Any UT people around?

[RockRacer]

I am a newbie to ghosttowns.com, obviously. I just bought a place in Eagle Mountain, UT and thanks to this AWESOME site, saw that there are lots of cool ghost towns and mining areas nearby. I am big into 4wheeling in my Toyota 4Runner and plan on exploring all these areas soon, starting on Saturday with my Grandpa and his Land Cruiser.

I have grown up exploring these types of places with my family in our 4x4's, but never so close to home. That must be the reasons for me being so obsessed with this stuff and the reason for me not going to sleep last night since I found this site about 11:30 PM.

We are also into Amateur Radio (KD7PXV) which helps us communicate in these desolate areas.

Just wondering if there were anyone nearby that had recent updates or experiences on these places and was into wheeling like myself.

Tobin

[danbo]

Welcome! I'm not in the Bee Hive state but I was stationed at Hill AFB for two years. (80-81) So.....I don't know anything.:D

This hobby and board intersect a lot of my interests also. It's where "wheelin" meets "history" meets "adventure" meets "shootin" meets "prospecting" meets "freedom" etal.

Take some pics of your local area finds and post them here so the rest of us can enjoy them too.

Looking forward to hearing about your adventures.
Danny.

[RockRacer]

Welcome! I'm not in the Bee Hive state but I was stationed at Hill AFB for two years. (80-81) So.....I don't know anything.:D

This hobby and board intersect a lot of my interests also. It's where "wheelin" meets "history" meets "adventure" meets "shootin" meets "prospecting" meets "freedom" etal.

Take some pics of your local area finds and post them here so the rest of us can enjoy them too.

Looking forward to hearing about your adventures.
Danny.
Thanks for the response Danny. Yeah, we lived right up by Hill AFB in Layton just last month for a few years.

This "hobby" does work well with multiple hobbies. Makes it a little easier. I will post up some pictures, assuming I can get some decent ones.

Tobin

[old judge]

Rock Racer: Sorry to be late with this post. I originally assumed UT referred to the University of Texas, and thus, no one addressed would be able to read, nor comprehend, your post. I see now, UT refers to UTAH.
Welcome to the site. I expect follks will show up to welcome you. Some of my more enjoyable GTin' has been in UT. My wife was born in Orem, and she has, perhaps, elevendy thousand relatives there. Maybe twelvedy thousand.
But as my experience is more in the Nevada and New Mexico region, I will, for now, simply say Welcome. OJ

[bad bob]

Ghost Town Huntress, aka Rachel is from Utah, but is taking the year off after becoming a new mommie. :)

[ghost_town_huntress]

I'm in Utah as well. I've been living in Salt Lake as of recently but am trying to rebuild our house in Provo and lived in Eureka for a little while too. There are some pretty cool ghost towns/mines around the Eureka area. I'm indisposed at the moment and not able to do any exploring this summer however being 7 1/2 months pregnant and confined to basically one step above bed rest by my doctor, but after I have the baby I'd be more than happy to join you in some explorations!

Rachel in Utah ghost_town_huntress@yahoo.com

I am a newbie to ghosttowns.com, obviously. I just bought a place in Eagle Mountain, UT and thanks to this AWESOME site, saw that there are lots of cool ghost towns and mining areas nearby. I am big into 4wheeling in my Toyota 4Runner and plan on exploring all these areas soon, starting on Saturday with my Grandpa and his Land Cruiser.

I have grown up exploring these types of places with my family in our 4x4's, but never so close to home. That must be the reasons for me being so obsessed with this stuff and the reason for me not going to sleep last night since I found this site about 11:30 PM.

We are also into Amateur Radio (KD7PXV) which helps us communicate in these desolate areas.

Just wondering if there were anyone nearby that had recent updates or experiences on these places and was into wheeling like myself.

Tobin

[ghost_town_huntress]

LOL, I didn't even see this post before I posted my message. I'm not quite the new mommy yet but will be within a few weeks. I'll keep everyone updated and let you know when our new little ghost towner joins the world!

