Indian Springs

Indian Springs trail is located in southwestern Utah where you can easily drive through Utah's only Joshua tree forest. The trail is a well-maintained crushed gravel road that winds its way along the edge of the rugged Beaver Dam Mountains. You'll travel along the edges of the Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area where you can find all sorts of desert wildlife; bighorn sheep, desert tortoise, golden eagles, and Gila monster lizards are just some of the elusive creatures calling this area home. Since the introduction of cattle grazing, non-native grasses have spread across the area, forever altering the landscape. Wildfires are rare occurrences in the Mojave Desert region, so these changes led to fires in 1993, 2005, and 2006. Some of the large Joshua tree forests were lost, however, this route travels through a very large section that has been able to survive. The trees create a densely packed forest; most of them are massive, growing as tall as 49 feet. They can live for hundreds of years; some specimens survive a thousand years. The section between Waypoints 11 & 12 is truly a memorable experience. It's believed these trees likely got their name from the first Mormons migrating through this area.