About this place
Congress and the President made the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area official in January 2006.
It covers 100,000 acres of public land, 50 miles due west of Salt Lake City and just south of Interstate 80.
The country is mountainous and the area is large, so there is real solitude here, and wildland, and primitive recreation.
It is an excellent example of the Great Basin ecosystem. That ecosystem runs from the Wasatch Front in Utah to the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.
This arid desert range forms the western edge of Skull Valley. It takes its name from the juniper trees here. People sometimes call those cedars.
Plants change fast as you climb. Great Basin salt desert shrub covers the benches at 4,600 feet. Above 6,000 feet it is sagebrush, juniper woodland and native bunch grasses.
Flat plains and benches rise quickly into steep slopes and canyons. The highest point is 7700 feet.
The wilderness is long and narrow. It runs north to south for 32 miles along the Cedar Mountains, and it is 7 miles across at its widest.
Natural springs support wildlife, livestock and a thriving herd of wild horses.
The facts
- Cost
- Camping fee not confirmed
- Type
- Specific campsite
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
Getting there
Two ways in off Interstate 80. From Exit 70, Delle, drive west and then south on the gravel frontage road. From Exit 56, Aragonite, drive south 2 miles and turn east onto the Hastings Pass gravel road.
Coordinates 40.54527778, -112.9673333
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What is near here
Nothing nationally famous is close. These are the landmarks nearby.
- Stansbury Island Directions
- Deseret Peak Directions
- Rush Lake Directions
Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.
Nearest town and supplies
- Dugway, UT Directions
- Grantsville, UT Directions
Grantsville is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.
Have you been here?
Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.
Thank you, that is recorded. It helps the next person.
Add road notes for this site
The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.
Thank you. A person will read it before it goes on the page.
Where this information comes from
The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Bureau of Land Management’s own records, read in August 2026.