Utah trails · Great Western Trail
Great Western Trail
A 129.7-mile point-to-point in Utah, with 2,645 ft of climbing. Reaches Gresham Spring and other lake/spring destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 16,441 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Gresham Spring (spring)
- Black Lake (lake)
- Three Springs (spring)
- Horse Lake (lake)
- Joe Lay Reservoir (lake)
- Rock Lake (lake)
- Long Willow Bottom Reservoir (lake)
- Barker Reservoir (lake)
- Gates Spring (spring)
- Cuddyback Lake (lake)
Heads up
Getting there
Great Western Trail access. About 1 h 47 min drive (80 mi) from Kanab. 37.73024, -112.09428 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 7:09 a.m., the sun rises at 7:35 a.m. and sets at 6:52 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:18 p.m. (MDT) — 11 h 17 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 129.7-mile route works out to roughly 49 h 21 min of walking — more than a single day of daylight here, so plan it as an overnight or hike it in sections.
Loop options
- Great Western Trail + Burr Top Trail + Jubilee — 10.4 mi loop, 2,570 ft gain
- Great Western Trail + Great Western Trail, Loa — 1.8 mi loop, 198 ft gain
- Great Western Trail + Rubys Inn 2 Snow Trail + Rubys Inn 3 Snow Trail — 12.3 mi loop, 873 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Rim Trail — 7.6 mi
- Under the Rim — 9.4 mi