Rachel in Utah ghost_town_huntress@yahoo.com

Ghost Town Huntress, aka Rachel is from Utah, but is taking the year off after becoming a new mommie. :)

[bad bob]

Ooooooops!
In that case, I guess I was a bit "pre-mature". :o

[ghost_town_huntress]

Hey now, don't curse me! My now four year old daughter was 5 1/2 weeks premature!

Rachel in Utah ghost_town_huntress@yahoo.com
Ooooooops!
In that case, I guess I was a bit "pre-mature". :o

[bad bob]

Could hardly be considered a curse Rachel, since I was referring to me and not "usted". :)

[Paladin]

I grew up in Utah, and have explored a few of the GT's there. I am also an Amateur Radio operator (K7SGV). Ham radio is helpful when in the back country. My "wheeling" is done on my ATV's.

[RockRacer]

I'm in Utah as well. I've been living in Salt Lake as of recently but am trying to rebuild our house in Provo and lived in Eureka for a little while too. There are some pretty cool ghost towns/mines around the Eureka area. I'm indisposed at the moment and not able to do any exploring this summer however being 7 1/2 months pregnant and confined to basically one step above bed rest by my doctor, but after I have the baby I'd be more than happy to join you in some explorations!

Rachel in Utah ghost_town_huntress@yahoo.com
First, congrats on the baby. My wife is pregnant with our second one due in December. She went exploring in the Lucky Strike Uranium mine with me before we knew she was pregnant. Hopefully the baby is normal. :confused: :eek: That would be awesome to meet up with you, or just to meet anyone that is into this stuff as much as I am. How long were you living in Eureka? I think it would be neat to buy some properly there but I can't find anything online for sale. I wasn't able to see anything for sale as we drove through last Saturday. But half the town looks abandoned. Wouldn't a lot of it be for sale?

[RockRacer]

Ooooooops!
In that case, I guess I was a bit "pre-mature". :o
:D :) No problem. Thanks for the info anyway. I noticed that you were in Bakersfield. My wife grew up in Tulare and lived there most her life. (Just had to throw that in)

[ghost_town_huntress]

LMAO, my bad!

Rachel in Utah ghost_town_huntress@yahoo.com
Could hardly be considered a curse Rachel, since I was referring to me and not "usted". :)

[jbodine]

Hello RockRacer I am over in West Valley City I know a bunch about the area out by you what places have you been to so far?

[RockRacer]

Hello RockRacer I am over in West Valley City I know a bunch about the area out by you what places have you been to so far?

Jeff, Good to hear from you! I am very interested in talking to anyone that is familiar with this area. The most recent area that I have gone to and am interested in is the Eureka and Tintic Mining District areas. I just got back from Silver City (Utah) and was able to take some neat pictures. I will post those soon. Maybe in a new thread with the info.

Can you tell me about any of the mines/ghost towns in these areas? And how about you Mrs. Huntress?

[RockRacer]

I grew up in Utah, and have explored a few of the GT's there. I am also an Amateur Radio operator (K7SGV). Ham radio is helpful when in the back country. My "wheeling" is done on my ATV's.

K7SGV this is KD7PXV.

My entire family and some friends all have their licenses some even the extra class. I am only a tech. I wish more people would try this hobby out. It seems like it's kind of dying. Not many youngsters, like myself, are into it. (Not real young, but 25 yrs old)

What Ghost towns or mines have you experienced here in Utah?


I really wish there was a way to better preserve these old places. It ****** me off seeing graffiti and vandalism done to these pieces of history! I am going to try to take a bag to collect garbage that idiots have left behind.

[Gravelrash]

and the reason for me not going to sleep last night since I found this site about 11:30 PM.
Tobin

Oh yeah.... I know that feeling! It IS a great site, isn't it. Hope we can meet up one day and see a bit of Utah. Meanwhile, welcome and I'm looking forward to your posts.
(....and a big 'HI' to the soon-to-be-Mum. Hope all is well, mate.)

