19) Little Sand Flat and the Oil Well Road (map disabled)

Please read the Introduction

The Oil Well Road is a historic prospecting route built in the 1950s. It starts at Lower South Desert Overlook and follows what was first a stock trail down into South Desert. The road passes through Little Sand Flat and eventually ends up on top of the Waterpocket Fold where the prospectors not only drilled a well but built a landing strip. Notom resident Keith Durfey remembers that he, his father and his uncle were on the crew that constructed the road.

Hikers can follow only the old road route - no longer visible in places - or cut off a section of road by walking a canyon. Both routes traverse significantly varied and scenic country.

TIME:10-12 hours.
ELEVATION GAIN:1700 Feet.
DIFFICULTY:Moderate route finding. Easy scrambling via the road. If you choose to walk the canyon route to Little Sand Flat the scrambling becomes moderate plus there is a pitch up a 60 foot rock pour-over that has exposure.
MAPS: Fruita NW, Cathedral Mountain, Twin Rocks
GEOLOGY:Temples, numerous rock formations and arches.
PLANTS:Varied habitats.
CIRCLE TRIP:No.
ACCESS:From the Visitor Center drive 12.0 miles east on Utah Highway 24 to where a dirt road leaves the paved road at an easy angle to the left. The road is hard to see but there is usually a sign saying "River Ford". Cross the river at the lower crossing and drive 13.9 miles to a signed junction saying "Lower South Desert Overlook." Turn left and drive 1.1 miles to Lower South Desert Overlook (S) parking area.

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Leave the parking area and walk west along the old road. The Waterpocket fold ahead is all chopped up and beckons to be explored while to the northwest Thousand Lake Mountain is on the skyline. The cliffs to the right are composed of four different rock formations. On top, at the high point, is the Morrison Formation which the road meandered through most of the way to the parking area. The brown layer below that is the Summerville Formation. The gray rock layer the old road goes on and down through is the Curtis Formation. Notice that the top of Jail House Rock (the large Cathedral in front of you as you start the hike.) is Curtis. Look northwest up the valley and notice the smaller cathedral. That one (Temple Rock) has a tiny cap of gray Curtis. Below the Curtis, all the rock in the cliff, most of the rock in the temples, and the rock in the valley around the base of Jailhouse Rock is the Entrada Formation.

Jailhouse Rock was a jail not for people, but for horses. Local rancher Guy Pace says that Cass Mulford named the feature because he caught wild horses there.

The route will turn right (north) and go down through a cattle gate and on to the bottom of the valley. At that point there is not much grass but most of what there is has a spindly top and is Alkali Dropseed. The old road has become difficult to follow but two things may help. The road passes to the right (east and north) of Temple Rock. If there is any question, just walk over to Deep Creek and follow it up.

Two different routes are described for getting to Little Sand Flat. The canyon route is the more difficult.

The Canyon Route to Little Sand Flat

Leave the old road before it gets to Temple Rock and go left (west) to Deep Creek. Cross to the west side of Deep Creek and walk north to the first (on the map) significant wash to come out of the fold (A) south of the Deep Creek/Polk Creek junction. That wash comes out southwest of Temple Rock.

Follow the wash (or go cross country cutting off the bends) until the canyon starts to narrow down. This point should be about one hour from the parking lot.

As the canyon narrows the Entrada Formation ends and the Carmel Formation begins. The Carmel is a fascinating mixture of rock types and colors, all of which will show up in this canyon. The main plant in the beginning of the canyon is Rabbitbrush.

About fifteen minutes up the canyon you approach a green wall on the right which has been undercut. Two small trees in the wash 100 feet from the wall are the delicate Tamarisk on the left and Singleleaf Ash on the right. There are many more Tamarisk nearer the green wall. Ten minutes farther up the canyon opens out quite a bit then after a few more minutes the wash runs unusually straight for a ways before the canyon narrows again. At the end of that straight stretch, the narrow walls are composed of gypsum, a part of the Carmel Formation.

Another twenty minutes up the wash there is a narrower than usual section with blocky sandstone walls. A couple minutes after that the canyon widens a bit and a number of trees line the wash and lower slopes. The largest trees both left and right are Singleleaf Ash again and the large shrubs just past the Ash on the right are Apache Plume. The smaller shrubs below the Apache Plume are Saltbush.

Five minutes later there is a large jumble of broken rock in the wash to climb around on the left (south) side.

