Utah Paragliding and Hang Gliding Handbook
Updated by Stacy Whitmore (Aug. 2007)
stacy@cuasa.com

Let’s imagine. Let’s fantasize about the perfect paragliding launch.
First let’s visualize a place that is soarable in both morning and evening, with consistently smooth winds and easy access as well as forgiving ground characteristics. Can such a place really exist?
Now let’s dream of a perfect mountain flying site with 2 wheel drive access no more than a half hour’s drive but over 3000 feet above a mile wide LZ. It must have a nice flat top but good slope after launch and access to at least 270 degrees of launching directions. It must be soarable and have the option of climbing higher in soarable winds. Say 3000 feet higher. It must have excellent cross-country potential and just because we are dreaming let’s imagine it has a NOAA weather site right on launch, so we can check soaring conditions before leaving home.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Utah. Paragliding Paradise. Home of the Wasatch Front Mountain range that creates consistent coast like conditions almost every day of the year.
Welcome to Point of the Mountain.
Welcome to Utah. Home of Cove Mountain, where a ridge finger extends miles out into and 3300 feet above the Sevier Valley, and creates a soarable launch in three different directions. Where you can climb in evening ridge lift up over 3000 feet and look down on mountain lakes and streams along with 3000 foot shear cliffs and the panorama of Color Country. Where thermals can carry you to the Wasatch Plateau and you can thermal above Skyline Drive, a mountain ridge road that runs 60 miles between Sanpete and Carbon Valley’s, and seldom dips below 10,000 feet. From there you can Thermal right into the Uinta Mountains and on to Wyoming if you want to.
Welcome to Utah. Home of the Parker Ridge - 30 miles of unbroken soarable ridge line, with roads at the top and the bottom, Where else can you get a 6000 ft sled ride in baby butt smooth early morning air from Monroe Mountain or a 5000 foot sunset flight while watching the sun immerse itself in the Great Salt Lake in Glass Off conditions from Francis Peak. Or take the thermal elevator from Inspo over the top of Mt.Nebo or from Hancock Launch and cruise the Fish Lake Hightop Plateau. If you are World Class take the tram at Snowbird and launch in gnarly terrain for a shot at world record flight distances.
Whether you are a beginner or a master, or somewhere in between you can find it in Utah.

The following list of Utah launches is a work in progress, and not meant to be a complete list by any means. It should give you a place to start and an idea of what is out there. Just because you know how to get to a site doesn’t make flying it a great idea. Always fly with a buddy and contact the locals who understand the site specific details. Always think safety first and approach each new launch site and conditions with the “launching is optional, landing is required” mindset. Have fun, live large, and enjoy a long lifetime of freedom, and victory over earth bound existence.
After the name of the launch is the launch altitude followed by the landing altitude, then the GPS coordinates. If you have access to Google Earth you can just put in the coordinates and have fairly good look at how to get there and what is available. Where available I have listed the nearest town or some landmark after the GPS coordinates. Then accessibility, reasons you would want to fly there, some directions, and comments about the site. Send any comments, corrections additions, and snide remarks to stacy@cuasa.com

Utah Paragliding Launches
Randolph (Crawford) 7700 6450 41 40’17”N. 111 05’46” W. Randolph
2whdr up West facing ridge. 10 miles soarable.

Strawberry 8700 7800 40 05’44”N. 111 07’23”W.
2whdr up. West facing ridge. 2 miles soarable.
Take Provo Canyon to hiway 40- S on strawberry Rd.
E on Big springs Rd. turns into Forest Rd.
Beautifull views overlooking strawberry reservoir.

Francis Peak 9200 4300 41 01’38”N. 111 50’17”W. Farmington.
2whdr up. W facing launch in a nice meadow. Sometimes soarable
Take Shepard Lane just past Lagoon- 45 minute dirt road.
9600 ft ceiling because of air traffic. (Bummer)
Nearly 5000 ft vert- fantastic view over the Great Salt Lake.
(Note- Watching the sun sink into the Great Salt Lake while you are soaring in glass off conditions. 4000 feet above the Lagoon Amusement Park changes your attitude about what fun is.)

The V 6341 4600 40 54’40” N. 111 50’44”W. Bountiful
2whdr up. W. facing launch.
P-2 when conditions are right. One of the easier mountain sites.

Big Beacon (Mt Wire) 7047 5100 40 46’15”N. 111 47’58”W. Immigration Canyon
Hike up site.

