The expedition that identified Utah's lowest point

      This is the Beaver Dam Wash in Arizona, Utah's lowest point is two miles north of here.

THE State of Utah prides itself on enjoying “Life Elevated.” Indeed, Utah has some of the highest average elevations of any state in the Union. Many know that the Beehive State’s highest point is Kings Peak at 13,528 feet above sea level. However, what is the lowest point in Utah?

Surprisingly, it is not St. George. However, the lowest point is in that corner of the State.

Travel some 325 air miles straight southwest from Kings Peak and ultimately drop 11,350 feet in elevation (about 2.15 miles) and you reach Beaver Dam Wash at the Utah-Arizona border. That’s the state’s basement at 2,178 feet above sea level.

(In contrast, St. George sits at 2,800 feet and Salt Lake City's Temple Square is at 4,327 feet above sea level.)

Just like Kings Peak, there are no cities or residences in the area of the Beaver Dam Wash. This is open wilderness. Littlefield, Arizona is the nearest town, about 10 air miles away, while St. George is almost 25 miles away as the bird flies. There is a ranch about six miles north – and some cattle sometimes roam the area -- but that’s it.

(The Beaver Dam Wash is also recognized for a wide variety of wildlife – desert plants, birds, lizards and mammals, etc.)

Before 2006, the majority of sources out there — Internet and books — listed Utah's lowest elevation all wrong. Some stated the low point was 2,350 feet above sea level and others even had it at an even 2,000 feet. The truth was about halfway in between.

It was a June 6, 2006 expedition by three Deseret News staffers who searched the area with a GPS and came up with the now accepted 2,178 foot elevation.

                  This is part of rugged road into the Beaver Dam Wash.

To reach the lowest point in the State, the trio had to drive five miles on a rugged dirt road and then hike two miles over trail-less terrain to the Arizona-Utah border, marked with a chainlink fence. After crossing back into Utah, they had to take dozens of measurements with a GPS in a myriad of low points until the lowest number was verified.

Hiking back to their vehicle was much more difficult than the trek in and far rougher than expected.

           Ravell Call surveys the water in the Arizona portion of the Beaver Dam Wash.

Not only is the Beaver Dam Wash Utah’s lowest place, but it sports an environment unlike anything else in the State. It is in the Mojave Desert, where Joshua trees, yucca, blackbrush, creosote and other desert plants thrive in a usually dry and scorching environment.

Looking east down into Utah's portion of the Beaver Dam Wash, where the State's lowest elevation is found.

The Deseret News consulted with Mark Eubank, chief meteorologist of KSL-TV, Ch. 5 at the time.

"In general, the lower the elevation, the hotter the temperature," Eubank said. "That is why Death Valley is the hottest place in North America — elevation near 200 feet below sea level. "There are no official temperature readings from Beaver Dam Wash, but I feel certain it averages hotter there than in St. George."

Eubank noted that Mesquite, Nev., to the southwest of Beaver Dam Wash, runs 2 to 5 degrees hotter than St. George most days.

Chris Gibson, meteorologist with the Salt Lake Office of the National Weather Service, agreed. "It (Beaver Dam Wash) probably is the hottest place in Utah," he said. He believed said temperatures usually drop 5.5 degrees Celsius for every 1,000 feet of altitude descended. On a hot, still day, he believes Utah's lowest point would be at least a couple of degrees warmer than St. George.

June 6, 2006 was a sunny hot day where Mesquite reached 106 degrees. By late morning in the Beaver Dam Wash, temperatures were already in the upper 90s. (One of the group’s thermometers measured 110 degree as they headed back to their vehicle.)

The 2,178-foot elevation is now the standard on Utah's official Highway Map.

While getting lost in the Wash was unlikely, especially when some power transmission lines go through the area and following them south would lead to the dirt road, there was no trail and following one’s footsteps back was next to impossible.

The 2,178-foot elevation is spotlighted too at the University of Utah's Natural History Museum. That figure came from this expedition in 2006, by three Deseret News staffers.

A shortcut through some heavy brush got you somewhat out of the sun, but slowed the trek down significantly and required some zigzagging and bushwhacking.

