Saturday, August 29, 2015

RonnieAdventure #0167 - Bullion Canyon, Piute County, Utah


Bullion Canyon is located several miles west of Marysvale (Utah) and is famous for its ATV trails and Canyon of Gold Driving Tour. The driving tour starts just west of the Fishlake National Forest boundary sign and the dirt road leading into the canyon is suitable for passenger cars when the road is dry; i.e., no rain or snow. Driving tour brochures are available on the internet, in Marysvale, and at the canyon entrance.

The first stop on the driving tour is at the beginning of the old Toll Road.

In 1869 a road into Bullion Canyon was constructed by some mining entrepreneurs and when the road was completed the builders set up a toll booth to collect a fee for using their road. However, the toll was so exorbitant that the miners quickly constructed a second road up the canyon and put the toll road out of business. You can still see sections of the old toll road on the north side of the canyon.  

The three mining camps of Weber City, Virginia City and Bullion City were all located in Bullion Canyon and the remnants of all three camps are scattered throughout the canyon, so today it is difficult to determine where one camp started and the next camp ended. The tour brochure just provides general information about the structures, unless specific information is known. 




The picturesque old Bully Boy Stamp Mill and Silo are located on private land, so I just photographed the ruins from the road. The silo is only a few feet off of the road, but the mill sits back farther into the woods. 



At Miner's Park the Forest Service has reconstructed an old log cabin and furnished it with mining period items. There is also a lot of old mining equipment scattered around the cabin.  















If you have a four-wheel drive vehicle you can continue up the canyon and then return to a paved road by various other trails. Or, you can follow the same road back down the canyon to Marysvale.  

1 comment:

  1. I see a tiny sasquatch, wearing a pink shirt, on top of some rocks in your Utah photos.

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