Power County High Point Trip Report
Deep Creek Peak
Date: July 3, 2000
Author: Ken Jones
On Idaho state route 37 at virtual milepost 48.5 (about 20 miles south of I-86/U.S. 30) find the signed Big
Canyon Road, which has both a county road sign and a BLM sign. Turn east on this wide, well-graded
road. Stay on the main road. As it enters the canyon it becomes steeper and rougher, but remains easily
passable in 2WD with normal clearance all the way to the trailhead. At 6.4 miles you'll pass a junction off
to the right. At 7.3 miles, at a switchback, you'll pass on another right fork. At 9.0 miles you'll top out at
a saddle where a right turn would take you to an unimproved camp spot; just beyond is the junction with
the signed Bull Canyon road heading down to the right - continue up on the main road. At 9.3 miles
reach the road's high point, at a shallow saddle at about 7350'. Park here.
(I believe that the road up Left Fork Canyon to this point, which would be the eastern approach, is also a
good option. But we didn't check it out.)
From the saddle an unmarked jeep trail heads a couple of hundred yards to the 7400+' summit to the ESE.
We walked this, but a high clearance vehicle could have driven it. From this point, hike ENE (with some
bends) following the main ridge all the way to Deep Creek Peak. There are a few rocky and or brushy bits
in the first mile or so, but there are reasonable animal (/hiker?) paths through the worst of them. Stay
near the crest of the ridge, and poke about a bit if the brush gets heavy. After the first mile, the hike from
the last saddle (just SE of the number "14" on the topo) is mostly an open ridge walk with excellent views.
At the summit we found the "Knox" benchmark and two small registers. According to register entries this
peak has been ascended on horseback at least twice from Bull Canyon Ranch, which would be the south
ridge. The terrain is such that almost any approach you might take will probably go well.