The H (Hiland) 5474 5150 40 43’48”N. 111 48’36”W. Foothill Dr. 2100 S.
Hike up site sometimes soarable. P-3 recommended

Grandeur Peak 5900 5100 40 42’1”N. 111 47’01”W.
straight up from 33rd south 800 foot vert maybe a fly to the point on the right day thermal site.

Olympus 5524 4900 40 39’40”N. 111 47’56”W.
Short hike up 300 ft vert. Thermal site, The“cool guys” fly Olympus to the point. It’s a right of passage thing.
Wasatch blvd- E on Fortuna Dr. S on Mile High Dr.
P-4 only- Lousy LZ (But who wants to use it anyway)

Jupiter 9920 9000 40 36’ 45”N. 111 32’30 ‘W Brighton ski resort.
Late morning site. Thermal potential - Big air- gnarly mountain site.

Snow bird 10980 8000 40 33’38”N. 111 38’43”W.
Take the Tram up- Great Thermal potential
P-4 and by invitation only. Home of the North American foot launch cross-country record. 154 miles – 2001 - Bill Belcourt.

The B 5700 5200 40 36’34” N. 111 47’08 ‘W.
Another hike up and fly to the point site.

Stockton Bar 5176 4950 40 27’ 48” N. 112 22’28”W. Tooele
Soaring site Mile long North facing ridge P- 2
Meso-west station on launch

Point of the Mountain- World famous flying site because of consistent airflow- South in
the morning, North in the evening. The Banks of the ancient Lake
Bonneville left very smooth sand ridges on a Mountain finger that
runs perpendicular to the air flow- providing smooth soarable conditions almost every day
South side 5150 4850 40 27’24”N. 111 54’06”W.
Great training hill.
North side 5100 4800 40 28’29”N. 111 53’30”W.
The north side provides an opportunity to bench up and soar the 2 mile long mountain behind launch. One of three paved to launch sites in Utah.

Inspo 6650 4850 40 18’04”N.111 27’32”W. Orem.
E on Prove Canyon Rd to S on Squaw peak Rd.
Very high cross-country potential, many flights over 50 miles.
97 miles from Inspo on a paraglider July 11,2007
small LZ P-4 or instructor supervision recommended.
One of three paved to launch sites in Utah.
Y Mountain 6270 4900 40 14’53”N. 111 37’12”W. Provo
Take 820 E. to Oak Cliff Dr.
Hike up site good thermal trigger.

West Mountain 6764 4550 40 05’20”N. 111 49’37”W. Payson
2whdr up East facing launch
Take the Benjamin exit, go W on 7300 S to 5300W go N around
Turn and follow the road up to the towers
Good first time mountain site. Easy slope launch and open LZ.
Don’t land in the fields with animals and don’t block off access to gates with vehicles parked in the LZ.
Some Cross Country potential.

Fire Hazard @ Lake Mountain 5600 4600 40 14’22”N.111 53’04”W. Saratoga Springs
4whdr up East facing launch. 20 minute drive from the point.
Very soarable when it’s East cross at the point.
Good soaring and training site with N. and S. facing training hills.

Gunnison 5386 5160 39 09’27”N.111 50’27”W. Gunnison
4whdr up or kite up the hill. Go west on 100 N around the hill.
An amazingly “Point like” site just west of the Gunnison “G”
Soarable W, S, and N facing ridges very smooth and kitable
Smooth air flow

Scipio 6825 5361 39 12’06”N.112 08’34”W. Scipio
2Whdr up North facing site. Take the ranch exit off I-15 just south of Scipio. Head up to the towers. Bring a Tarp. Good soaring in a north flow

Venice “V” 6410 5285 38 48’15”N. 111 58’01” Venice
Short hike - but a true 360 degree launch. P-2 site. Easy launches in all four directions. Soarable in three directions (If an east wind in these parts is strong enough to be soarable you don’t want to be flying. I tried it once – it wasn’t fun.)

12 minute 5733 5280 38 45’32”N.112 00’53”W. Richfield.
4whdr up site. West side is P-2. East side is P-3. Nice grassy LZ’s both sides. East side is very soarable in a SE Down the valley wind that happens often in the spring. Easy 4 stage bench up 1200 ft. West side has a 5 minute turn around time - excellent for spot landings.

