Deseret Peak Recreation Site Monitoring Field Trip
On Saturday, June 28th, a dedicated crew of volunteers journeyed west of the Wasatch Mountains to the rugged and remote South Willow Canyon, one of the primary gateways to the Deseret Wilderness. Tucked within the Stansbury Mountains, this range borders the Tooele Valley and offers a stark contrast to the Wasatch. Dry landscapes, exposed ridgelines, ancient Bristlecone Pines, and a unique sense of solitude.
A New Chapter in Wilderness Monitoring
Save Our Canyons has long partnered with the Salt Lake Ranger District (SLRD) of the U.S. Forest Service on several impactful efforts, including the Recreation Site Monitoring Program. This initiative tracks human impact on wilderness areas by surveying recreation sites within wilderness areas found near Forest Service trails. Check out our 2024 Season Recap to learn more.
For the 2025 season, we set out to complete data collection on a few remaining trails in the Mount Olympus, Twin Peaks, and Lone Peak Wilderness areas, but we also set our sights on something new: expanding this work to the Deseret Peak Wilderness, the fourth wilderness area managed by the SLRD.
What made this trip special was the chance to revisit recreation site data originally collected in 1986 and 2009. Thanks to recent efforts by the SLRD to digitize and map those legacy records (yes, someone manually entered all that handwritten data—tedious, but vital), we were able to locate old site coordinates and see firsthand how conditions have changed over decades. It’s one of the first times we’ve been able to compare past and present data this precisely. Technology for the win.
Powered by Volunteers
This field trip wouldn’t have happened without one especially motivated volunteer. After attending a training session in May, she rallied a group of friends, and together they dove into protocol training and prepared for the backcountry work. Their initiative and energy made it possible to collect data in a wilderness area that would’ve otherwise been out of reach for us this season.
A huge thank you to this incredible team for stepping up and making a lasting contribution to our understanding of wilderness health. Your work will directly support future conservation strategies across Utah’s wild places.
