Smith Mesa Geocache Smith Mesa, Southwest Utah FAQs Favorites Our First Finding Creating Kids   Smith Mesa - View to the North Exploring Southwest Utah As full-time RVers we've spent winters in both Arizona and Southern California. The winter of 2002-03 we decided to stay at the Zion River RV Resort in Virgin, Utah.   Located just a few miles from Zion National Park, this area has mild winters and endless recreational opportunities. Miles and miles of gravel and 4 wheel drive roads can be found in every direction. One of our favorite drives starts in Virgin, goes to the top of Hurricane Mesa, along Smith Mesa, and back to Virgin on Kolb Road.         From the top of Smith Mesa, you can see mountains in every direction. To the east are the mountains of Zion National Park (below).   We decided to set two caches in this area. One on Smith Mesa and the other on Dalton Wash. The Dalton Wash cache is marked with a red arrow below.       Exploring Smith Mesa Road Begin your adventure just west of Virgin, Utah on Highway 9. At Mile Marker 17, turn north on Mesa Road (1250 West). This intersection is at (N 37 12 330 W 113 12 620). Drive 3.4 miles on a mixture of paved-gravel road. The road takes you on an exciting trip up the side of the mesa. Watch for other vehicles on the tight corners!   After 3.4 miles, you'll reach a fork in the road. Left/straight is a dead end. You want to go right (N 37 14 469 W 113 12 486). This is Smith Mesa road, but it's not marked. You'll leave the blacktop road and enter a primitive gravel road. This road is fine for cars. Go 2.8 more miles and you'll see a turnoff to your right (N37 15 909 W 113 10 646). If you have a car, park here. If you have a high clearance 4 wheel drive, you may want to continue up the hill. However it's only .14 miles to the cache and you're really better off walking.     Smith Mesa Viewpoint   Placing the Geocache We found a great location where you can see 360 degrees including mountains on all sides! We got out our GPS device and checked the location. The cache is at N 37 15 781 W 113 10 645.   The tan ammo box cache contains a log book, trashbags, and a camera, bookmarks, and a traveling "Where's George" dollar. The treasures include painted rocks and lots of other goodies.   Don't read this section if you don't want to learn the cache location hints.   We placed the cache close to the best viewpoint. The cache is located at the base of a juniper tree near a rock overlook (photo left). In the picture below, you can see that the cache is covered with rocks and branches. There are some thorny bushes near the cache. Walk on the rocks to avoid them.     Exploring the Geocache We have a few suggestions if you want to visit the geocache.   1) Take your time along the Mesa scenic drive. If you've got time, continue past the geocache and you'll eventually connect with Kolb road going back to Virgin. There are very few cars on the road, so come prepared for a great time. However also come prepared for emergencies.   2) There are tons of great places to camp and hike in the BLM lands. Bring your tent and spend the night along the drive. If you're RVing stay at the Zion River RV Resort in Virgin UT.   3) The hike would be best in the Fall or Spring. The road is impassible in wet or snowy winter weather and it's hot in the summer. Watch out for rattlesnakes in the summer. Also, watch for sharp bushes and spiny cacti.   We hope you enjoy our fourth geocache! :-)   Go to the Smith Mesa page at geocaching.com for additional details and logs.   Update from Smith Mesa Here are pictures of our first visitors to the geocache. Joe, Sue, Jim, and Sue Ann were so excited about visiting the geocache that we gave them the waypoints before even uploading to the geocaching website. They had a great time.     FAQs Favorites Our First Finding Creating Kids Created by Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson, 4/03.