Sego Canyon

(Clicking on the pictures should open them larger.)

We are presently in Draper, Utah.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019 

On the brochure we had of places to see in Green River one of the places listed was Sego Canyon.
It said: Located only 23 miles east of Green River, this forgotten ghost town boasts ruins and ancient rock art from three separate Native American peoples.
If you know Tom you know they had him at "ghost town" . So on Wednesday we made a decision not to visit Capitol Reef National Park and take this ride instead. No regrets it was a beautiful ride down a canyon and there was some going up involved.

On I-70 heading east.

Our exit.

We have driven through Thompson Creek and we are
on the road to Sego Canyon. Does not look bad.

This sign, though hard to read, mentions The Indian Fence 
is closed at top of Sego Canyon no trespassing of any kind
 through the fence. We did make it to the fence 
talked about here a couple of hours later.

An arch.

Though still a decent road it is no longer paved.
I add this because Tuesday Tom spent a good part of the day
cleaning the Jeep inside and out. 

The Aspens add such a wonderful
bright golden color to the views.

Sego is a ghost town in Grand County, Utah. It lies in the narrow, winding Sego Canyon, in the Book Cliffs some 5 miles north of Thompson Springs. Formerly an important eastern Utah coal mining town, Sego was inhabited about 1910-1955.

In the spring of 1973 treasure hunters destroyed much of what was left of this old mining camp. Up until then this canyon was still lined with many homes and buildings. They were seen searching the old town with metal detectors and later in the day many of the buildings laid in smoldering ruins as the treasure hunters sifted through the cooling ashes. (How sad to read this) Information found on internet.

If walls could talk...

We spotted two train trestles. From what I read at one time there were 13 of these in the five mile journey to the mine.

Company Store

Remains of a boarding house.
This is across the road from the Company Store pictured
above and below.

We spotted this house from the road and
took a walk up to it. 

Two pictures on the right standing in doorway looking out.
Left picture of the road up to the house.

Surprised to see what looked like a holly plant
and a cactus.

Two Aspens at the end of the road in all their golden glory.

The road continued on and so did we.

Every time we saw a turn in the road we thought for sure
it would be the end. 

Then seeing this ahead we figured we would be 
turning around soon.

But the road turned and kept going.

I see a guy sitting up there surveying his kingdom.

We have been climbing for awhile.

This is my favorite view of the day.

Still going up.

It looked like we are almost at the top and we were.

When we pulled in we could see over in the trees a pickup
and horse trailer. When we turned on to the Sego Canyon
Road earlier today we, also, encountered a pickup pulling
a horse trailer. Looking around we can see evidence of 
camping and horses. 

Looking at the sign on the gate in the picture below and the map of Utah I can see where we are.
Through that gate is The Hill Creek Extension Uintah and Ouray Tribal Lands.

Remember the black metal sign at the beginning of the blog?
The black metal square in this picture is the rest of the story.
"Notice this is Indian Land no trespassing of any kind.'

On the road looking down at the gate we noticed this sign
on our left. Some of the information on the sign:
Access is allowed May 1st through November 30th.
Stay on Road.
Trespass on Tribal Land will be prosecuted and may result
in the loss of hunting privileges.

'

We have headed back down the way we came.

It is amazing how resourceful tree roots can be.

These and the ones above belong to living trees.

We are back down.

More of the today's Fall colors.

Native American Art with unfortunately some graffiti mixed in.

Barrier Style rock art is estimated to date back to about 2000 B.C. It is distinctive in life-size mummy-like human shapes without arms or legs. 

If you look closely you will see the little guy in the middle
of the picture holding up a rock. It is so heavy it has
wrinkled his body.

This one 

and this one we just hope stay put.

Interesting place North of I-70 at Exit 182
This picture is for the grandchildren.

Back in Green River we rode up Monument Hill
and I took the bottom two pictures of the area.

The same brochure that sent us to Sego Canyon
mentioned what is called Monument Hill.
It said: Located just south of the train tracks, Monument
Hill features two works by Andrew Rogers commissioned
by Herbert Steiner called "Ratio" and "Elements".

Ratio (pictured on the right)

In response to a request to realize a gentleman’s dream, Andrew Rogers created ‘Ratio’ in Green River Utah. It is based on the Fibonacci Sequence. It was completed in 2010

Elements (pictured on the left)

The second structure commissioned for the 75-acre sculpture park in Green River, Utah, was completed in September 2013.  Titled ‘Elements’ this structure comprises four 10 metre high columns, one topped in 23-carat gold, representing the four elements, Earth, Fire, Water and Wind.

It ended up being a longer ride then we planned and we certainly did not expect to find ourselves up a mountain. It was a fun day and we were not exactly sure where we would end up which is what made it fun.

In the end the gate and the second sign at the top explained two things: First of all it explained where the fence was. Secondly, then looking at the map we knew exactly where we were on the map.

We are glad you stopped by.

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.