[cheever]

Tobin,

Nice to see that there are a few folks from Utah on this board. Up to this point I only knew of Rachael and myself. Anyway I hail from Tooele and have spent a lot of time in the desert exploring old mines. You should check out www.goldrushexpeditions.com (http://www.goldrushexpeditions.com) This site and nonprofit organization run by Corey Shuman is dedicated to preserving Utah's ghost towns and mining history. Gold Rush also makes several trips a year exploring ghost towns and mines and most of the trips are open to anyone who would like to attend. Let me know if you need any further info.

P.S. Rachael I haven't forgot about the trip we were suppose to take to those Eureka mines, but when I saw your posts about being on bed rest for your pregnancy I figured that I would just wait until after you had the baby to get back in touch with you.

Derek

[RockRacer]

Oh yeah.... I know that feeling! It IS a great site, isn't it. Hope we can meet up one day and see a bit of Utah. Meanwhile, welcome and I'm looking forward to your posts.
(....and a big 'HI' to the soon-to-be-Mum. Hope all is well, mate.)

Thanks for the welcome Gravelrash. Where are you located? Are you in the Utah area?

I accidently did it again. I got home from work at midnight and didn't get into bed until my wife's alarm went off for her to get up for work at 4:00 AM. (And I promise it's ONLY this site and others like it that's been keeping me up lately!)

[RockRacer]

Tobin,

Nice to see that there are a few folks from Utah on this board. Up to this point I only knew of Rachael and myself. Anyway I hail from Tooele and have spent a lot of time in the desert exploring old mines. You should check out www.goldrushexpeditions.com (http://www.goldrushexpeditions.com) This site and nonprofit organization run by Corey Shuman is dedicated to preserving Utah's ghost towns and mining history. Gold Rush also makes several trips a year exploring ghost towns and mines and most of the trips are open to anyone who would like to attend. Let me know if you need any further info.
Derek

Derek, nice to meet you. We are fairly close if you're in Tooele. How do you explore these areas? 4x4's? I am surprised to hear that there aren't many people from Utah on this board. Of course, I haven't been to other states on this site to see how many ghost towns/mines there are in the other areas, but I would have though UT has a good number of them and thus having more people interested.

Thank you for that information and website! I will definitely be checking it out. I am very interested in preserving these neat areas!

HAS ANYONE BEEN IN THE TINTIC MINES NEAR THE TOWN OF EUREKA, UT?

[jbodine]

Tobin,

You have 7 sites anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes from your house that are IMO not spectacular until you read the history on them before you go see them but they are an adventure and worthwhile places if you know a little about them before you get there. In one of thes places probably 25 minutes from yor house there are 2 rock crawling trails one is rated a 3 (Rattlesnake) and the other a 5 (Constrictor) since I see you are about conservation may I recomend to you and anyone else on the Board to join the http://www.u4wda.org/ we pick up alot of garbage and fight for our rights to keep and use the roads and trails to these places open.

[cheever]

Derek, nice to meet you. We are fairly close if you're in Tooele. How do you explore these areas? 4x4's? I am surprised to hear that there aren't many people from Utah on this board. Of course, I haven't been to other states on this site to see how many ghost towns/mines there are in the other areas, but I would have though UT has a good number of them and thus having more people interested.

Thank you for that information and website! I will definitely be checking it out. I am very interested in preserving these neat areas!

HAS ANYONE BEEN IN THE TINTIC MINES NEAR THE TOWN OF EUREKA, UT?

I usually drive to a location with a 4X4 of some sort pulling ATVs and then when I get there I unload the ATVs and use them to get around the area. I have found that by using ATVs I can get around an area much quicker and cover more ground than I could otherwise.

Unfortunately about 70-80% of the mines in the Tintic District have been bulldozed by the states reclamation program years ago and from what I understand in talking to the people that have lived there for years that there were some very large neat mines that were covered in the process.

