Saint George, Utah, Sept 30 to Oct 6th Part 3 Red Cliff Conservation Area and Silver Reef Ghost Town

Tuesday morning, clear and a cool start. Ray headed out at 7 am to photograph the sculptures in the "Art Around the Corner" of St. George, a few miles away. I poored another cup of coffee and rested my foot for the day ahead.

Here are a few more of the Historic District.

Sculpture Garden

Children's Library

Brigham Young Summer House

When Ray got back, we were back out exploring at 9 am. Today's destination is the Red Cliffs Conservation Area and the Silver Reef Ghost Town. 

Here are some of the views before we turned up towards the Red Cliff campsite.

First up Red Cliffs Conservation Area north of us near Leeds.  This is a small area accessible by road, but has tons of trails to get into the mountains. They have a small campsite, but there are none that would fit anything over 25 feet and you have to "fit" through 2 tunnels under the highway to get there.

Orson B. Adams House

Driving on the road in to the campsite.

Back in the car and up the road to the Silver Reef Ghost Town. Unfortunately the museum was not open today.

In 1879, a fire destroyed several businesses, but the residents rebuilt them. Mines were gradually closed, most of them by 1884, as the worldwide price of silver dropped. By 1901, most of the buildings in town had either been demolished or moved to Leeds.

Wells Fargo Building

There's a house just past the museum with a bunch of sculptures in front. There certainly is some beautiful huge houses in the area around this old mining town.

Ray decided we should continue up the main road into the mountains on Oak Grove Road. This is a gravel road with BLM camping spots and the road will take you all the way back into Saint George. We only went as far as the Leeds Creek Kiln, "Charcoal Oven", which is about 10 miles from the highway.

You must camp in designated campsites along the road. 

Just past this site the road narrows quite a bit for 30m/100 yards

This one was our favourite.

While Ray got his camera gear ready, I pointed out this tarantula walking just outside the car. This is how big it actually is

Leeds Creek Kiln

Back down the road to Leeds we noticed this old shaft.

We crossed under the highway again and went down another dirt/sand road E900N which takes you to the other side of the Red Cliffs Conservation Area. This road is definitely is a little rough for a car but I drove slow. :) This road features several hiking areas and finishes up at the Stormont Silver Mill and Virgin River.

Amazing Colours!

Stormont Mill 1877-1887 (though work continued 1890's)

Established in 1877 Babylon consisted of a group of mill workers for the Stormont Mill and their families comprising around 40 to 50 people. The name was derived from setting them apart from the neighboring Mormon communities via a biblical reference. There were no businesses, nearby Leeds and Silver Reef supplied services and resources. The water powered mill supported the silver mining industry. Little else was published or is known.

In the 1980's one John Vought, a U.S. State Dept. official, purchased the property and intended to build a retirement home. While under construction the project burned down and was abandoned.

Virgin River

A guy with his van camping overnight.

What a great morning touring. We made it back to the MH about 1 pm and spent the afternoon sitting outside enjoying the day. BTW, Riggatti's Wood Fire Pizza is a 5 out of 5.