Upper Muddy Creek | San Rafael Swell

Hiking Upper Muddy Creek - San Rafael Swell Hiking Upper Muddy Creek

San Rafael Swell

Overview

RATING: Easy Hiking
CURRENT CFS: Getting current CFS.... Full Details

Tue

A chance of snow before 5pm. Partly sunny. High near 43, with temperatures falling to around 39 in the afternoon. North wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than half an inch possible.

43 | 25

Wed

Sunny, with a high near 46. North wind around 6 mph.

46 | 23

Thu

Sunny, with a high near 48.

48 | 23

Fri

Mostly sunny, with a high near 47.

47 | 24

Sat

Partly sunny, with a high near 48.

48 | 26

View Full Weather Details
SEASON: Fall, Winter, Spring. Can be hot and buggy in the summer.
GEAR: Normal hiking gear, wading shoes if planning on crossing Muddy Creek
WATER: Bring your own.

Tue

A chance of snow before 5pm. Partly sunny. High near 43, with temperatures falling to around 39 in the afternoon. North wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than half an inch possible.

43 | 25

Wed

Sunny, with a high near 46. North wind around 6 mph.

46 | 23

Thu

Sunny, with a high near 48.

48 | 23

Fri

Mostly sunny, with a high near 47.

47 | 24

Sat

Partly sunny, with a high near 48.

48 | 26

View Full Weather Details
Towers and Buttes

Towers and Buttes

Upper Muddy Creek, starting from the Tomsich Butte mining area, is a lovely area of the Swell that seems overlooked by many hikers. The scenery is similar to the Little Grand Canyon in the northern Swell, with exquisite cliffs, domes, and buttes. Expect great scenery, with much solitude.

The route begins at Muddy Creek, visits a lonely cabin near Tomsich Butte, then winds it's way up along Muddy Creek to Poor Canyon. A great side trip, Poor Canyon has impressive canyon walls covered with solution pockets. Poor Canyon makes a great backpacking destination, with a intermittent seeps within 20 minutes of Muddy Creek that are generally flowing. Muddy Creek proper could be filtered as well, but it is very silty.

Although the creek can be crossed in hotter times of the year, the hike does not require any creek crossings, making this a good hike in cooler times of the year.

The trailhead provides great views of Hondoo Arch.

The creek

The creek

Full Details

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