Muddy Creek is a stream in central
Utah, United States, that drains portions of
Emery,
Sanpete
Sanpete County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 27,822. Its county seat is Manti, and its largest city is Ephraim. The county was created in 1850.
History
The Sanpete Valley ma ...
,
Sevier
Sevier ( ) is an unincorporated community in southwestern Sevier County, Utah, United States. It lies in the valley of the Sevier River along U.S. Route 89 southwest of the city of Richfield, the county seat of Sevier County. Its elevation is ...
, and
Wayne counties.
Description
The creek begins on the eastern slopes of the
Wasatch Plateau at elevations above . It turns southward near the town of
Emery, then southeastward, where it crosses under
Interstate 70. It then directly enters the western flank of the
San Rafael Swell
The San Rafael Swell is a large geologic feature located in south-central Utah, United States about west of Green River. The San Rafael Swell, measuring approximately , consists of a giant dome-shaped anticline of sandstone, shale, and limeston ...
and continuing in a southeasterly direction, it passes Hondu Arch, and the Tomsich Butte mining area then begins its spectacular passage through a narrow
slot canyon of
Coconino Sandstone known as the "Chute".
After merging with Chimney Canyon and passing the Hidden Splendor Mine area, it passes through the southeastern escarpment of the
San Rafael Reef at the end of Muddy Creek Gorge. In its lower reaches, it continues southeastward through the Blue Hills
badlands
Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, m ...
near Caineville, then cuts through the Jurassic
Morrison Formation
The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic, Upper Jurassic sedimentary rock found in the western United States which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandsto ...
where
dinosaur fossils have been found. Finally, after an estimated length of and a drop of , it meets the
Fremont River
The Fremont River is a long river in southeastern Utah, United States that flows from the Johnson Valley Reservoir, which is located on the Wasatch Plateau near Fish Lake, southeast through Capitol Reef National Park to the Muddy Creek near Ha ...
some miles north of the town of
Hanksville where the two form the
Dirty Devil River
The Dirty Devil River is an tributary of the Colorado River, located in the U.S. state of Utah. It flows through southern Utah from the confluence of the Fremont River and Muddy Creek before emptying into the Colorado River at Lake Powell.
Cours ...
(which then flows south to meet the
Colorado River).
Since it enters the San Rafael Swell at an elevation well below that attained by the Swell itself and continues through the Swell's entire expanse, Muddy Creek is a very ancient river course, "superimposed" on the entire San Rafael uplift and therefore predating the time when the latter arose some 60-40 million years ago.
Wilderness
Designated in 2019 by the U.S. Congress, the Muddy Creek Wilderness encompasses the pristine portion of the creek that enters the
San Rafael Swell
The San Rafael Swell is a large geologic feature located in south-central Utah, United States about west of Green River. The San Rafael Swell, measuring approximately , consists of a giant dome-shaped anticline of sandstone, shale, and limeston ...
. The 98,023 acres
wilderness area is managed by the U.S.
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
.
Muddy Creek Wilderness
- Wilderness Connect
MuddyCreekGorgeUT.jpg, Muddy Creek Gorge, looking northwest toward its mouth at the southeastern edge of the Swell
Muddy Creek crossing the SR Swell.jpg, Aerial view of Muddy Creek cutting through the San Rafael Reef and Swell
MuddyCreekChuteUT.jpg, The Chute of Muddy Creek
See also
* List of Utah rivers
This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Utah in the United States, sorted by watershed.
Colorado River
The Colorado River is a major river in the Western United States, emptying into the Gulf of California. Rivers are listed upstream by ...
* List of tributaries of the Colorado River
The principal tributaries of the Colorado River of North America are the Gila River, the San Juan River, the Green River, and the Gunnison River.
Tributary tree
The following is a tree demonstrating the points at which the major and minor trib ...
* Quitchupah Creek
Quitchupah (or Quitchumpah) Creek is a stream draining portions of Emery and Sevier Counties in central Utah, in the western United States. Quitchupah Creek is significant for rock art remains of the Fremont culture that line its banks. Quitchupa ...
* List of U.S. Wilderness Areas
The National Wilderness Preservation System includes 803 wilderness areas protecting of federal land . They are managed by four agencies:
*United States National Park Service (NPS)
*United States Forest Service (USFS)
*United States Fish and Wild ...
References
External links
Muddy Creek WSA
at Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
River Information:
Flow Gauge at Emery, Utah
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Rivers of Utah
Rivers of Emery County, Utah
San Rafael Swell
Rivers of Wayne County, Utah
Tributaries of the Colorado River in Utah
Former rivers
Wilderness areas of Utah