Iron County Search and Rescue

10/07/2026

Search & Rescue Response — Red Hollow Trailhead — 10-01-2026

Hiking Accident Above Red Hollow Trailhead

On Thursday, October 1, 2026, the Iron County Sheriff’s Office High Angle/Ropes Rescue Team was called to assist with a seriously injured hiker who had fallen above the Red Hollow Trailhead along Highway 14.

The 20-year-old female hiker had been hiking with friends in the early morning hours with plans to watch the sunrise over the canyon. Because the group began their hike before daylight, the trail and surrounding terrain were still dark when the accident occurred.

Initial reports indicated the hiker had fallen approximately 100 feet. The hiker had come to rest partially wedged between a rock and the cliff face.

Members of the High Angle/Ropes Rescue Team, Utah Highway Patrol and Gold Cross Ambulance were able to reach the victim and begin assessing her condition. Additional Search & Rescue personnel were requested to assist with the extraction. Rescuers carefully freed the hiker from the narrow space and began treating her significant injuries, which appeared to include fractures to her leg and an arm, with possible injuries to her ribs or back. She also sustained multiple lacerations and was experiencing substantial pain.

Due to the seriousness of her injuries, Intermountain Flight was requested to transport the victim to a hospital in St. George. The helicopter landed on Highway 14, requiring a temporary closure of the roadway while the patient was transferred.

Working together, members of the High Angle Team, Search & Rescue, Utah Highway Patrol and Gold Cross Ambulance stabilized the patient and secured her in a Stokes basket. The team then carefully lowered her from the accident site to the canyon floor, where she could be transported safely to the waiting helicopter.

The mission involved five members of the High Angle/Ropes Rescue Team, five Search & Rescue members, three Iron County Sheriff’s Deputies, one Utah Highway Patrol Trooper, Gold Cross Ambulance personnel, and the Intermountain Flight helicopter crew. The mission was closed at 09:15 a.m.

This rescue required coordination and a significant team effort. Every person on scene played an important role in getting the patient safely from a challenging location to the care she needed.

From all of us with the Iron County Sheriff’s Office High Angle/Ropes Rescue Team and Search & Rescue, we are thinking of this young woman and hope she has a smooth and full recovery.

10/03/2026

Search & Rescue Response — Willow Creek Trail — 09-19-2026

On Saturday, September 19, at approximately 5:15 p.m., Iron County Search & Rescue was called for a 71-year-old woman who had become lost while hiking near the Willow Creek Trail in the Cottonwood Mountain area northeast of Paragonah.

Dispatch was able to obtain GPS coordinates from her phone, although unreliable cell service made their accuracy uncertain. An Iron County Sheriff’s Deputy located her red Jeep near the junction of Cottonwood Canyon Road and Bear Valley Road, and SAR teams began searching the surrounding area.

A ground team headed up the Willow Creek Trail while other team members searched the surrounding roads by ATV. The terrain was steep and covered with loose rock. As the team called and whistled for the hiker, a team member spotted a flashing light on the hillside. It was the hiker.

She was found in good health, although understandably tired. She had realized she was off the trail and, once she found an area with cell service, called 911. Dispatch instructed her to stay put—and she did.

By the time the team began the trek back down, it was dark, making the descent slow and careful. Everyone safely returned to the staging area, and the hiker was escorted back to her vehicle and out of the area.

The response involved 13 Search & Rescue members and 1 Sheriff’s Deputy, utilizing 3 four-wheel-drive vehicles, an ATV, and 2 horses. The call was completed at approximately 10:30 p.m.

This incident is also a great reminder of what to do before heading into the wilderness:
• Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to return.
• Make sure they know to call for help if you don't return as planned.
• Carry water, food/snacks, and a working flashlight.
• Let someone know your planned route.
• If you become lost, call for help and stay where you are if it is safe to do so.

In this case, being prepared, having someone who knew her plans, carrying essential supplies, and—most importantly—staying put after calling 911 all helped bring this search to a safe conclusion.

