There
are two sides to the town of Price, and also to the
surrounding countryside, where many prehistoric fossils
have been unearthed. The town is a mining community --
originally a rough and ready coal mining camp -- now home
to the College of Eastern Utah. These two sides of Price
make for an interesting stay, with many examples of
mining history as well as the social and cultural
ambience which a college brings to a community. Be sure
to visit the world-renowned CEU Prehistoric
Museum.
What
to See & Do
To
the west of Price lies the Manti-La Sal National
Forest, on the southern part of the Wasatch Range and
the Wasatch Plateau. The forest is a wonderful recreation
area with hackroads leading to ghost towns and a
multitide of recreation sites.
However,
east and south of Price lies the western portion of the
Colorado Plateau. This is high desert country and the
contrasts to the area west of town couldn't be more
extreme. Within sight of the Rockies is a scenic desert
area featuring two remarkable geological areas: Nine Mile
Canyon and the San Raphael Swell.
This
area is explored in the drive over Soldier Summit
Drive, which starts near Provo, crosses the mountains
north of Price, and continues through the high plateau to
Green River and the Colorado border. Price is the largest
town in Castle County, and visitors find good
accommodations and restaurants for an overnight stay. The
college has the fine Prehistoric Museum, on the
north side of the Municipal Building, showing the
geological features of the area and skeletons from the
nearby Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry. The
quarry, 30 miles south of Price, is also open to
visitors. The Western Mining and Railroad Museum is
located in the village of Helper, just north of Price on
Highway 6.
Nine
Mile Canyon (actually 50 miles long) is reached by
turning east off Highway 6 just south of Price. The
canyon was the main home of the prehistoric Fremont
Indian people. It features high cliffs, balancing rocks,
panels of rock art and remains of the Fremont dwellings.
Altogether, it provides one of the most satisfying
backroad adventures in the West. There are no services
along the route and a picnic lunch is advised. The entire
trip, in and back, will take about six hours.
The
San Raphael Swell, like Nine Mile Canyon, is
managed by the Bureau of Land Management. It is a little
known natural wonder on the high plateau, which includes
high mesas, buttes, and pinnacles rising from the desert
floor, and wide rolling pastures and meadows on which
there are wild antelope. Rivers cut their way through
narrow canyons. Major features include the Goblin Valley,
the San Raphael Reef and "Utah's Little Grand Canyon".
There is a campground in the center of the area, located
mid way between Highway 6 (to the east, north of Green
River) and Highway 10 which runs south from Price through
Castledale and Ferron.
There
are two state parks at the edge of the national forest
within a short distance of Price. Scofield State
Park is on the Scofield Reservoir northwest of town.
Millsite State Park is on the Millsite Reservoir,
four miles west of Ferron, off Highway 10.
