2009 Trip to Fisher Towers, Utah

by Chih Kwan Chen, Nov.3, 2009

Fisher Towers are located along Utah State Route 128, a 40 plus mile long scenic drive that connects US-191 near Moab and Arch National Park to I-70. We were coming down from Vernal, Utah through Colorado State Route 139 toward I-70. Near the intersection of Rout 139 and I-70 there is a small town called Loma. There is a gas station where we could have bought sandwiches. But I made a mistake of not buying food, just fill up the gas tank. Once on I-70, we could have driven toward east for 4 miles into a much bigger town, Fruita, for food, but again I did not. My aim was a town called Cisco near the intersection of Route 128 and I-70 on the Utah side. It turnes out that Cisco is an abandoned railway depot with its stores deserted. Thus we drove to Fisher Towers with only a box of bite-size moon cake and plenty of water. About 12 miles from the northen end of Route 128 the road crosses over Colorado River. Right after the bridge there is a rest area along the river, equipped with a boat launching ramp into the river. We munched some moon cakes and took off to Fisher Towers. About 20 miles from the northern end of Rout 128 a dirt road toward east leads to the parking area of Fisher Towers. From the parking area the towers can be viewed without any problem. The distance of the trail from the parking area to the end of the area of those towers is 2.1 miles one way. There are three stacks of towers. The tallest tower, Titan, is located in the middle stack, about 1.1 miles away from the parking area. The trail is steadily down hill and passes some dangerous looking ledges. With half empty stomach and the fear of the steep climb back to the parking area, we did not descend very far. Some pictures of the towers are posted below. A nearby attraction is "Castle Valley". Due to the time constraint, we did not ventured into the valley. Some pictures of Castle Rocks from distance are included in the postings.

A scene from the rest area along Colorado River
Another scene from the rest area
More scene from the rest area
Fisher Towers
Rocks at the base of the tower
A close up view of Titan, 700 plus feet tall from its base
Another view of the towers
Interesting rock formations at the base of the towers
Looking down from the trail
Another view from the trail
When sun shines directly into the towers
When sun shines directly into Titan
A distant view of a castle rock
Another distant view of a castle rock