While the Wash was up to a half-mile wide in spots, loose sand and gravel, marshes and thick brush made walking difficult there.

      Ray Boren back at his vehicle after a scorchingly hot hike into the Beaver Dam Wash.

 In retrospect, the trio agreed that visiting the Beaver Dam Wash in winter, early spring or late fall would have equaled a much more comfortable visit than late spring did.

That 2,178-foot figure has recently become the accepted standard of Utah’s lowest elevation. It is now listed not only on the official Utah State Highway map, but is also highlighted in a high-low comparison in the University of Utah’s Natural History Museum.

How do we know that the elevation the Deseret News came up with is accurate?

After returning from their expedition, one of the three D.N. staffers consulted with Mark Milligan, a geologist with the Utah Geological Survey. He found on detailed quadrangle maps of the area that the lowest spot in Utah would be bounded by 2,160-foot and 2,180-foot contour lines.

Lynn Arave stands on the Utah side of the fence separating the State from Arizona, inside the Beaver Dam Wash.The State's lowest elevation was found nearby the fence.

"The border is much closer to the 2,180 contour and thus agrees with an elevation of 2,178 feet," he wrote in an e-mail to the Deseret News.

Milligan also indicated that 2,178 is as close an estimate to the low elevation as is possible, because the Beaver Dam Wash is very prone to flooding and its elevation can change.

Despite the hot temperatures in the Beaver Dam Wash, it isn't completely waterless. Some year-round springs keep year-round water there. The water runs as a small stream above ground at the end of the dirt road into the Wash. Walking north in the Wash, the water disappears and goes underground.

Utah’s Kings Peak ranks as the seventh highest high point among the 50 states. However, for low points in the United States, Beaver Dam Wash ranks fourth among the “highest” of low points. Only Colorado (3,320 feet), Wyoming (3,099) and New Mexico (2,840) have higher "low" spot points. (Montana rates fifth-place with an 1,800-foot low point and 21 states have sea level as their lowest elevation.)

                                 The GPS that located Utah's lowest elevation.

-To travel to Utah's lowest point, you really need a truck or four-wheel drive vehicle, unless you want to walk an extra six miles along dirt roads in the desert. The road is simply not passable for cars because of several dips in the road that exceed a regular car's ground clearance.

To get there, drive to Littlefield, Ariz., on I-15 and take Exit 8; go north on the old highway that leads to Shivwits and back into Utah; go past the Beaver Dam, Ariz., community (elevation 1,860 feet) and cross the Utah-Arizona stateline.

Next, look for a dirt road that heads left (west), 0.8 mile past the state line. Follow this rugged road southwest and then straight south for almost five miles into the Beaver Dam Wash. You will cross two cattle guards and spot several "Mormon pioneer trail" signs posted along the way. Ignore any side roads and always head due west.

                   Ravell Call photographs the GPS after it located Utah's basement.

Park near some large overhead power lines in a loose gravel area, near the perennial water flowing through the Beaver Dam Wash.

Be certain to carry plenty of drinking water and do not hike in the afternoon on hot days. Starting elevation at the parking area is about 2,076 feet above sea level.

Begin walking northward and ideally stay on the west side of the wash, carefully picking your route, about two miles, to a barbed-wire fence you can't miss. Cross over the fence and find the lowest point from there. (The above ground stream water disappears just before the fence line.)

Be sure to keep to the west of the Wash to avoid some thick brush. Ideally, retrace your steps as much as possible. The power transmission lines on the far east side of the Wash show the general way back.

-Lynn Arave, a reporter at the time; Ravell Call, a photographer; and Ray Boren, an editor, were the three Deseret News staffers who visited the Beaver Dam Wash and identified Utah's lowest point in 2006.

-The original newspaper story on this expedition was published Sept. 3, 2006 in the Deseret News.

      Lynn Arave at the Arizona end of the Beaver Dam Wash. Note the water in the wash.

Utah's Lowest/Hottest Place ISN'T St. George!

