Grafton Ghost Town

The nicest, most non-threatening ghost town ever. What else is prettier than a town built on beautiful green fields with huge red cliffs on both sides of them?

It actually wasn't that great of a place to live in at the time. The first attempt to build Grafton was in 1859 when Brigham Young sent young families on 'cotton missions' to southern Utah to build settlements and try to grow cotton. It was successful a little further southwest in Santa Clara, but the first attempt in the Zion area, Wheeler, was washed away in a night after a week long flood in 1862.

Wheeler was moved a mile upstream and renamed Grafton, and within 2 years there were 28 families and 168 people. After multiple floods that eroded their fields, Navajo attacks, and a disease outbreak, the town was completely abandoned by 1930. For some reason, people thought moving to Rockville across the river would be better, even though the town is built right underneath a cliff with many, many unstable boulders, and things like this happen. I guess you have to decide which is worse, death by an Indian raid, or death by a massive boulder falling on you as you're eating dinner. They just couldn't win.

To get there, pay attention to the right hand side of SR-9 through Rockville. There's a sign that points toward Grafton right behind an older house. Turn down that road and cross this one-car bridge. The road turns into gravel soon after this point.

The road will curve back west, following the Virgin River. You'll pass a lot of green pastures where cows and hippies usually hang out in the summer. After maybe half a mile, you'll come upon the Grafton Cemetery. You can go in and look at the worn headstones. Fortunately there's a plaque that tells you who is under each stone. A portion of the 84 people buried at least. The southeast corner is reserved for members of the Paiute tribe that became friends with the residents. In 1866, thirteen people died from Navajo attacks and a diphtheria epidemic. There's also two graves for 14 and 13 year old girls that died after the swing they were on broke. I think that sounds like a cover-up. Trekker says people were just more fragile back then. You decide.

Follow the road further west and you end up where the main part of town used to be. The first building you come to is the school house. Built in 1886, it was used also for church and social events.

Next to it is Alonzo Russel's house. He had 4 wives, so understandably he needed a larger house to deal with that kind of chaos.

He even built his third wife, Louisa, a log cabin across the road. You can walk through the cabin and think about how bad raising 6 kids in a 3 room cabin with a low ceiling would be.

It's really a place worth finding if you're out by Zion. Plus you can tell people you've been where they filmed a part of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, that'll impress them.

Little Jamaica

2-2-19 Update: ADOT has dismantled Little Jamaica in order to do maintenance on the I-15 bridge that it's located under for the time being. Don't worry though, I'm sure it will be back in the future!

Little Jamaica is a warmish spring located right outside of Littlefield, AZ. It starts as the Virgin River, just south of St George, UT. The river flows through the porous limestone and sandstone rock that make up the Virgin River gorge, and comes out as warm waterfalls into a couple pools just outside the south side of the gorge. If you actually think this stuff is interesting as I do, you can read about all the about the geology of it here. If not, scroll down for the pictures.

Here's the long way to get to the springs:

1. If you're coming from St. George, take Exit 9 and instead of taking the first right turn off of it, continue to the end of the ramp and immediately get back on I-15, because that exit is weird and useless. 

2. Turn around at the next exit and go back north to take Exit 9 again. Almost miss the turn off, and drive backwards on the ramp until you can turn on Farm Rd. Go through the one-car tunnel to the other side like the instructions say, and then realize you were on the right side to begin with and backtrack.

3. Go back east through the tunnel and turn left on Farm Rd. Drive to the end of the road until it turns into dirt and forks into 3 rocky roads. Take the first one, drive past a few questionable houses with rusted cars and torn up trailers in the front yard, until you end up in someones 'driveway'

4. Backtrack and take the next fork in the road. Also realize that it goes nowhere, but take a few pictures of the sweet cactus with the Virgin River Gorge mountains and storm clouds in the background  

5. Take the last road option, drive past what has to be a polygamist compound, and decide that it's probably not on this side of town

6. As you drive the opposite direction on Farm Rd, realize that there's a lot more trees the further south you get. Remember from every science class since elementary school that trees=water. This looks promising

7. Go to the end of the road where it turns into a real dirt road, not just rocks, where there are a few cars parked. See everyone leaving because of the weather, and follow where they came from. Have the springs to yourself.

  

REAL directions to Little Jamaica

1. If you're coming from St. George, take Exit 9, or the Desert Springs exit. Take the first and only right off the ramp, or it will push you back onto I-15

2. Take a right and drive north until you get to a one-car tunnel back under the freeway. Go through and take a right onto Farm Rd

3. Follow it until the road turns into a dirt parking area. Walk through the little fence and climb down the waterfalls into the pools