Although there are still some mines in the outlying areas that are still open, for example, the mines in Silver City and Mammoth (the mines are privately owned in Mammoth) have yet to be fully reclaimed by the state. Rachael and I have been trying to get a trip put together to go explore some of the still open mines in Eureka. I will let you know when the trip has been put together, but being that it is Rachael's trip I'll have to double check with her if it is ok to invite other people.

Derek

[bad bob]

It's extremely nice to see that others are willing to haul trash out left by uncaring visitors and / or vandals. :)

As for preservation, and as long a shot as it is, the Historical Societies, Land Owners (even if BLM), and whoever else may be responsible, should be contacted, should all be made aware of the history, and of the potential destruction, and subsequently petitioned if necessary to place the site on "registered historical" status to guarantee protection.

The only other way I know of to protect a site, is to hire someone like Brian 10X as a heavily armed guard. :p

[RockRacer]

Tobin,

You have 7 sites anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes from your house that are IMO not spectacular until you read the history on them before you go see them but they are an adventure and worthwhile places if you know a little about them before you get there. In one of thes places probably 25 minutes from yor house there are 2 rock crawling trails one is rated a 3 (Rattlesnake) and the other a 5 (Constrictor) since I see you are about conservation may I recomend to you and anyone else on the Board to join the http://www.u4wda.org/ we pick up alot of garbage and fight for our rights to keep and use the roads and trails to these places open.
Funny you should mention those 3 things. I have wheeled both Rattlesnake and Constrictor and I just noticed that my U4WDA membership just expired. I need to sign back up, but more importantly, I need to get on board with BlueRibbon Coalition http://www.sharetrails.org/ or USA-ALL http://www.usaall.org/.

What else was near Eagle Mountain that you are aware of? Like I said earlier, I just moved in and am in need of locations and directions.

[jbodine]

None of the Ghosttowns around your area or UT for that matter are going to be fully intact, for the most part they are made up of mine tailings, mines maybe a headframe some rock buildings or structures ore chutes and in some cases tram towers you may also on occasion see old fallen down wood buildings such as the old hotel at Jacob city, most of the places i have been to in this state are in ruins

That being said you have Scranton and Topliff just over the mountain to the west of you and Ophir and Jacob City to the North of you if you have run rattlesnake and Constrictor then you have been to Sunshine and if you have driven out of Constrictor and turned left up the road then you were looking down into Mercur and Manning If you travel out by Vernon you have Harker Canyon that old place has the tram towers I was talking about but last time I was up there it was posted supposedly somebody bought the top of Harker canyon where all the ruins were.

Cheever knows of alot of places up above Stockton to the North of you and both Cheever and Ghost Town Huntress may know of other places that I have not mentioned. I would pickup the Book SomeDreams Die it will have all the locations published to the places I have told you about.

[brian10x]

The only other way I know of to protect a site, is to hire someone like Brian 10X as a heavily armed guard. :p [/quote]

I'm pretty busy. I'll have to send one of my associates.

[bad bob]

The only other way I know of to protect a site, is to hire someone like Brian 10X as a heavily armed guard. :p

I'm pretty busy. I'll have to send one of my associates.
[/quote]




Daaaaaang B, yer gettin' almost as good as granny LauraA on these attachments 'n such...good one.

Anyway, with multiple sites to be protected, all yer associates should be kept pretty busy. :)

[RockRacer]

I usually drive to a location with a 4X4 of some sort pulling ATVs and then when I get there I unload the ATVs and use them to get around the area. I have found that by using ATVs I can get around an area much quicker and cover more ground than I could otherwise.

Unfortunately about 70-80% of the mines in the Tintic District have been bulldozed by the states reclamation program years ago and from what I understand in talking to the people that have lived there for years that there were some very large neat mines that were covered in the process.

Although there are still some mines in the outlying areas that are still open, for example, the mines in Silver City and Mammoth (the mines are privately owned in Mammoth) have yet to be fully reclaimed by the state. Rachael and I have been trying to get a trip put together to go explore some of the still open mines in Eureka. I will let you know when the trip has been put together, but being that it is Rachael's trip I'll have to double check with her if it is ok to invite other people.