   The fenceline in the Beaver Dam Wash, marking where Utah ends (right side) and Arizona begins (left side).

                     Lynn Arave stands near where Utah's lowest point likely was in 2006.

        Ravell Call explores the wet (west end) of the Beaver Dam wash, in the State of Arizona.

                  The dirt road in Arizona that leads to the edge of the Beaver Dam Wash.

                     A closeup of where Utah's lowest point likely is, marked by my GPS.

By Lynn Arave

SAINT GEORGE  isn’t the hottest place in Utah, nor is it the lowest elevation place in the Beehive State either.

Having been to Kings Peak, Utah’s highest point 5 times, I decided in June of 2006 to find and document the true lowest elevation spot in Utah (also undoubtedly the hottest spot in the state too.)

Those two superlatives really belong to the Beaver Dam Wash in the extreme southwest corner of the state, at the Utah-Arizona state line. Welcome to Utah's basement, in the Beaver Dam Wash, where an environment exists unlike anywhere else in the Beehive State.

It's the Mojave Desert, where Joshua trees, blackbrush, creosote, yucca and other southern desert plants rule in an ovenlike environment this time of year. Kings Peak is Utah's highest elevation at 13,538 feet above sea level, but at Beaver Dam Wash — 288 air miles away — the elevation dips more than two miles below Kings and is almost 600 feet lower than the city of St. George, located some 23 miles to the northeast.

The majority of sources out there — Internet and books — have Utah's lowest elevation all wrong. Utah's lowest point isn't 2,350 feet above sea level, as is commonly listed by Utah tourist sources.

Nor is it an even 2,000 feet, as some other sources list. Utah's lowest elevation here is "probably" 2,178 feet above sea level. (In contrast, St. George has an average elevation of 2,800 feet and Salt Lake City's Temple Square is 4,327 feet above sea level.) That's according to Mark Milligan, a geologist with the Utah Geological Survey, who found that quadrangle maps show the lowest spot is found in an area bounded by 2,160-foot and 2,180-foot contour lines.

"The border is much closer to the 2,180 contour and thus agrees with an elevation of 2,178 feet," he wrote in an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News. He found that even though the USGS Geographic Names Information also lists Utah's lowest elevation at 2,178 feet, in the same entry it uses the even 2,000-foot number as the state's least elevation, too.

Milligan believes 2,178 is as close an estimate to the low elevation as is possible. Since the Beaver Dam Wash is an area prone to flooding, its elevation can change. "Of course, it is possible erosion may have recently lowered this portion of the wash,"

Milligan reported in his e-mail. "The precipitation that caused the 2005 flooding in St. George presumably caused flooding in the Beaver Dam Wash. "I have not been there recently enough to remember what the bottom of the wash looks like in that area. So I would not even dare an educated guess as to whether to expect much erosion there from such floods." Elaine York, West Desert regional director for the Utah Field Office of the Nature Conservancy, said the 2005 flooding did damage the Lytle Ranch facilities in the Beaver Dam Wash, about six miles north. (The ranch is now owned and operated by Brigham Young University.)

 She suspects the lowest elevation could have dipped slightly from erosion last year. "Beaver Dam Wash is a Mojave Desert eco-region," she said. It's also an area famous for bird-watching, and a portion of the Beaver Dam Wash is under study as a possible wilderness area. 

Mark Eubank, KSL's former chief meteorologist, believes Utah's lowest spot is also usually its hottest most days. "In general, the lower the elevation, the hotter the temperature," Eubank said. "That is why Death Valley is the hottest place in North America — elevation near 200 feet below sea level. "There are no official temperature readings from Beaver Dam Wash, but I feel certain it averages hotter there than in St. George."

Eubank said Mesquite, Nev., to the southwest of Beaver Dam Wash, runs 2 to 5 degrees hotter than St. George most days. Chris Gibson, meteorologist with the Salt Lake Office of the National Weather Service, agrees. "It probably is the hottest place in Utah," he said. Gibson said temperatures generally drop 5.5 degrees Celsius for every 1,000 feet of altitude descended. On a hot, still day, he believes Utah's lowest point would be a couple of degrees warmer than St. George.

