5 Southern Utah Ghost Towns

Southern Utah is home to several ghost towns. Wikipedia describes a ghost town as an “abandoned village, town, or city that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads”.  

A location can become a ghost town due to a change in economic activity, natural disaster, or human-caused disaster. Some examples include Pripyat, Ukraine, Craco, and Pompeii in Italy and the ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings.  

Now that we know more about ghost towns, let’s look at five southern Utah ghost towns. 

Grafton: located in Rockville, Grafton was settled by LDS Church pioneers in 1859. Grafton has been used as a filming location. 

Frisco: located in Beaver County, Frisco was an active mining camp from 1879-1929. The town was once a thriving town of 6,000. 

Silver Reef: 15 miles northeast of St. George, Silver Reef was established after John Kemple a prospector from Nevada discovered a vein of silver in the sandstone in 1866. 

Old Irontown: located 22 miles from Cedar City, Old Irontown was founded in 1868 as a second attempt to mine iron from Iron Mountain. 

Paria: located in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Paria was inhabited from 1870-1929. Like Grafton, Paria has been used as a filming location. 

Atlas Obscura was a helpful resource for this piece. I'll link their pieces on Abandoned Places in Utah and Ghost Towns in Utah.