After completing the hike to Corona Arch and Pinto Arch (and having our roadside PB&J lunch along picturesque Potash Road), we headed southeast towards Spanish Valley to get to Ken’s Lake for our next hike on our Moab trip: Faux Falls.
Faux Falls Hike
To get to Ken’s Lake, we had to drive about 40 minutes from Moab, UT, on somewhat rural roads that led to Ken’s Lake Campground. The lake, part of the Mill Creek Project to mitigate drought issues in dry Moab, is a 2,610-acre-foot capacity reservoir impounded by a 96-foot-high earthen dam. (We learned that Moab receives less than 1 inch of rain per year!) The Mill Creek Project construction began in 1979 and was officially dedicated in 1981, naming the reservoir after a former mayor of Moab, Ken McDougald.
The water that cascades down rock ledges and fills this reservoir, Faux Falls, is diverted from Mill Creek. The project facilitated not only a reservoir, but also a pressurized irrigation water delivery system, a one-million-gallon drinking water storage tank, and a well for drinking water production for the region. Approximately 900 acres of land are under cultivation and over 1,000 homes around Moab receive drinking water as a result of the Mill Creek Project.
Despite this attraction being a man-made falls to sustain actual, critical water needs of the Moab region, the hike was beautiful, the falls were awesome, and we thoroughly enjoyed the area, which was formerly under a shallow sea approximately 320 million years ago and was shaped by massive geologic forces, like the Uncompahgre Uplift and the regional Colorado Plateau Uplift.
Looking out over the top of the falls.
These little guys are sharp. I found this out the hard way on this trip.
A mountain view on our way back to the parking lot.
Bull Canyon Overlook & Dinosaur Tracks
After this short hike to Faux Falls, we decided to go even more rural, and we drove a forest road to Bull Canyon Overlook to seek out… more dinosaur tracks.
Such unique and beautiful landscape in southeast Utah. And tomorrow, we’ll be heading to Arches National Park for more hikes and beautiful landscapes.
Faux Falls Hike | |
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Total Distance | 2.19 mi |
Total Time | 1:06:10 |
Total Ascent | 282 ft |
Max Elevation | 5,268 ft |
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