in terms of slope angle, but less direct and without the cool views. Neither option was particularly fun, but the scenery was outstanding and the loose terrain never exceeded Class 2. Hancock Peak's summit showed me that the ridge I planned to take to Miras Nipple would likely not be a problem, and I got excited about my loop to come. I descended and made my way back to the good unofficial trail I had left, leaving it shortly after once I passed a forested area and ascended to the ridgeline above.

Upon reaching the ridgeline, I was amazed yet again. The rim featured eroded cliffs reminiscent of Bryce Canyon National Park, but where those hoodoos are white and orange, these are gray and brown. I'd never seen anything quite like it and I honestly wasn't expecting it to be so interesting. I followed the rim for a while, taking tons of photos back toward Hancock Peak and along the lumpy terrain. I was able to initially avoid all bushwhacking since the ridge was clear, but there were a few downed trees to hop over later on. A large hump about halfway along the ridgeline had an animal trail that avoided thicker deadfall, but the slope was a bit steep and I still had a few downed trees to contend with.

Miras Nipple came into view just ahead again (the name coined by Tom Gathright), a dip in the ridge leading to the final ascent of the day. This was another steep section with some downed trees, but I was in great spirits from the scenery and the obstacles weren't enough to make the traverse feel like it wasn't worth the effort. The ridgeline ascended and uncovered more excellent views back to the north of the cool eroded rim, and as I approached Miras Nipple I became slightly disheartened by its formidable-looking summit block.

I wrapped left around to the south side of Miras Nipple, where the most reasonable-looking ascent option presented itself, Class 3 on somewhat loose rock. I took in the views from the summit perch for a while before dropping off the south side of Miras Nipple and down to the Hancock Trail a few hundred feet away. On topo maps, the trail seems to continue south (and it does), but a trail unmarked on any maps led directly east right when I reached the trail, descending through the forest instead. I was surprised at how good this trail was and I'm pretty sure it was created unofficially, but that was fine for me! It merged with the official Showalter Trail a quarter mile later, which I followed back to my car.