Five Mile Pass Old Mine Quarries and Tailings

More landscapes from Five Mile Pass

Old Mine Tailings at Five Mile Pass

Trail next to mine tailings

Open pit mine near Mercur, Utah

Be sure to avoid going into abandoned mines. They are very dangerous. Don't go past fences and stay out of areas that are posted "no trespassing."

Stopped for lunch at Five Mile Pass

Rocky Ridge at Five Mile Pass

Rocky Ridge at Five Mile Pass

When we drove around Fivemile Pass on Monday, May 10, it was chilly and raining lightly at times. We didn't see anyone on the trails, except we passed a family camping along the roadside. On the way out, we stayed to the west on flat roads but came back going up and down in the foothills.

May 10 visit to Five Mile Pass

Horned Toad (Short-horned lizard)

Horned Toad (Short-horned lizard)

On our second visit to Five Mile Pass, we parked on the west side of the parking area and headed west then south on a graded rocky road. A horned toad ran across the road in front of me and hid under a tiny sagebrush. We slowly moved the sagebrush aside and took this picture of our little friend. I read that horned toads can ward off predators by puffing up their bodies which makes their spikes become more pronounced and some species can squirt blood from their eyes up to 3 feet to surprise their predators. I also read that horned toads are becoming more rare because of loss of habitat. I believe this is the first time I've ever seen one.

Wild Buckwheat

Wild Buckwheat? (Eriogonum ovalifolium)

We traveled to the higher elevations of the foothills and ate lunch near these wildflowers. I think I labeled them correctly. If not, will you leave a comment and correct me?

Indian Paintbrush

Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja)

These little bright red flowers were attention-getting. They were down in the lower altitude trails.

Mountain Phlox

Mountain Phlox? (Phlox diffusa)

These were tiny 1/2 inch flowers hugging the ground, also in the higher foothill areas.

Five Mile Pass

Vault Toilet at Five Mile Pass

The vault toilets are on the south side of Highway 73 a little way back from the parking area. There is another set of vault toilets to the west, also south of the parking area. There is no water available or garbage canisters, so be sure to take your trash home.

View of Rush Valley

On our ATV trip about 2 miles south, I took a picture of Rush Valley, a very barren area west of us in Tooele County.

Five Mile Pass Trail

Panorama View of Fivemile Pass South from Parking Lot

Sign at Five Mile Pass

 
Since we are beginners, we chose to go south along the main trail. My husband and I left the main trail and veered right on a smaller side trail that gradually went up the hill. I soon found out that it was a little too steep for me. I told him I was scared when we got to the top of the trail because it looked pretty steep and rocky to go down so he turned his Grizzly around and turned mine around too. We went back down the way we came up.
We tried again, this time staying on the wider trail that continued south. This was a more level trail and we went about 2 miles then we turned left off the main trail. This brought us to an area where there were big piles of dirt and trails leading all over the area. We went up and down these dirt hills then headed back north, taking trails that led through the foothills. These trails were more steep, but not too bad for beginners. We traveled through sagebrush and cedar trees, kicking up dust from the rocky trails.