Overview: Moderate desert hike up the highest point in the House Range of the Great Basin (West Desert)

• Trail Head: Take I-15 to the Santaquin Main Street/ HWY 6 West exit. Follow HWY 6 to Delta. About 12 miles SW of Delta, turn right on Antelope Spring Road and followit for about 24 miles. Take another right toward Antelope Spring and Dome Canyon Pass. After about 9 miles into the mountains take Sinbad Spring Road to the right. You will drive past Antelope spring and then around to the base of Swasey Peak, about 3 miles and park at the large open area.
  
  • Coordinates: 39˚22'19.88"N 113˚19'09.07"W
    
• Distance: 4.5 miles
  
• Difficulty: 3.5
  
• Trail Condition: Broken desert trail with a couple steep climbs.
  
• Season: Spring through autumn, depending on weather
  

Detailed Description: Swasey Peak (9,669 ft.) is the highest peak in the House Range (named because the different peaks supposedly resemble housetops). This desert loop hike is a moderate hike but can be harder in extreme weather or in the summer sun and can be broken down into three segments: incline, ridgeline, and decline.

• Incline: The trail starts out going through desert brush such as greasewood and sagebrush sprinkled with a few bristlecone scattered throughout. You will have to do some bushwhacking as you climb up along the southeast ridge, following the broken trail, which is little more than a game trail. As the ridge climbs a steep cliff will rise with you on the left (west) side and be careful if you want to look over the cliff since the footing may be precarious due to loose rock. As you climb, you will notice that the Bristlecone trees become more numerous, which frees up the ground from some of the underbrush. There will be one false summit along this incline but once you are there you have basically hit the ridgeline.
  
• Ridgeline: After toping the false summit you will see the ridgeline before you. You will go down a slight dip and then start to head northwest. Once you top this dip, the ridgeline is fairly free of elevation gain and you will see the mountain top a few hundred yards ahead of you. Once you are up there you can see a great panoramic view of the Wasatch range including Mount Nebo to the East, the Tushar Mountains and Sevier River and the Dry Sevier Lake to the south, and to the west, the rest of the Great Basin National Park on the Utah/Nevada border. From here you can walk back the way you came or you can follow the ridgeline to the Decline.
  
• Decline: The decline is pretty straighforward. Follow the ridgeline northwest until it ends. Directly to the west you will see a different ridge going down. Again, there is no defined trail, but it should be easy going as you drop down. You will see the road back to the parking below you so you shouldn't get lost. Once you are back to the road, follow it along the base of Swasey Peak until you get back to your car. Enjoy!