Photos from Western Slope 4 Wheelers's post San Rafael Swell Wanderings
First a little background - the area known as the San Rafael Swell covers close to 2,000 square miles in southern central Utah. There are canyons, towers, arches, rock art, homesteads, ghost towns and mines but no paved roads, except for I70, which bisects it, and no towns. Thus we made Green River our headquarters for this trip.
The first trail we had hoped to do, Behind the Reef, was deemed impassable due to a rock slide, so, after consulting maps, our group decided to do another planned trip in reverse. We were close to the southern end of Temple Mountain Trail so ran it south to north stopping to take in Temple Wash rock art, views of Temple Mountain and Temple Mining Camp, which was reached after a fun little drive through Temple Wash / Canyon. The town of Temple Mountain (now a ghost town)enjoyed "life" twice, once just before the turn of the 20th century and again in the 1950s. Altogether this area produced 2.5 million tons of ore. Dinner was a group expedition to the "famous" Rays in Green River for burgers, steaks, etc. Many thanks to club members and others who recommended Rays.
Our second day of exploration had us finding an old homestead ( Swasey's Cabin) and Icebox Cave, Eagle Canyon Arch, a drive under I70, rock art (Lone Warrior) and really cool rocks called Dendrites. Surprisingly enough, there were even a few desert wild flowers in bloom. Lester and I had explored this trail 2 years ago with others from the club and were anxious to introduce this group to the trail since it had so much to offer. The Icebox was used by the cabin inhabitants as a year-round meat locker. The dendrites were found by a couple of the group at our lunch stop. "In paleontology, dendritic mineral crystal forms are often mistaken for fossils. These pseudofossils form as naturally occurring fissures in the rock are filled by percolating mineral solutions. They form when water rich in manganese and iron flows along fractures and bedding planes between layers of limestone and other rock types, depositing dendritic crystals as the solution flows through." Really cool. Lone Warrior was at the end of a totally unmarked left hand turn and was well worth it.
Our next exploration involved finding and driving to the end of Mexican Bend Road (aka San Rafael River Road or Mexican Mountain Road). We were basically following the San Rafael River, think of a shallow irrigation ditch rather than something the size of the Gunnison River! While an easy drive, some consider it one of the most scenic drives in the Swell with terrific views. Unfortunately, it now ends at a gate marking Wilderness area so..... We parked and hiked a little over a mile to the Upper Black Box, a deep, narrow canyon formed by the San Rafael River.
Monday morning, before heading for home, 2 vehicles took the short, easy drive out to Black Dragon Pictographs. This panel includes a flying dragon and is estimated to be at least 1,500 years old.
All in all, we saw some of everything the Swell area has to offer (canyons, towers, arches, rock art, homesteads, ghost towns and mines) but, by no means, all of it. This is a terrific area to explore and, while the jeeping is not generally difficult, it's still a lot of fun!!! Besides, what can be better than out enjoying OUR public lands - even in Utah. ... See more
