Muddy Creek is a stream in central Utah, United States, that drains portions of Emery, Sanpete, Sevier, and Wayne counties.
Muddy Creek is a stream in central Utah, United States, that drains portions of Emery, Sanpete, Sevier, and Wayne counties.
The creek begins on the eastern slopes of the Wasatch Plateau at elevations above 10,500 feet (3,200 m). It turns southward near the town of Emery, then southeastward, where it crosses under Interstate 70. It then directly enters the western flank of the San Rafael Swell and continuing in a southeasterly direction, it passes Hondu Arch, and the Tomsich Butte mining area then begins its spectacular passage through a narrow slot canyon of Coconino Sandstone known as the "Chute".
After merging with Chimney Canyon and passing the Hidden Splendor Mine area, it passes through the southeastern escarpment of the San Rafael Reef at the end of Muddy Creek Gorge. In its lower reaches, it continues southeastward through the Blue Hills badlands near Caineville, then cuts through the Jurassic Morrison Formation where dinosaur fossils have been found. Finally, after an estimated length of 100 miles (160 km) and a drop of 6,000 feet (1,800 m), it meets the Fremont River some miles north of the town of Hanksville where the two form the Dirty Devil River (which then flows south to meet the Colorado River).
Since it enters the San Rafael Swell at an elevation well below that attained by the Swell itself and continues through the Swell's entire expanse, Muddy Creek is a very ancient river course, "superimposed" on the entire San Rafael uplift and therefore predating the time when the latter arose some 60-40 million years ago.[ citation needed ]
Designated in 2019 by the U.S. Congress, the Muddy Creek Wilderness encompasses the pristine portion of the creek that enters the San Rafael Swell. The 98,023 acres wilderness area is managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. [1]
Emery County is a county in east-central Utah, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 9,825. Its county seat is Castle Dale, and the largest city is Huntington.
Wayne County is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,486, making it the fourth-least populous county in Utah. Its county seat is Loa.
Emery is a town in Emery County, Utah, United States. The population was 288 at the 2010 census.
The Colorado Plateau is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. This plateau covers an area of 336,700 km2 (130,000 mi2) within western Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, southern and eastern Utah, northern Arizona, and a tiny fraction in the extreme southeast of Nevada. About 90% of the area is drained by the Colorado River and its main tributaries: the Green, San Juan, and Little Colorado. Most of the remainder of the plateau is drained by the Rio Grande and its tributaries.
The San Rafael River is a tributary of the Green River, approximately 90 miles (140 km) long, in east central Utah, United States. The river flows across a sparsely populated arid region of the Colorado Plateau, and is known for the isolated, scenic gorge through which it flows.
The San Rafael Swell is a large geologic feature located in south-central Utah, United States about 16 miles (26 km) west of Green River. The San Rafael Swell, measuring approximately 75 by 40 miles, consists of a giant dome-shaped anticline of sandstone, shale, and limestone that was pushed up during the Paleocene Laramide Orogeny 40–60 million years ago. Since that time, infrequent but powerful flash floods have eroded the sedimentary rocks into numerous valleys, canyons, gorges, mesas, buttes, and badlands.
The Price River is a 137-mile-long (220 km) southeastward flowing river in Carbon, Utah and Emery counties in eastern Utah. It is a tributary to the Green River, itself a tributary to the Colorado River.
Dixie National Forest is a United States National Forest in Utah with headquarters in Cedar City. It occupies almost two million acres (8,000 km2) and stretches for about 170 miles (270 km) across southern Utah. The largest national forest in Utah, it straddles the divide between the Great Basin and the Colorado River. In descending order of forestland area it is located in parts of Garfield, Washington, Iron, Kane, Wayne, and Piute counties. The majority of forest acreage lies in Garfield County.
The San Rafael Reef is a geologic feature located in Emery County in central Utah, part of the Colorado Plateau. Approximately 75 miles (120 km) long, it is the distinctive eastern edge of the San Rafael Swell. Composed primarily of steeply tilted layers of Navajo and Wingate Sandstone, it has been eroded into tall fins, domes, cliffs, and deep canyons.
Interstate 70 (I-70) is a mainline route of the Interstate Highway System in the United States connecting Utah and Maryland. The Utah section runs east–west for approximately 232 miles (373 km) across the central part of the state. Richfield is the largest Utah city served by the freeway, which does not serve or connect any urban areas in the state. The freeway was built as part of a system of highways connecting Los Angeles and the Northeastern United States. I-70 was the second attempt to connect southern California to the east coast of the United States via central Utah, the first being a failed attempt to construct a transcontinental railroad. Parts of that effort were reused in the laying out of the route of I-70.
U.S. Route 50 (US 50) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that travels from West Sacramento, California, to Ocean City, Maryland. In the U.S. state of Colorado, US 50 is a major highway crossing through the lower midsection of the state. It connects the Western Slope with the lower Front Range and the Arkansas Valley. The highway serves the areas of Pueblo and Grand Junction as well as many other smaller areas along its corridor. The long-term project to widen the highway from two lanes to a four lane expressway between Grand Junction and Montrose was completed in January 2005. Only about 25% of the remainder of highway 50 in Colorado is four lane highway.
The Canyons of the Escalante is a collective name for the erosional landforms created by the Escalante River and its tributaries—the Escalante River Basin. Located in southern Utah in the western United States, these sandstone features include high vertical canyon walls, numerous slot canyons, waterpockets, domes, hoodoos, natural arches and bridges. This area—extending over 1,500 square miles (3,885 km2) and rising in elevation from 3,600 ft (1,097 m) to over 11,000 ft (3,353 m)—is one of the three main sections of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, and also a part of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, with Capitol Reef National Park being adjacent to the east.
The Canyon Lands Section of the Colorado Plateau is a physiographic section of the larger Colorado Plateaus province, which in turn is part of the larger Intermontane Plateaus physiographic division in the Western United States
Moore is an unincorporated community in west central Emery County, Utah, United States, at the edge of the San Rafael Swell.
Quitchupah Creek is a stream draining portions of Emery and Sevier Counties in central Utah, in the western United States. Quitchupah Creek is significant for rock art remains of the Fremont culture that line its banks. Quitchupah is Ute for "animals fare poorly." The drainage area is located within the Colorado River Basin near the south end of the Wasatch Plateau. All drainage from the area flows to Quitchupah Creek or its tributaries, including East Spring Canyon, Water Hollow, and North Fork and flows through Convulsion Canyon.
The Curtis Formation is a geologic formation in Utah. It preserves fossils dating back to the Callovian age of the Jurassic period.
Death Creek is a stream in northeastern Nevada and northwestern Utah, United States.
Temple Mountain is a remote 6,820-foot (2,080 m) mountain and abandoned town, located on the southeast flank of the San Rafael Swell in Emery County, Utah, United States.
