Utah Ghost Towns: Lucky Strike Mine, San Rafael Swell

Looking for hidden gems in Utah? Here is one – the Lucky Strike Mine, an old abandoned mining ghost town, tucked deep within the San Rafael Swell in the most stunning setting!

The Lucky Strike Mine is located in the southern section of the San Rafael Swell in the Reds Canyon area, about 23 miles northwest of Temple Mountain and 25 miles south of I-70. The area is remote, the landscape rugged. You are best exploring it with a high-clearance 4WD. Many of the roads in the Swell are decent but some are rough, and the weather is moody at times and can turn the road surface into gumbo mud in no time. There is no cell signal here to call for help.

We stumbled upon the Lucky Strike Mine by accident while lost in the Swell’s road labyrinth, looking for another site. Gripped by the Swell’s allure we cruised along in the wrong direction after a series of wrong turns until the road suddenly dead-ended and spit us up at the mouth of the most picturesque ghost town we had ever seen. Whoa!

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The Lucky Strike Mine history

In the fall of 1949, four men from the nearby town of Ferron, Utah ventured deep into the Swell while prospecting for uranium – Frank Blackburn, Eldon Bryan, Ervin Olsen, and Thomas Worthen. They loaded 2 horses into their truck and drove as far as the roads would take them at the time, close to the area of Tan Seeps/Family Butte. From thereon they continued on foot, following a horse trail into Reds Canyon and south towards the Muddy River.

They found the coveted yellow ore, and on December 8, 1949 they staked three claims and named them Lucky Strike 1, 2, and 3. Word of the mouth has it they almost died from exhaustion before they made it back to the truck.

By the summer of 1950 they had built a road down to their claims and were extracting uranium ore. In fact, most of the roads in the Swell today are old mining roads constructed by the prospectors to their claims.

The Lucky Strike Mine, as described in 1950 by Owen McClenahan, another local prospector:

“They had a big open pit mine with a compressor and a wheelbarrow for machinery. A large truck was backed into a bank and they loaded the truck with the wheelbarrow. The ledge at that time was 30 feet high with two black bands 24 inch thick running parallel and equally spaced. The very top had a band of yellow uranium and a band of a rose-red cobalt bloom. In all my years of prospecting I never did see a prettier face of ore. They were able to ship it all. They had to break it up so that there was no rock over 5 or 6 inches. The men were over 60 years of age and they were all doing their own mining. I was interested in the efficiency with which they were going about their work. Two men were breaking the ore with sledge hammers, one was loading the truck, and the other was doing the drilling and loading the holes. Ervin Olsen’s son was trucking the ore to the mill.” (Geary 1996:332, source)

Between 1955-1965 a small community was created here that housed several miners.

To this day, several structures in a charming state of decay dot the landscape of the canyon floor as a token of the uranium rush era – a tar-paper shack on each side of the road, one additional cabin to the side, and a dusty old shed/storage room.

The cabins have unfortunately been heavily vandalized so they are pretty rough around the edges on the inside (see the footage further below), but there is a lot of rusted mining detritus strewn about that will keep you entertained for quite a while.

Down the hill from the lower cabin you’ll come across an old truck smashed against a big rock. Wonder what’s the story here?

Though vandalized, the Lucky Strike Mine’s character still shines through, and the horizon expands in all directions with a striking landscape to boot. Dark clouds just started rolling in as we approached the first structure, which made the views all the more dramatic.

Alas, the storm system that soon engulfed the skies above cut our visit short (maybe there is more to the Lucky Strike Mine?!), our way out fueled by adrenalin rush amidst rain, thunder, hail, snow, emerging flash flood, and the damn GUMBO I already warned you about. So much for a family trip, ha!

Tips for visiting:

• Have a good map ready. This isn’t the place to play chances. This is a good map.
• Check the forecast before you go and have measures in place in case you end up stranded (extra food, water, etc.)
• The roads in the Swell are a mix of graded gravel, loose rock and sand, and are best suitable for high-clearance 4WD vehicles.
• Don’t enter any mines unless you know what you’re doing – abandoned uranium mines pose radiation risks on top of general hazards. Most (if not all) of the old uranium mines over at Temple Mountain are sealed off; I’m not sure what’s the situation with the Lucky Strike Mine.
• There are no services, and no cell signal.
• The closest towns are Hanksville (51 miles) and Green River (56 miles).
• Dispersed camping is allowed in the Swell, or use one of the FREE BLM campgrounds (with toilets!) at Temple Mountain.

ELEVATION: approx. 5,800 feet

LOCATION: 38.755523, -110.948269 

DIRECTIONS to the Lucky Strike Mine will depend on whether you’re coming from I-70 (north) or Temple Mountain (east). (See a map here with directions marked.)

From Temple Mountain:

1. Start at the Temple Mountain Campground (the western of the two). Reset the trip meter, and follow the Temple Mountain Road westward, into the Swell (towards Tan Seep).
2. At 7 miles the road will merge with CR 1012 and becomes Temple Mountain Road/CR 1012. (Road signage in the Swell is spotty, though, and most roads are unmarked.)
3. At about 9 miles in, you’ll encounter a turnoff to the right (where Temple Mountain Road branches off), continue straight on CR 1012 to the NW.
4. Just before the 12th mile you will have reached Tan Seep. The road branches off to the right, shortly after crossing a wash. Keep to the left, heading SW for about 1 mile to the next fork in the road.
5. About a mile later past the Tan Seep intersection, at approximately 12.8 miles on your trip meter you’ll continue straight (while CR 1012 veers away to the SW). The road here becomes CR 1019/Red Canyon Loop.
6. 1 mile later (trip meter should read 13.8 miles) the road splits (with CR 1024 to the right), continue straight (westward) for 8.4 miles.
7. At approximately 22.2 miles on your trip meter there will be a turnoff to the right. Take it, and 0.9 miles later (should read around 23.1 miles on your trip meter) you will have reached the Lucky Strike Mine.

From I-70:

You aren’t limited to one route only if you come from the north taking I-70; the route we’ve tried is as follows (see the map linked above) – take the exit 131 off I-70 and head south/southwest on Temple Mountain Road. At just over 10 miles take the right fork at junction with CR 322 and continue for approx. 13.8 miles until you get to CR 1012 where you make a right and then follow the directions above from point 4 onwards, ignoring the trip meter mileposts. (If you take the left fork instead, no worries, you’ll still reach the right road, turn right and follow the directions above starting at point 3.)

You may also like:

• Temple Mountain Mining Ruins
• Temple Mountain Wash Pictographs
• Temple Mountain Campground (FREE!)
• Swasey Cabin
• Lone Warrior Pictograph
• Head of Sinbad (Locomotive Point) Pictographs
• Little Wild Horse Canyon

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