Where the wash comes down a sizeable slickrock ramp walk the ramp up to near the top where there is a fork. Go right (west) rather than going to the left (south) along the base of the steep slope.

Ten minutes above the ramp the wash leaves the Carmel Formation, enters the Navajo Sandstone and gets more difficult to walk. There are a few pour-overs to work through before the wash settles down again.

Five more minutes up there is a big hole with a slickrock walk around it to the right or an easier route around on the left. Not long after that the canyon seems to end in a wall. A minor drainage comes from the right (north) but the wall is too steep and smooth to climb. The main wash comes over the sixty foot sandstone plunge toward the left (south). By looking critically at the rock a route can be seen going from lower right (near the Singleleaf Ash) to upper left across the rock face.

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After climbing that continue up the rocky wash bed over some small pour-overs and soon the wash will become smooth, then sandy at the edge of Little Sand Flat.

Stay in the wash and a few minutes into the flat there is a wash junction. Go right (west). The wash is mostly sandy but has some bedrock sections. At the bedrock section where it is necessary to climb about eight feet, do so but then look west at Thousand Lake Mountain. In the foreground there is an asymmetric dome of Navajo Sandstone. Leave the wash and walk toward that dome. After 150 yards there is a lone juniper tree and just beyond that, (C) the old Oil Well Road. Turn left (south) along the road and follow it for ten minutes until it ramps gently down into a large wash. (Pick up the rest of the trip at the asterisks in the road route.)

Oil Well Road Route to Little Sand Flat

Follow the old road or cattle paths past Temple Rock on the east, then north side. Once past Temple Rock look for the easiest way to get into the Deep Creek Canyon to the west. The road goes north, then crosses Polk Creek above the Junction with Deep Creek and goes west along the base of the slope that becomes the north (right) side of Deep Creek. Since Deep Creek wipes out much of the road anyway, pick a likely looking route and get into the Deep Creek wash. Once there, go up the wash.

About twenty minutes up Deep Creek from the junction with Polk Creek the wash runs hard against the left (south) side of the canyon. Walk up stream from there a short distance and then, where convenient, walk up on the left side of the wash. The old Oil Well Road is on that bench and after going straight upstream along that bench for a couple hundred yards it turns left (south) and goes up the hillside to the south.

From there the road has eroded some but the line of the road is quite easy to follow to the top of the hill.

All the rock layers encountered from the mouth of Deep Creek to the top of the hill are in the Carmel Formation even though they have a wide range of colors and may be sandstone, mudstone, shale, gypsum or clay.

On top of the hill the road rolls some for half a mile or so before going down into Little Sand Flat. After the road starts down, go a number of yards until there is a good unobstructed view of Little Sand Flat. From the point where that first good view occurs the old road will last for fifteen to twenty minutes. It first goes down a badly eroded fill ramp to Little Sand Flat, then crosses the flat on a road bed of fill material. The road alignment can be followed by keeping an eye on the fill or by keeping an eye on the line of disturbed land vegetation that has grown in since the road was abandoned. Some of those plants are native and some exotic but in the fall the cured vegetation can make walking the road more difficult than walking beside it.

***** The fill section of the road will end where the road ramps gently down into a large wash. From that point turn right and go up the wash (or along beside it). After ten minutes the wash will make a bend to the right (west) and a gently sloping, sandy tributary wash will come in from the right (north). There will be sandstone bedrock in the main wash and just fifty feet above where the wash comes in from the right there will be another wash junction. The main wash goes straight ahead and looks like it runs into a sandstone wall. The wash that goes left (south) quickly enters a fairly narrow canyon. (B) Turn left (south) and go up that narrow canyon. The farther up the canyon, the more obvious it will be that a road once existed there but it is gone in places. Within five minutes the road makes a remarkable recovery and is easy to follow.

After a fairly long climb on a reasonable grade the road will top out with a nice view in many directions. When ready to continue, turn right(west). The road is a bit hard to follow but it can be seen ahead. Before long an arch will be visible on the horizon, then a second one will come into view. The road will probably seem to go to a point just below the arches, and in fact it does, but a fork to the left (southeast) is now hard to see.

For the last quarter mile before the arches notice all the dead wood piled up along the far side of the meadow the route goes through. The "meadow" used to be covered with Juniper and Pinyon trees but was cleared to make a landing strip (L). The oil well was off to the left (east) of the lower end of the strip. Enjoy the area!


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