Airstrip Info
| Frequency | 122.90 |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 5295 ft |
| Lat/Long |
38.6485, -110.6578 38° 38.91' , -110° 39.468' |
| Runway 18/36 |
3500 ft
x 30 ft
Dirt, brush Rwy 36 Uphill 0.4% |
| Ownership | Goblin Valley State Park |
Weather
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Information updated April 24, 2023 @ 4:09pm
Temple Mountain
NOTE: The Temple Mountain Airstrip is now located on State Parks land, specifically an extension of the Goblin Valley State Park. State Parks has allowed us to continue to use the airstrip while the UBCP, State Aeronautics, and State Parks work together on developing a plan for continued access of the airstrip. Please be courteous to any Park Officials that may ask you a few questions when operating in and out of Temple Mountain. And as always, thanks for your exemplary stewardship while we work for establishing the first official airstrip within State Parks land.
Description: Temple Mountain is a north/south oriented with sporadic clump grass, small bushes and ant hills. The surface is typical Utah desert, slightly soft with some give that can add to takeoff rolls.
Runway: 2,600' long x 40’. The surface is a little soft but is easily managed with 850 tires or larger and is relatively smooth. Slopes to the north 0.38%. Approximately 500’ from the south end there is a small undulation. Land beyond it.
Approach Considerations: The airstrip can be approached from either direction. When landing to the north, use caution for a small undulation approximately 500’ from the south end. Recommend landing beyond it.
Amenities: Primitive camping areas are available along the airstrip. BLM campgrounds are nearby. Goblin Valley State Park is 5 miles to the south. Trailheads to Wild Horse Canyon and Wild Horse Window hikes are located across the highway. The Temple Mountain mining site is nearby as well.
Windsock: No.
Fun spot to land, walked in and saw the petroglyphs. Soil was pretty soft and runway a bit rough. The south end of the runway was in pretty poor condition and soil was even softer and more growth. There is the remnants of a base of an old windsock, so maybe an addition to consider? Walked the runway and pulled quite a bit of the larger brush and moved some of the cactus'. All in all cool place, and got some confused looks from passers by as the runway is barely perceptible from the ground.
The strip is bumpy and soft - but dry - where grass isn't holding the sandy soil in place. Cattle hooves and tailwheels sink a couple of inches into the sand. It was good to have a right seater to hop out and steer me through the prickly pear while parking. We encountered a few curious and friendly passersby but no park officials. It was an easy half hour or so walk to the Temple Wash pictographs.
Came back for a 2nd visit, this is a pretty neat place to be able to land, there's no real parking area, just pull the plane off to the side and flip it around, be cautious though as the runway is clear of thorny/spiky plants but the areas off to the sides are not (had to maneuver around a prickly pear). The Wild Horse Window Hike is right across the road... and the road is close, like really close (see pictures). The strip seemed less bumpy this time, maybe the continued use and the recent rains helped smooth it out, don't get me wrong it's still a bumpy/clumpy strip but definitely doable without the "big" tires, just don't bring little tiny pavement only tires either.
I've scoped this strip out in the past a few times and it always seemed too overgrown for my taste, today as I did a low pass I noticed a much nicer looking surface and quite a few tire tracks (of the airplane variety) it looked decent. So I came back around and landed, it was definitely one of the bumpier strips I've been on, but keeping the taxi speed up a little to keep the nose gear off made it an enjoyable experience. I'll have to come back and hike over to the arch when it's not so blasted hot. No windsock.
I know Cory Wolf would love to do some work on this one...we're waiting to see what happens with it either becoming State Park land or not.
1 year agoWe haven't written a history for this airstrip yet. If you would like to provide us with some information about this strip, please contact us today!