Looking for a hike that’s a little less known, that sits right next to a huge reservoir? Then the Vortex hike is right up your alley. For those who are familiar it’s a hike that’s right next to Lower Sand Cove, just up from Gunlock Reservoir.
Here’s a map that will show you where to park and where it is:
So for this hike you’ll park just off of the Lower Sand Cove road and then start heading up the mountain. What I like best about this hike is that you don’t have to hike long before you’re greeted with some great views and some fun things to see.
You’ll see some rock pots with water, and interesting carvings that have been made over years and years of wind, sand, and water. You’ll continue ascending up and be tempted to veer off into some side hills, which in the end is just fine to do.
After awhile the trail becomes a little hard to find as it’s not terribly well marked, but what’s great is you can really just head up to the top. So even if you lose the trail and get lost, you’ll still eventually find it and you really can’t get lost, it’s not that big an area.
Once you get up on top you’ll have some great views looking down on Lower Sand Cove, and you’ll also be able to catch some glimpses of Gunlock. The Pine Valley mountains in the distance are beautiful as well.
What you’re really after is finding the Vortex, which is just a massive rock pot that’s been created, again over years and years of weather. It’s fun to drop down into it and wonder how something like it has been created. When we were there one of my friends tried running up out of it only to fail miserably and take a pretty nasty spill, which for us was quite entertaining.
So again if you’re looking for a little out of the way hike to do, that offers some great views and interesting things to see, then hiking the Vortex by St George is the perfect one for you.
