For years as I would drive south on I-15 by Fillmore, I would gaze up at a particular mountain range after passing the small town of Scipio, Utah. This range presents a peculiar flat horizon on top and I would wonder and dream of running along the top of that mountain range end to end. In 2016 I accomplished this run from Scipio to Richfield, a journey of about 58 mies. This mountain range is named the Pahvant Mountains, after the Pahvant tribe, a branch of the Ute Indians. The Pahvant Range merges into the Tushar Mountains on the south.
The Pahvants are rarely visited, mostly by ATV or horseback riders. A section of The Pauite ATV trail runs along a portion of the range. The range is about 44 miles long and 10 miles across. There are a number of peaks along the range over 10,000 feet high. In 2009, an ancient high-altitude Indian village site, named Pharo Heights, was discovered on the range top at 9,465 feet. The village was occupied between years 450-1300 A.D. It was likely a summer residence when the ridge was snow-free.