Derek

I have been compiling a list of supplies and some buddies that would come out with me to check these areas out. If I could ever go out with some umm "experienced" umm "mine explorers" that would be too cool!

Hopefully no one unwanted is viewing this site, but as of 7/5/08 the Lehi Tintic Mine is stightly open and calling my name. I only went in just enough to see that it was deep enough that it swallowed up my flashlight since I was with my grandparents and my little boy and I wasn't prepared to go in any deeper.

[RockRacer]

It's extremely nice to see that others are willing to haul trash out left by uncaring visitors and / or vandals. :)

As for preservation, and as long a shot as it is, the Historical Societies, Land Owners (even if BLM), and whoever else may be responsible, should be contacted, should all be made aware of the history, and of the potential destruction, and subsequently petitioned if necessary to place the site on "registered historical" status to guarantee protection.

The only other way I know of to protect a site, is to hire someone like Brian 10X as a heavily armed guard. :p
The least we can do is keep the area clean. I just assume hid these areas from people that are just going out to the "middle of nowhere" to get drunk and shoot crap. I plan on doing both as much as possible. (That is hiding and cleaning) I wish I could just buy up some of these ghost towns and put them back to the way they were. Use the old wood with new screws and nails. Maybe some new peices in here and there where they aren't seen as well.

[RockRacer]

Here are these pictures I (believe) brought up earlier.


Silver City, UT is only about 1.5 hours South West of Salt Lake City and only about 5 min from the town of Eureka.

Maybe I will start a new thread with the rest of the pictures...

[jbodine]

Here are a couple of pics from Scranton this place is only 20 mins from your house RR.

[Paladin]

RockRacer- Sorry, have been pretty busy for the last week and didn't see your post. Congrats on getting your Tech license, I'm an Extra class, been a ham since 2000(?). I wish there was more interest in Amateur Radio, because we are something of a dying breed. I grew up in the Provo/Utah Valley area. Most of my GT exploration as a kid was in the Eureka/Dividend/Thistle areas. I went to Grafton a couple of times, it's down near Zion Nat'l Park. Be careful exploring around Eureka. I was out rabbit hunting near Eureka once and almost fell into an old mine ventilation shaft! We dropped some rocks down it and could faintly hear them impact down there. It was DEEP! My Mom and Step-Dad still live there in Spanish Fork. We get down there to visit every now and then. I'll have to shoot you a PM next time I head that way and we can meet up and hit Eureka. I haven't been out there in probably 17 years.

[RockRacer]

Here are a couple of pics from Scranton this place is only 20 mins from your house RR.

That looked awesome! Is it just that going straight down though? I am not equipped or skilled for that kind of exploring just yet? Has anyone gone down there? Now, thanks to you, I HAVE to know how deep it is? We should send a night vision camera down there on a rope or something. Looks like it's still accessible...

[RockRacer]

RockRacer- Sorry, have been pretty busy for the last week and didn't see your post. Congrats on getting your Tech license, I'm an Extra class, been a ham since 2000(?). I wish there was more interest in Amateur Radio, because we are something of a dying breed. I grew up in the Provo/Utah Valley area. Most of my GT exploration as a kid was in the Eureka/Dividend/Thistle areas. I went to Grafton a couple of times, it's down near Zion Nat'l Park. Be careful exploring around Eureka. I was out rabbit hunting near Eureka once and almost fell into an old mine ventilation shaft! We dropped some rocks down it and could faintly hear them impact down there. It was DEEP! My Mom and Step-Dad still live there in Spanish Fork. We get down there to visit every now and then. I'll have to shoot you a PM next time I head that way and we can meet up and hit Eureka. I haven't been out there in probably 17 years.
I think you parents would appreciate a visit soon!;) :D That would be awesome to go and check out some of these places with other's that have been there. (I am trying to recruit people to go out with me)

Ham radio is dying. I am not sure how old you are, but it seems like there is no one my age that is licensed. I may not be looking hard enough though. Usually the young guys are on because of influence from family like I was. All my uncles and even some aunts and dad and grandparents and brothers are all licensed. It is a necessity for what we do. Wheeling. Once you have experienced it, you have to have it!
Anyway, KD7PXV standing by:rolleyes:

[jbodine]

I HAVE to know how deep it is? We should send a night vision camera down there on a rope or something. Looks like it's still accessible...

