Hike Notch Peak and Sawtooth Mountain Loop House Range BLM, UT

May 21, 2022 — Notch Peak is a high peak in the House Range, notable mostly for having the second highest vertical drop in the United States. It gets a fair amount of attention from hikers looking to check out the incredible view, but also from climbers interested in some adventure. We ran into a couple of such folks who were establishing a new climbing route on the loose limestone face. No, thanks! Although Notch Peak is a gorgeous and classic summit all on its own, I highly recommend the traverse along the rim to Sawtooth Mountain to the north. This traverse really makes the hike special, introducing lots more cliffy views and an exceptional perspective back toward Notch Peak. FYI I attached a CalTopo map base layer instead of my normal map imagery because a few maps are incorrectly drawn, resulting in a GPS track appearing to be wandering in thin air.

To reach the trailhead, leave the paved Highway 6 here (39.07185, -113.21826) and continue north to here (39.11302, -113.22055) and head northwest on Miller Canyon Road. The road is suitable for any vehicle to here (39.1415, -113.30767), where a pavillion and bathroom mark a junction. Take a left onto a road passable to Crossovers vehicles and continue to the trailhead.

Chris and I started up Sawtooth Canyon on the gravel trail, well-marked and easy to follow. At a junction within the wash we kept left and continued ascending through progressively narrowing limestone. There was a short slotty section as well as a few Class 2 obstacles, initially. A bit into the canyon cairns mark the way up a couple of short, low Class 3 scrambles on the solid limestone before continuing through the gravel wash again. A social trail leads out of the drainage and ascends north toward the saddle on Notch Peak's east side. There were at least three carved social trails along this section, so you can't get too lost.

We reached the "notch", a ridiculous drop with walls stretching away from us. We paused to take it in for a bit before heading west and up to the summit of Notch Peak. Along the way we encountered some Class 2/2+ on steep limestone slabs, as well as a couple of baby cliff bands. If the notch below wasn't impressive enough, the views from the summit were simply overwhelming and dizzying. I've spent a lot of time on limestone peaks in the Great Basin Desert, but it was pretty incredible to see sheer walls at this scale despite the familiar rock type.

Onward for the traverse! We headed back down off Notch Peak and ascended a small hump to the north (Class 2) on the way to Peak 9424, also Class 2. Although you could avoid some elevation gain by not ascending this minor summit, I highly recommend sticking to the rideline as much as possible for more mind-blowing views of the western face of the House Range. We headed over another minor summit along the way north, and then noticed a significant drop ahead. Fortunately, a steep and dirty Class 2 descent option presented itself away from all cliffs, an ultimately easy undertaking to drop a few hundred feet to a flatter section below.

Sawtooth Mountain was in view ahead, but a pyramid-shaped obstacle rested along the ridgeline and should be avoided by hugging the base of its eastern face since the north side has a cliff. Once around the pyramid-shaped feature, a social trail led us up the east ridge of Sawtooth Mountain before curving north and wrapping around in an ascending traverse to get to the northern ridge of Sawtooth Mountain. You could likely head directly to the summit from here, but we chose to stick to the crude trail instead. Class 2 led up the north ridge and to the summit of Sawtooth Mountain, where more lovely views awaited.

We headed back down Sawtooth Mountain's north ridge, but rather than backtrack all the way we decided to turn the hike into a loop. To do this, we decided to head east along the wide eastern slopes of Sawtooth Mountain and look for a way back down into Sawtooth Canyon. If you're not a fan of even a little bushwhacking I'd recommend just returning the way you came. We looked on a satellite map and figured most of our intended descent route would be clear of brush, and we were mostly correct. A couple of miles of ridge walking gave us sweeping views of the surrounding landscape and back toward the peaks we'd just traversed. A few hundred feet of brush here and there slowed us down, but it was never too annoying and mostly required just ducking through tunnels created by tall bushes. I do recommend having a satellite map handy so you know where the biggest bush pockets are.

Eventually we decided it made the most sense to leave the ridgeline and head south down into Sawtooth Canyon. With some light side-hilling and some more minor bushwhacking, we dropped down about 1000 feet on our slope of choice and made it into Sawtooth Canyon. Here we took the gravel wash back to where it met with the Notch Peak Trail.