Babylon Mills at the Virgin River

A little known spot between Leeds and Toquerville is Babylon Mills. The remnants of what was once known as Stormont Mill in the town of Babylon is the only thing left standing here from the late 19th century, though the contemporary framework of a burned down dream home is also on the property. Citizens of the small, non-Mormon settled Babylon relied on the mill for their livelihood until the local mining industry took a dive, and the town was abandoned.
A graded dirt road takes you directly east from the I-15, descending gradually along cliff edges and tectonic uplift into a sandstone gulch carved by the waters of the Virgin. The river is beautiful and a moderate level, at least in January -  we hope to float it later this year, when the temps are a little warmer.
Expect some traffic! Plenty of other off-roaders and UTV riders when we were there on a Saturday, some heading to Babylon, some to Sand Cove or Babylon Arch. 4-wheel drive is not necessary on a dry day, but might be helpful in case things get hairy.

To get to the Mills: 


(1) Take exit 27 off the I-15 towards Toquerville. Take an immediate right onto the frontage road that runs parallel to the I-15 heading south. 
(2) Continue south, passing the small development of homes on your left.
(3) Take a left turn at 900 N Rd, heading east. 
(4) You'll pass some homes on the paved part of the road - ignore their driveways, and stay left on the main drag for a few miles.




(5) Continue past the turnoff to Sand Cove Campground.
(6) Look close and you'll see what appears to be an abandoned cabin to the east of the road here. It is worth taking a closer look at.
(7) You've made it to Babylon Mills! Stay on the track, and enjoy the incredible examples of tectonic and geologic work.

Capitol Reef Backpacking

Back in August we decided to go to one of the more unknown areas of Utah for a quick one night backpacking trip. We had a route picked out a week in advance, but when we got to the park visitor center, we decided to switch trails at the last minute after talking to the ranger at the backcountry desk. We ended up doing the Cohab Canyon-Frying Pan trails that end at the Cassidy Arch. ​​

​​​I can't emphasize enough how great this hike is. Cohab Canyon is moderately trafficked, most likely due to its proximity to the orchards and relative easiness of the trail. However, the further back you hike towards the Frying Pan trail the less people you will come across. This 9 mile (estimated) hike can absolutely be done in a day, but we started mid-afternoon and the elevation gains and losses were extreme carrying our backpacking gear.

Cohab Canyon is a hanging canyon which means that you actually gain elevation hiking up to its entrance. It's quite the start to a hiking trip carrying bulky packs on your back, but it's worth it. There are a few narrow slot canyons branching off the main canyon that are hidden around corners, aptly named "The Wives" due to the fact this canyon was named for the polygamists that would hide from federal marshals during the polygamy raids of the 1880's. The canyon itself is pretty flat with little elevation gain until you find yourself facing either the trail down to HWY 24 at your left, or the Frying Pan Trail to your right. 

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Frying Pan Trail is just your stereotypical south-central Utah landscape: remote, vast, empty, and beautiful. It's just you and the wild west out here. This connector trail is only 3.3 miles, but you cover some amazing ground. And some amazing elevation gains and losses. You are hiking essentially on a ridge-top until you connect to the Cassidy Arch trail. Some notable features to look out for: A MASSIVE pile of rocks with a house sized boulder atop that trail winds around, a large, lone standing mushroom hoodoo, deep canyons, and my favorite: The waterpockets.

We were getting tired climbing out of this deep canyon and it was getting dark when we decided to get off the trail and hike down to a flat area on top of these folds. You do pass a large cave climbing down, and in retrospect was it a good idea to camp a few yards away from a cave with who knows what in it? I don't know but we're alive to tell this story. Would I do it again? Probably not. 

​​​In the morning, we ate a quick breakfast, packed our things and hiked the small distance to the Cassidy Arch. Named of course after central Utah's own Butch Cassidy, this arch is located 400 feet above the road so even if you want to skip the exertion of hiking 8ish miles to it, it's still 400 vertical feet up you have to climb...but the prettiest things to see here take some effort and are well worth it. There are no routes to the base of the arch but you can climb across it.​

It's easiest if you have two cars and can park one at the Cohab Canyon trailhead and one at the Cassidy Arch trailhead. We only had one car and relied on hoping someone would take pity on us and drive us back to the first trailhead. That came in the form of a kind ranger. We were all exhausted, but also feeling the satisfaction that only comes from doing something not only hard, but knowing that you are one of the few lucky enough to experience it. 

Here's a summary video!

Hancock Peak

Hancock Peak is more of a knoll at the top of Cedar Mountain. I did this hike back in 2014 with a friend and the entire hike was in a thick forest with limited sunlight. Between October 2014 and September 2015, beetles wreaked havoc on the trees and when I took Trekker to it, the landscape was far different. Dead trees were everywhere, along with fields of chopped trees from the Forest Service trying to stop the spread of the bugs. We didn't get nearly as far in October due to being in direct sunlight the entire time, but we ended at one of the ponds fed by a volcanic spring which is still worth the walk.

On the way up from Cedar City, you do pass Cedar Breaks National Monument on SR14-3. It's a small monument, but worth the 10 minute stop

The Hancock Peak trail head is a few miles past Cedar Breaks, literally on the side of the road. Park on the pull-off and start the climb toward the knoll! 

The trail is clearly cut in the grass but as you get closer to the knoll, you just have to pay attention to the cairns. Since there's really not much of a forest there for a while, the scenery is about the same until you get to the pond. It's a cool little hike if you have a free afternoon. You can also find arrowheads all over the area, so keep an eye out.

It looks like this the whole way :(

:( pt.2

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.