Location and Description
This remote 37,030-acre wilderness is a 12-mile long stretch of the Grand Wash Cliffs. St. George, Utah the largest town in the area (20,000 people) is 36 air miles north of the wilderness. Filled with rugged canyons, scenic escarpments, miles of towering cliffs and sandstone buttes the wilderness marks the transition zone between the Colorado Plateau and Basin and Range provinces. The cliffs are important habitat for the desert tortoise, gila monster and desert bighorn sheep. Vegetation is a mix of Mojave desert shrubs, annual grasses and pinyon-juniper woodland from colder desert country. Opportunities for finding solitude and engaging in primitive recreation activities in this beautiful but sparse land is outstanding.
Access
From St. George, the area may be reached via Interstate 15 and the Quail Hill (BLM 1069), County 101, Hobble (BLM 1032), St. George Canyon (BLM 1034), and Hidden Canyon (BLM 1003) roads. It may also be reached from Mesquite, Nevada on the Lime Kiln (County 242), Cottonwood (BLM 1027), Grand Wash (BLM 1061) and Grand Gulch (BLM 1050) roads. The Grand Canyon and Lake Mead prevent access from the south. The Arizona Strip Field Office has a visitor map which shows wilderness areas and roads in detail.
Nonfederal Lands
Some lands south of the wilderness are not federally administered. Please respect the property of the owners and do not cross or use these lands without their permission.
Bighorn Sheep in the Grand Wash Cliffs
The Grand Wash Cliffs Habitat Area is located within AGFD GMU 13B. The area includes over 175 square miles (113,360 acres) of bighorn habitat on BLM lands. Mohave desert shrub communities are found along the lower Grand Wash Cliffs. Middle and higher elevations are dominated by blackbrush communities merging into pinyon-juniper woodlands. Reliable permanent waters are limited to a few pot holes and developed wildlife and livestock waters. This Habitat Area borders a block of suitable bighorn habitat administered by the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
Eighty-three bighorn sheep were released into the Grand Wash Cliffs from 1983 to 1996. Key use areas for bighorn include concentration areas around the Squaw Canyon and Olaf Knolls wildlife water catchments, and in the Pigeon and Snap Canyon areas. More than 87% of the suitable bighorn sheep habitat is unoccupied. Four desert bighorn rams were legally taken in the area between 1989 and 1996. In 1996, the Grand Wash Cliffs Habitat Area supported an estimated population of 90 bighorn sheep. The population generally declined from 1993 through 1995.
Topographic Maps
7.5-minute: Cane Springs SE, St. George Canyon, Olaf Knolls, Last Chance Canyon, Grand Gulch Bench, Mustang Point
Also, Arizona Strip District Visitor Map
Game and Fish Management Unit 13B
Where to Stay
Hotels/motels
There are hotels and motels in St George with something for every taste and price range. For more information and a complete list. Click Here. (Rates, availability and reservation online)
Camping & RV Parks
There are many commercial and public locations for camping and RVs in and near St. George. For a complete list contact:
- St. George Chamber of Commerce
97 E. St. George Blvd.
St. George, UT 84770
435-628-1658
For more information contact:
Bureau of Land Management
Arizona Strip Field Office
345 East Riverside Drive
St. George, UT 84790
(435) 688-3200
Information from
U.S. Bureau of Land Management,
Office of Public Affairs and other sources.
