Trip Report: Rock Climb and Caving in the Beaver Dam Mountains


Rock Climb and Caving in the Beaver Dam Mountains
By Frank Bouchard
CLIMBING 12/20/2024 MOD
Over the weekend we had an amazing trail running, rock climbing, caving, and biking adventure in the Beaver Dam mountains. As is usual for this time of year, temperatures in the Wasatch and northern Utah have dropped and snow has accumulated, making many of our favorite activities like camping, climbing, and trail running more challenging. But there is a part of Utah where you can do these things and more all through the winter. The Beaver Dam range, just east of St. George, is the lowest elevation mountain range and hence the warmest place in the state. Day time temperatures made it up to 72 degrees and there was no snow in sight.

On Friday, three of us did a long run/bike ride and some hiking in the Beaver Dam wash area, covering about 12 miles of desert landscape packed with zany-looking Joshua trees. We camped next to Kelly's Rock climbing crag and a few others arrived that night.

On Saturday, we headed to Bloomington Cave, a good introduction to spelunking. The BLM issues permits to go in self-guided and spend as much time as you want exploring the many subterranean passages. On the first day our group of six completed the easiest of the routes which is a loop that took about 3 hours. There are a few tight spots and tricky climbs, but it's easy to navigate. After that we returned to camp and did a little bit of climbing at Kelly's Rock. Then we settled in for a campfire and dinner.

On Sunday, half the group chose to do another long run while the other half wanted to tackle a more challenging section of the cave. While the runners completed a 15-mile loop on dirt roads, the cavers made it to the more advanced passage known as the Outer Limits. This involved an 80-foot rappel within the cave, lots of tight, awkward squeezes, and exciting climbs.

We all met back up in the parking lot and ate a late lunch before driving back to Salt Lake.

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