I usually try a spot light at night to try and get an idea how deep they are I recently purchased a LRF next time I go out I'll see if it will work.

[Paladin]

Ham radio is dying. I am not sure how old you are, but it seems like there is no one my age that is licensed. I may not be looking hard enough though. Usually the young guys are on because of influence from family like I was. All my uncles and even some aunts and dad and grandparents and brothers are all licensed. It is a necessity for what we do. Wheeling. Once you have experienced it, you have to have it!


Yeah, I'm 34 and considered "young" compared to most hams! ;)

[RockRacer]

I would say that anyone in amateur radio under 50 would be considered young.:D

[one_bad_rover]

The mine you are looking at is only a shaft for removal of ore, it ties into the actual main mine at about the 425' level. You can get in and down with a little rope, just access the mine on the north face of the canyon and look for a small hole that drops down near the north side. its about a 40' drop and then you can walk the rest. Be really careful because its not really hard rock, a lot of dirt and geode that is somewhat unstable. But if you are careful you should have no problem.

[RockRacer]

Jeff, Those are awesome pictures!!

Corey, Where did you say you are from? You have a lot of good info about the area. I can't believe you have been down there. I am so jealous.

I am not sure how to get this stuff out of out of my system. Curiosity could kill the cat if you don't be very careful and prepare with this stuff.

(When I say "you" I mean I)

[one_bad_rover]

Im in draper, but we are all over the state. We run a NPO that works on the preservation of Utah Mines and Ghost towns. the more you get into this you will see that pretty much everyone from the BLM up is **** bent on erradicating each and everyone of these sites.

[Gravelrash]

I usually try a spot light at night to try and get an idea how deep they are I recently purchased a LRF next time I go out I'll see if it will work.


That is a great photo. I've got hairs standing up on my neck! How I wish........

[brian10x]

[quote=Gravelrash;34450]That is a great photo. I've got hairs standing up on my neck! How I wish Brian10x was at the bottom begging for his life.

[Gravelrash]

[quote=Gravelrash;34450]That is a great photo. I've got hairs standing up on my neck! How I wish Brian10x was at the bottom begging for his life.

You're a dag, Brian! (which is highly complimentary, where I come from!)
I expect you to remain at the top, to haul ME OUT!

[jbodine]

Heres another one RockRacer I have posted this up on here a long time ago and I think its another air shaft but this one is the grated over shaft between Rattlesnake and Constrictor as you leave the tailings pile from RS its the shaft on the left as your headed up to the Con.

[teds280z]

Great pics. Can you imagine digging those shafts? I love to fly in any craft but get me on the ground looking down or very high and looking down vertigo kicks in at full force.:o

[Stuartx09]

Interested in exploring Utah's history huh. Well ive got just the group for you. www.mojaveunderground.com (http://www.mojaveunderground.com)
We have free outings all the time and our website is full of ghostown and mine locations allover the state.

Check us out!

[RockRacer]

Heres another one RockRacer I have posted this up on here a long time ago and I think its another air shaft but this one is the grated over shaft between Rattlesnake and Constrictor as you leave the tailings pile from RS its the shaft on the left as your headed up to the Con.



That...is awesome! Is that at all accessable?

[RockRacer]

Interested in exploring Utah's history huh. Well ive got just the group for you. www.mojaveunderground.com (http://www.mojaveunderground.com)
We have free outings all the time and our website is full of ghostown and mine locations allover the state.

Check us out!

That looks like a good site. I plan on spending some time there. Thank you.

Tobin