Oquirrh Mountains Herd Area

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Wild horses roaming the Oquirrh Mountains?  Really?  Well, I have my doubts. A 2004 BLM population survey estimated 15 horses in this herd area.  That estimate was reduced to five in 2011.  The area straddles Highway 73 between Cedar Valley and Vernon.  The Five Mile Pass ATV area encompasses a significant portion of this region, north and south of Highway 73.

A small population must have called this area home when official herd areas were established forty years ago, and maybe a handful of aging horses still do.  A BLM agent suggested to me that predation on foals (presumably by cougars) may have prevented this small herd from successfully perpetuating itself.  I also wonder whether the growing popularity of motorized recreation in this area and the continuing expansion of civilization west of Utah Lake hasn't driven some (or all) of those remaining westward, into the Onaqui Herd Management Area where a much larger herd thrives.

You'll pass through this herd area on your way to Onaqui from Utah Valley, but your odds of spotting mustangs here are extremely low.

Nearest Herd Areas

Onaqui Mountains: 60 miles (border between these areas is essentially defined by Highway 36)

Cedar Mountains: 60 miles

Big Creek: 55 miles