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Death Canyon
Juab County, Utah
Looking south toward
Keg mountain from the top of Death Canyon.
Death Canyon is located in the Simpson Mountain Range that straddles the boundary between Juab and Tooele Counties. This area is rarely traveled. Ryan and Justin camped in the area on July 2, 2000 and hiked the nearby peaks. From a distance, the Simpson Mountains appear very dry and brown, but the interior of the range proves otherwise, as seen in the pictures below.
The following was provided in response to Ryan's inquiry on Ghosttowns.com: "Check out the book Some Dreams Die by George A. Thompson, page 160. Not much on Death Canyon, but a little bit. There never was a town in Death Canyon, only small time mining. Blaine Canyon, the next one to the east of Death Canyon also had some mining activity. A small mining camp was located at the mouth of Blaine Canyon named Camp Blaine. The major mines in the area were the Blaine Mine in Blaine Canyon, worked in the 1880s, Happy Jack, Utonia, Good Hope and others in Death Canyon. The most important mining area of the Simpson Mountains was at Indian Springs where a small town was formed in the early 1900s. It had a store, Saloon, Hotel, boarding house and Post Office. The O.K., Silver reef, and Indian Chief mines were located there..." Some Dreams Die and Lost Treasures by George A. Thompson is available from Amazon.com for $19.95.
Death Canyon is full
of extinct mines.
Above: this appears
to be a collapsed mine. Remote canyons such as Death Canyon can often
be dangerous places to hike and explore. Use caution when exploring any
remote area with a mining history.
How to get to Death Canyon:
To get to Death Canyon follow the Pony Express road and turn south between Lookout Pass and Simpson Springs on a fairly well-maintained road. You then follow that road along the east sideof the Simpson Range until you reach the extreme southern end of the range. Then you turn west and go until you hit another road that turns north and follow the canyon up. The road forks several miles up the canyon. Take the road on the left (west) with the abandoned trailer next toit. You have to open two gates to get through. The road becomes increasingly bad as you follow a small stream. We had to move several fallen logs and the vegetation was starting to cover the road from lack of use. Don't go up there if you don't want to scratch your car on branches.
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