The Gilson Mountains are an longUtah DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer, pp. 34-35. almost circular, small mountain range adjacent the north terminus of the

Canyon Mountains The Canyon Mountains are a long mountain range located in the northeast corner of Millard County, Utah; the range is bisected north-south with a southeast border section of Juab County, Utah, Juab County. The Canyon Mountains are part of the nort ...

, (due-north trendline), located in far eastern

Juab County Juab County ( ) is a county in western Utah, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 10,246. Its county seat and largest city is Nephi. Juab County is part of the Provo–Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Description

The Gilson Mountains are an ovoid, or elliptical shaped range, about long, trending south-southwest by north-northeast. It contains a central

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

with Champlin Peak; two ridgelines trend from the center to the southwest. From Champlin Peak in the range center, Broad Canyon lies between the two ridges. To the northwest another major canyon abuts the center ridgeline, Long Canyon. Another ridgeline is formed off the center peak going northeast. Unimproved Gilson Road accesses the canyon on its north, and traverses to an area just northeast of Champlin Peak. The highpoint of the range is Champlin Peak, at . The mountain range is separated from the Canyon Mountains by the

Sevier River The Sevier River (pronounced "severe") is a -long river in the Great Basin of southwestern Utah in the United States. Originating west of Bryce Canyon National Park, the river flows north through a chain of high farming valleys and steep canyons ...

and its narrow rivercourse and canyonlands, where the river flows northeast, then southwest, then due-west past the southwest flank of the Gilson Mountains, to enter the extreme northeast of the

Sevier Desert The Sevier Desert is a large arid section of central-west Utah, United States, and is located in the southeast of the Great Basin. It is bordered by deserts north, west, and south; its east border is along the mountain range and valley sequences ...

. It is at this exit point between the two ranges that the Sevier River enters the desert, of the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

, after traversing mountains, valleys, plateaus, and extensive mountain ranges. Abutting the northwest flank of the range is the

Little Sahara Recreation Area The Little Sahara Recreation Area is a large area of sand dunes, hills and sagebrush flats located in the northeast corner of the Sevier Desert in Juab County in the west central part of Utah, United States. Description Threcreation areais man ...

, an area of desert and dunefields. The Little Sahara site is slightly larger in area than the Gilson Mountains.

Access

U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to P ...

(US-6) traverses the northeast perimeter of the

, at the west and northwest flanks of the Gilson Mountains. At Jericho Junction, Utah north of the range, an improved route goes west, then southwest into desert flatlands, hills, and dunefields of the Little Sahara Recreation Area to the Sand Mountain recreation site. Numerous unimproved roads from US-6 access the west and north of the mountain range.

Utah State Route 132 State Route 132 (SR-132) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Utah. It connects U.S. Route 6 (US-6) in Lynndyl to US-89 at Pigeon Hollow Junction, crossing Interstate 15 (I-15) in Nephi. Route description The route starts in Millard Coun ...

(SR-132) from Lynndyl and Leamington to the west, traverses the south and southeast flanks of the range following the Sevier River rivercourse, and canyonland. Near the southeast flank center at

Soma Soma may refer to: Businesses and brands * SOMA (architects), a New York–based firm of architects * Soma (company), a company that designs eco-friendly water filtration systems * SOMA Fabrications, a builder of bicycle frames and other bicycle ...

, the Sevier turns due southeast, following the northeast flank of the

. At the Gilson southeast flank, SR-132 continues northeastwards through a hill and mountain region, south of the

East Tintic Mountains The East Tintic Mountains are a mountain range in central Juab, Utah, and Tooele counties in Utah, United States on the east margin of the Great Basin just west of the Wasatch Front about south-southeast of Salt Lake City. The community of Eurek ...

, and continues on to Nephi, about distant.

References

External links

Champlin Peak, mountainzone (coordinates)

Champlin Peak section, Gilson Mountains (south), topoquest

Gilson Mountains section (north), topoquest
{{Authority control Mountain ranges of the Great Basin Mountain ranges of Juab County, Utah Mountain ranges of Utah