THINGS TO DOATV Trails Nearby

Grand Gulch Mine

The Grand Gulch Mine is an isolated former copper boom-town from the 1870s to the 1960s that sits near the western edge of the Arizona Strip. It was established by Samuel L. Adams, Richard Bently, and other men from St. George, Utah in the early 1870s to work a vein of rich copper ore called the Adams Lode.

The copper deposits on the site were discovered about 1871 by a member of the Shivwits band of Paiute Indians. According to a 1911 description, this man "made known his discovery to men living at St. George, a small Mormon settlement in the southern part of Utah, about eighty miles north of the discovery. The extreme high grade of the ore excited considerable attention." Richard Bentley, Samuel Crosby, James Pierce, and Erastus Snow, and blacksmith Samuel L. Adams appear to have the greatest initiative. You can learn more about the Grand Gulch Mine from web sites like azoffroad.net and the National Parks Service.

The means of approach is rugged. Even by today's standards, the lack of easy access is primitive and rough. Plan on using 4x4 vehicles and off-pavement travel safety. Also note that from December through March each year rain and snow make roads above 4,000 feet elevation mostly impassible.

Directions from Aravada Springs

The Grand Gulch Mine is 28.9 miles, or 1 hour and 37 minutes from Aravada Springs. To get there, you head southeast on Pakoon Springs Rd for 10.9 miles. Keep right to stay on Pakoon Springs Rd for 2.0 miles, then take a slight left toward BLM 1007 for 0.1 mile. Turn left onto BLM 1007 and go 0.5 miles. Take a slight right onto BLM 1050 in 3.1 miles. Continue straight for 4.8 miles, then turn right toward BLM 1050 - 285 feet. Turn left onto BLM 1050 and go 5.1 miles. Turn right onto BLM 1002 and go 2.3 miles. Continue straight onto Grand Gulch Mine Rd - 0.1 mile.

GPS Location 36.330062° -113.789632°

We’ve GPS mapped some of the amazing sites you can visit from the ranch. We used Gaia (which is a $5/month app), but if you visit Gaia links to the right of the pictures you can download the GPS files and use them with any GPS app of your liking.