Know before you go. Be prepared. Stay safe.

10/01/2026

08/25/2026

Injured Hiker Rescue — Valentine Peak Trail – 08-19-2026

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on August 19, 2026, the Iron County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue and Ropes Teams were dispatched to the Valentine Peak Trail east of Parowan for a report of an injured hiker.

Initial information indicated that a 39-year-old female had sustained a possible broken leg. SAR was able to make phone contact with a Parowan Police Department officer who was also dispatched to the area and he reported that the victim’s husband had already begun hiking up the trail to reach her.

SAR personnel made contact via phone with the husband who had already reached the scene and confirmed that the hiker appeared to have suffered a significant leg injury. Search & Rescue and Ropes Team members as well as others from local agencies then began making their way up the trail with rescue equipment, including a Stokes basket, wheel, vacuum splinting system, and additional equipment necessary for a technical trail evacuation.

Members of Gold Cross Ambulance also hiked up the trail to assist. Once the teams reached the patient, she was assessed and her leg was splinted before she was carefully secured in the Stokes basket for transport.

The trail presented several challenges, including steep sections, trees, and heavy brush. SAR and Ropes Team members worked together to safely transport the patient down the trail, where she was transferred to a waiting ambulance and transported to Cedar City for further medical treatment.

This successful rescue was made possible through the coordinated efforts of:
• 13 Iron County Sheriff Search & Rescue volunteers
• 7 Iron County Sheriff Ropes Team volunteers
• 2 Parowan Police Department officers
• 2 Iron County Sheriff’s Office deputies
• 4 Gold Cross Ambulance personnel
• Several Parowan City employees were on scene as well and ready to assist if needed.

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to this mission. This rescue was another excellent example of interagency cooperation and the importance of working together to serve our community.

We wish the patient a speedy recovery and hope she is back on her feet soon!

08/11/2026

At approximately 11:00 p.m. on August 1, 2026, the Iron County Sheriff Search & Rescue Team received its third callout of the day regarding two teenaged males who had become stranded on the hillside east of Red Hollow Trail, just off Highway 14 in Cedar Canyon.

Dispatch advised that the subjects were not injured but had found themselves in a steep area and were unsure if they could make it down via the same route they went up. The subjects reported having no food or water and indicated that their cellular phones had limited battery power, but were in otherwise in good health.

Members of the Iron County Sheriff Search & Rescue and Ropes Teams responded to the area. SAR personnel established phone contact with one of the subjects, who was able to provide GPS coordinates. The second subject's phone was no longer operational.

Due to darkness, steep terrain, and the subjects' dark clothing, locating them from the staging area presented challenges. Team members, using a mapping application specifically for SAR missions, determined that a direct approach up the hillside would present unnecessary risk due to the slope angle. A safer route was established by hiking to the upper portion of the trail and approaching the subjects along a similar elevation line.

A drone equipped with a spotlight was deployed to assist with locating the subjects. Once they were located, the drone's spotlight was used to illuminate the terrain and assist them in navigating the hillside and directing them toward the rescue team.

The SAR and Ropes Teams were able to make contact with the teens and safely guide them back to the main trail and then to the parking area, where family and friends were waiting.

Both subjects were assessed by responding personnel and were found to be tired but otherwise uninjured. They were released to family and friends.

This incident demonstrates the importance of coordinated response, appropriate route selection, and the use of available technology in challenging search and rescue operations.

The Iron County Sheriff Search & Rescue and Ropes Teams, along with our other specialized teams’ capabilities, remains prepared to respond when called upon to assist residents and visitors of Iron County. “We Will Always Come to You”.

This mission was completed with the help of 10 members of the Iron County Search & Rescue, 5 members of the Ropes Rescue Team and 1 Iron County Sheriff’s Deputy. The teams deployed with 2, 4-wheel drive trucks and 1 drone. The mission was closed at 1:30 a.m. on August 2, 2026.

