Smack dab betweenZion National Parkand Red Cliffs National Conservation Area dwell a small , give up town that wastheplace to be , be seen , and get rich in the former 1800s . Silver Reef , Utah , one of the Southwest ’s most popular ghost towns , was a prospering mining spot back in the daytime , satisfy with westerly sedan , former prospector , and peck of shoot - out .
While Silver Reef is all ruins , no riches today , its crumbling rock wall have got an interesting history for visitors who take the clip to stop by .
Silver Reef ’s story starts in 1866 , when the prospector John Kemple uncovered a venous blood vessel of silver in the townsfolk ’s sandstone — a first - of - its - kind discovery . Geologists spent years refuting his claim , until a mathematical group of banker from Salt Lake City caught wind of the find and staked their mining claims in the Silver Reef region .
Silver Reef quickly evolved into a flourishing minelaying town , with 33 mine that produced more than 7 million ounces of ash gray . During 1879 , its peak year , the town boasted a hotel , embarkation houses , stores , saloons , restaurants , banks , a newspaper — theSilver Reef Miner — and a population of more than 1000 people .
And , like all skillful specter ( townsfolk ) stories , Silver Reef was full of seedy role who brought gaming , prostitution , shoot - out , force and all thoseThe Good , The Bad , and TheUgly - isms to Ithiel Town . After a major ardour and many miner strike , Silver Reef went on the decline in the 1890s before deform into the abandoned roadside ghost town that it is today .
While it ’s not a destination where you ’d need to spend more than a duad hours , Silver Reef is an interesting stop - off for Southwest route trippers . Four fundamental sights to add to your itinerary include :
1 . The Silver Reef Museumis housed in the oldest Wells Fargo Express Station still in existence . Built in 1878 , silver medal was defend at and export from the sometime post , which made it an integral part of Silver Reef ’s prosperity . Today , the museum domiciliate one-time nursing bottle , guns , woodwork tools , and other historical item that aid illustrate the mining life of yesteryear .
2 . The Cosmopolitan Restaurantwas owned by a Bavarian adult female who is said to have made some of the best hashish in the Rebecca West . The original edifice was dismantled in 1895 , at the stern - close of when local anaesthetic were in a passel exodus from the imploding Silver Reef , but a replica of the Cosmopolitan still stands today .
Stephanie Vermillion
3 . Silver Reef ’s Main Street
was filled with flourishing , bustling business , such as the Louder General Store , whichwas runby the townsfolk paper ’s editor . Today , it ’s everything you ’d expect from an abandoned old ghost town — tumbleweed , cactuses , halt buildings , and an eery desert silence .
Silver Reef is site in Leeds , Utah , mightily off I-15 . It ’s 40 moment west of Zion , 30 minutes nor'-east of Red Cliffs , and — ironically for a ghost town — is adjacent to an upscale neighborhood with satellite mantrap and swim pools . Someone ’s got ta keep the Amaranthus albus in line , right ?
