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Date: May 30, 2021
• Elevation: 3,080 feet
• Prominence: 340 feet
• Distance: 0.8 mile
• Time: 30 minutes
• Gain: 120 feet
• Conditions: Sunny and hot
Utah
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PB
Overview: I spent three days in the St. George area, hiking anything that looked interesting, fun or both. I was not picky, and I was an opportunist, tagging a few hilltops simply because they were convenient. I visited nine ranked summits in the region, all short hikes, but cumulatively hiked about 15 miles and about 4,500 feet of elevation gain.
My agenda:
- Saturday, May 29:
- Sunday, May 30:
- Monday, May 31:
The Price City Hills are a low mound of desert hills in the south St. George. On the north and west are homes and a high school, and on the south and east are businesses and industrial buildings.
I was on my second day in the St. George area. I had camped in the open desert about ten miles inside Arizona under a mostly-full moon the night before, then was up early today. First on my agenda was Shinob Kibe, a mesa-peak about five miles to the northwest of the Price City Hills. I wanted an early start to beat the heat. Once down from that hike, I drove south toward the Price City Hills. It was still early, about 8 a.m., but getting hot fast. My car's temperatue gauge read mid-80s. Warm but not a show-stopper.
The Price City Hills were not that important to me, but it appeared that I could make this a very short hike if I could drive up to the water towers on the ridge, cutting off distance and elevation gain. I located myself onto River Road, the main road that runs from the state line, heading north into the city.
I could see the water towers just fine but no obvious road to them. I drove up and down River Road a couple times, then guessed. I pulled into a parking lot near the Kenworthy facility (they do stone work). It appeared a road started around back, and sure enough, it did. The road was covered in asphalt-like gravel, not held together by actual asphalt, but forming a stable road bed. I only had to drive a half mile, parking behind the higher of the two water tanks.
Around back a rougher ATV track resumes and runs across the ridge of these hills. I followed it down, then up a hill, then down and up another, and quickly, I was on top. The summit is unexciting but the views weren't too bad. In this part of Utah, the views are not too shabby in any direction you look.
I did not stay long. It was hot and uncomfortable. I returned to my car and drove down back to River Road, then north a couple miles until I was in the shopping district of town. My plan was to kill a couple hours at a Barnes & Noble. I had a hotel reserved but needed to wait until I could check in. I still had one more hike planned, at Webb Hill which is close to the Price City Hills, but now it was just too hot. I waited until I checked into my hotel and until the sun started to set before I hiked that hill.
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