08/10/2026

On the evening of August 1, 2026, the Iron County Sheriff Search & Rescue received the 2nd of what would be 3 calls that day.

Dispatch sent a page to SAR at approximately 08:25 p.m. to inform that there was a hiker in the Ashdown Gorge / Rattlesnake Trail area that was in distress. According to the information, there were 4 female hikers that had started at the top of the Rattlesnake trail earlier in the day. Because phone service was spotty in the area, one of the members of the party walked ahead to try and make contact with dispatch. Once she found a small spot of service, she informed that one of the other hikers had become fatigued and was having difficulty walking. The reporting party continued to hike and was able to make contact with SAR near the Slide area. She let the group know that the others in the hiking party were helping the distressed subject walk down the trail but it was very slow going.

Since it was unknown what their exact location was, SAR initially deployed a ground team to the trail near the Slide area on highway 14 to begin hiking East and also sent an ATV and ground team to an area located across the highway from the SUU cabin to attempt to intercept them from two directions and try to determine the best way to extract the group. Just as the ATV team was about to deploy, a different group of hikers made contact with the ground team that was moving East and informed them the subjects they were looking for were only a few hundred yards away. The ATV team was called back to the Slide area to assist with getting the hikers up to the parking lot.

At this point, a drone was launched to see if their exact location could be determined from the air using a spotlight. The ground team was able to meet up with the subjects and escorted them out of the area. The drone used the spotlight to help the ground team identify the best route up the side of the hill toward the parking area. The team assessed the members of the hiking group to determine if any of them needed medical assistance. They were reunited with the other member of their party who was waiting for them in her vehicle at the parking area and were all found to be in good health and did not need medical.

The mission was completed with the help of 13 members of the Iron County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue and 2 Iron County Sheriff’s deputies. The team deployed with 3, 4-wheel drive trucks, 2 Side X Sides and 1 drone. The mission was closed at 10:30 p.m.

08/09/2026

August 1, 2026, was a busy day for the Iron County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue and the Ropes Rescue team due to being called out for 3 separate incidents during the day. The first was paged at approximately 2:30 p.m. with the last one being completed at 1:30 a.m. on August 2nd.

The first call occurred at approximately 2:30 p.m. to assist an elderly man that had slid off a road in Summit Canyon just South of Old Highway 91. The initial call from dispatch stated that there was a truck that had slid sideways off the road and was “hanging off a cliff and rocks”. The teams deployed to the area to find the subject and his dog still in the cab of a truck which was pointed downhill on a steep incline on a narrow dirt road. The driver said he took the wrong turnoff and tried to reverse back down the road. It appeared that recent heavy rains had made the shoulder of the road very soft and the truck began sliding and ended up with the front of vehicle pointing downward. The driver noted that he didn’t dare get out because even if his dog moved around in the cab, he could feel the truck begin to slide. He also let the team know that he was not steady on his feet and might not be able to walk up a hill that steep.

An assessment was made as to the best course of action and it was determined the truck needed to be stabilized before attempting to remove the driver and dog. The Ropes Team found some good anchor points across the road on the hillside and were able to rig two rope lines and attach them to front and rear of the truck. The teams then rigged another rope line to a Stokes Basket and lowered it to the driver’s side of the truck. The driver was able to step out of the vehicle directly into the basket and lie down so he could be lifted up to the road. Team members then assisted him on foot down the road to another vehicle. A tow truck arrived and began working on retrieving the vehicle. The driver was assessed for any issues and was determined to be in good health. He and his dog were transported by an SAR member to his RV which was located just North of the area of the incident.

This event was completed with help from 7 members of SAR and 8 members of the Ropes rescue team as well as 3 Iron County Sheriff’s Deputies. The teams deployed with 3, 4-wheel drive trucks, 1 Side X Side ATV and one SAR unit drone. The mission was closed at 5:30 p.m. and all members returned safely.

06/30/2026

06/26/2026