Heplars ridge 6137 5280 38 44’19”N. 112 01’21”W Richfield.
4whdr up site. West and North faces – soarable. Nice grassy LZ.
Steep drop off on launch - probably a P-3 site, although you seldom get to the edge before being lifted.

Cove 8731 5360 38 38’03”N. 112 03’39”W. Annabella
The ultimate mountain launch. 2whdr up site. South ,West, and North soarable faces. Wide open lay out area, and literally a mile wide LZ. (O.K. mile long, only a half mile wide). Opportunity to bench up over 3000 feet, just on ridge lift. There is also huge cross-country potential – an excellent thermal generator. To the South is The Sevier Plateau. To the West is the Fish Lake High Top Plateau and to the North is the Wasatch plateau.

Monroe Peak 11171 5447 38 32’29”N. 112 04’24W. Monroe
2 Whdr up site. Very clean easy West facing launch.
From Monroe head up the canyon and follow the signs.
Utah’s highest drive up launch. Nearly 6000 ft. AGL. 5 mile LZ. (The old Utah Mountain flying guide said “Monroe Peak is a great hang glider launch but that Paragliders can’t make the glide out to the LZ.” They can! Easily. The glide is similar to Francis Peak, but 1000 feet higher and with a whole lot more Soarable faces and landing places.) P-2 launch in the right conditions.

Hancock 9359 7000 38 33’32”N. 111 48’13”W. Koosherem Reservoir.
Mostly 2 whdr up (except the last 50 yards) West facing launch.
Excellent Thermal and cross-country site with a straight shot to the Fish Lake High Top Plateau.

Rust Spring 9533 9000 38 31’11”N.111 46’03”W. Fish Lake
2 whdr up East facing Morning thermal site.
On a South East day with moderate pressure and light winds aloft. I predict the next state cross-country record will start at this site.
Fish Lake High Top Plateau to Wasatch Plateau to Uinta’s. Ohhh.

Parker 8440 6781 38 24’57”N. 111 52’02”W. Koosherem
Excellent first mountain flying site. Easy west facing launch.
30 miles of soarable ridge
(I caught my first thermal here as a P1 - it was pure luck. My instructor was on the radio saying, “just stay in that circle” and the truck starting to look like a hot-wheels model, the air getting cold.
You gotta love this sport.)

Ivory 5763 5560 38 36’19”N. 112 14’51”W. Joseph
South facing training hill.
Consistent morning winds out of Clear Creek and Marysvale canyons create a good training hill.

Junction 9046 8000 38 15’17”N. 112 15’17”W. Piute County
2whdr up SE facing launch. Good morning thermal site.
Good cross-country potential
Lousy brush covered LZ (But who wants to land there anyway)

Beaver B 7144 6300 38 15’56”N 112 34’56”W. Beaver
4 whdr up west facing launch.
Take Hiway 33 east from Beaver, turn S on 12th east, Follow it to the B on the mountain. Launch from the upper loop of the B.
Rotten mountain launch (don’t do it unless you are stuck in Beaver and can’t get to Richfield or Cedar City)

Frisco Peak 9620 5200 38 31’13”N.113 17’13”W. Milford.
Big air

Cedar City C Good west facing mountain launch. Accessible in the winter.
The Highest of the three paved to launch sites in Utah.
The C 8201 6000 37 38’33”N. 113 02’06”W.
Higher Launch 9046 6000 37 37’32”N. 113 00’46”W.

Molly’s Nipple 4510 3300 37 07’ 40”N. 113 17’53”W. Hurricane
Thirty mile long - West facing ridge. 2 wheel drive up site.
Good winter site because of the warmer weather, besides it is often blown out in the summer. Long turn around time! Over an hour.

Honeymoon 4300 3520 37 00’77” N. 113 17’55”W. Hurricane.
10 miles down the same ridge from Molly’s but a much faster turn around time. Four wheel drive up site 10 minute turn around.

Usual 3356 2860 37 02’50”N. 113 28’34”W. St George.
Mile long soarable ridge. 4 wheel drive up site - short turn around time. I’d call it a P-3 site because of the cliff like drop off and the brush and mesquite covered landing zone. This ridge was custom made for the SW winds coming up from Vegas in Early spring and Late fall. Glass smooth soaring conditions in warm shirt sleeve conditions when Salt Lake is still frigid.

Launches I am still looking for info on

South Mountain
Commodore
Heber Above Midway. Launch 8600 3000 ft vert, the gnarly cross- country king before Snowbird.
Oakley