Despite the hot temperatures in the Beaver Dam Wash, it isn't totally waterless. York said some perennial springs keep year-round water there, even though at times the water is underground slightly. Utah's lowest point ranks fourth among the 50 states in height. Only Colorado (3,320 feet), Wyoming (3,099) and New Mexico (2,840) have higher "low" spot points. (Montana rates fifth-place with an 1,800-foot low point.) Twenty-one of the states have sea level as their lowest point. There's also increasing interest in "bagging" the lowest points in all 50 states and a Web site for America's Basement,americasroof.com/lowest.shtml, highlights the possibilities.

• During a June 5 and 6 visit to Utah's lowest point, my GPS initially measured 2,176 in one of the lowest washes, where Utah's lowest point surely is. A few dozen feet away in another small wash eastward, it measured 2,174 feet and fluctuated, dropping to as low as 2,154. (GPS devices do not claim absolute accuracy on elevation measured.)

If you still need a more exact idea of where Utah's lowest point is, it is almost straight north up the Beaver Dam Wash, 15 miles north of Littlefield, Ariz., which I-15 en route to Mesquite/Las Vegas passes through. Two Deseret Morning News colleagues and I found the Beaver Dam Wash to be a much larger region than imagined — with the wash being the lowest point in the area with a width of up to a half-mile at times. We also found a trek here to be no walk in the park. Loose sand and gravel, marshes and thick brush make walking difficult, and the all-terrain vehicle tracks we saw at times may represent the smartest and easiest way to visit.

Temperatures on an unusually warm June 6 here were likely more than 100 degrees at 10 a.m. One thermometer measured 112 degrees! Thus, this is a much more comfortable place to visit in winter, early spring or late fall. Cattle roam the area, and a fairly new and well-maintained barbed-wire fence separates Utah from Arizona — even here — meaning Utah's lowest spot is in the lowest of several dips along the north side of that fence.

• Utah has six corner monuments marking the corners of its borders. The southwest corner monument is almost due west of Utah's lowest point — about 2.5 miles away. However, the topography of a steep hillside on the west slope of the Beaver Dam Wash means making a trip there on the same day is difficult.

• To visit Utah's lowest point, you will need a truck or four-wheel drive vehicle, unless you want to walk an extra six miles along dirt roads in the desert. The road is not suitable for cars because of several dips that exceed a regular car's clearance. To get there, drive to Littlefield, Ariz., on I-15 and take Exit 8; go north on the old highway that leads to Shivwits and back into Utah; go past the Beaver Dam, Ariz., community (elevation 1,860 feet) and cross the Utah-Arizona stateline.

 Then look for a dirt road that heads left (west), 0.8 mile past the state line. Follow this road southwest and then straight south for almost five miles into the Beaver Dam Wash. You will cross two cattle guards and see several "Mormon pioneer trail" signs posted along the way. Ignore any side roads and always head due west. Park near some large overhead power lines in a loose gravel area, near the perennial water of the Beaver Dam Wash. Be sure to carry plenty of drinking water and do not hike in the afternoon on hot days. Starting elevation here is about 2,076. Walk northward, carefully picking your route, about two miles, to a barbed-wire fence you can't miss. Cross the fence and find the lowest point from there.

(The above ground steam water disappears just before the fence line.) Retrace your steps to avoid having to bushwack and knowing the power lines to the south highlight your starting point.

Note that at least one unusually wet year in Southern Utah after 2006, may have already lowered the lowest spot in Utah’s part of the Beaver Dam wash since this report’s 2006 visit.

Lowest elevation (2,178 feet) from 2006 trip to Beaver Dam Wash becomes official Utah superlative, as seen in a display at the University of Utah's Natural History Museum.

Lynn Arave points to lowest elevation he measured in 2006 in a display at the University of Utah's Natural History Museum.

-Lynn Arave, Ravell Call and Ray Boren visited the Beaver Dam Wash and Utah's lowest point on June 5 and 6, 2006.

-(Originally presented in a Deseret News article on Sept. 3, 2006, by Lynn Arave.)