tweety13

I am planning a trip to Page, AZ, Zion and Bryce, UT. We will be flying in and out of Las Vegas and driving to Zion-Page-Bryce and back to Vegas. I thought it would be fun to go to a ghost town.

I think Grafton is somewhere on the way from Bryce to Vegas. One posting said they filmed Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at Grafton. I can't seem to find much more info on Grafton. I also read it is now being rennovated. Is it worth stopping at this ghost town? Does anyone have a telephone number or website so I can check the hours of operation?

Are there any other ghost towns in the areas we are visiting? Any info is appreciated.

utahtea

Grafton is closer to Zion. You will be taking I-15 from Las Vegas to a little past St. George where you will then take Hwy 9. You will drive though a town called Rockville, Utah which is just before Springdale, Utah. In Rockville there is only ONE left turn and it's on Bridge Street and it's near mile marker 28. You take the bridge across the Virgin River and then make the first left. There are signs there to Grafton. It's just a short drive (I think 4 miles) on a dirt road. Keep an eye out on your left for the old Grafton cemetery, which you will come to first.

I've read where they now have an entrance station and it does close. We haven't been in a couple of years, but we started going in 1981. The Butch Cassidy house was burned down by kids, but we have an old 110 picture taken before they did. Many of the other homes have fallen down or have been vandilized to a very sad state.

The church is still in good condition and the view of Zion in the background is beautiful. They filmed the bike scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid here.

The movie "Child Bride of Short Creek" which had Hellen Hunt in it, was filmed almost entirely at Grafton. I think it was a made for TV movie. I find it on TV once in a while. They had fixed up the houses and put in wallpaper. This was in 1981 and we were there for the first time right after the filming.

Here are two good websites.

http://www.graftonheritage.org/

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/ut/grafton.html

Utahtea

utahtea

ACK! I've got to learn my rights from my lefts!

You will drive though a town called Rockville, Utah which is just before Springdale, Utah. In Rockville there is only ONE right (not left) turn and it's on Bridge Street and it's near mile marker 28. You take the bridge across the Virgin River and then make the first right (not left).


Utahtea

suzanne

Grafton is right outside of Zion. I was there about 5 years ago. There isn't much at all to see there...only a couple of standing buildings. I was disappointed with it. However, the cemetery was very cool...and spooky. There are humps of dirt where the people are buried. And many people were, as it says on the stones, "killed by Indians".

Dayle

Hi Tweety,

East of Kanab there is an old settlement that is part real, part Hollywood. The town of Paria on the Paria river. Settlers tried to make it here for years before river floods and loss of life caused them to give up. There are still a few old cabins left that are real. Cemetery too.

The Hollywood part is a false-front town that was built when they filmed one of the Clint Eastwood westerns here. I think it was Outlaw Josie Wales. The scenery is spectacular, multicolored, stripped mountains.

We drove our jeep upriver as far as we dared. The red rock cliffs above the river are amazing.

Worth a detour, but not a special trip.

Have fun!