There’s A Hike In Utah That Leads You Straight To An Abandoned Village
By Catherine Armstrong|Published April 17, 2019
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Catherine Armstrong
Author
Writer, editor and researcher with a passion for exploring new places. Catherine loves local bookstores, independent films, and spending time with her family, including Gus the golden retriever, who is a very good boy.
Utah has tons of ghost towns, and they’re fun to explore if you’re interested in seeing remnants of the past. One of our most famous ghost towns is accessible by car, bike, or on foot, and you might want to take the hike so that you can see more of the stunning scenery that surrounds the abandoned little village. Check out the hike to Grafton:
Grafton is located near the town of Virgin, near Zion National Park. You can reach it via a dirt and gravel road called Grafton Trail. Park along Highway 9 near Rockville to get there on foot, and bring plenty of water along. Grafton Trail is 3.3 miles each way.
You could drive directly to the town, but hiking there is a whole other experience that allows you to soak in the scenery. You'll cross this pretty trestle bridge that was built back in 1926.
At the end of the road, you'll come to Grafton's cemetery. You'll want to spend some time walking through the gravestones - they tell a heartbreaking tale of what it was like to be a pioneer out here back in the mid-1800s. You'll see graves of small children, and even some graves of pioneers who were killed in raids by Native Americans.
The cemetery is said to be haunted, and many visitors have claimed to hear voices on the wind, a woman screaming, and the sound of babies crying. If you're visiting on foot, you might want to give yourself plenty of time to get back to your car before nightfall.
Continue down the trail to see several more buildings. Grafton was settled by Mormon pioneers in in 1855. Eventually, 28 families called this place home, with as many as 168 people living there before the town was abandoned after several years of devastating floods.
Set into the beautiful Southern Utah landscape, Grafton is certainly picturesque, and you might share your journey with photographers who are eager to capture this pretty little town's beauty. It was the site of several Western movies, including the Paul Newman/Robert Redford movie, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," filmed here in 1969.
