Price, UT to Delta, UT
162 miles
West of Price, I’m thrust right into the Western end of the Bookcliffs; sandstone weathered into blocks and folds, like Mother Nature’s Mount Rushmore. It’s imposing and more magnificent than I expected it to be. Though the stone looks so loose as to tumble or slide down to the road any minute.
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| Storefront; Helper, UT |
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| Helper, Utah |
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| Post Office Mural; Helper, UT |
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| Old Vacant Movie Theater; Helper, UT |
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| Downtown Helper, UT |
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| Mining Drill Bits Western Mining And Railroad Museum Helper, UT |
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| Photo of Child Miner Western Mining And Railroad Museum Helper, UT |
Helper, UT is a few miles up the road. Named for the strong engines that would “help” the larger trains up the mountain to Soldier’s Summit, it was all but a ghost town a few years ago. But Union Pacific still has a presence here, and there are a couple of window-only art galleries trying, trying, like the Little Helper Engine That Could, to try to make a go of it in this sandy mountain desert town. To emphasize how behind the times renovation is here, the Strand movie theater still has a “Now Showing” poster for “Anna and the King of Siam.” There’s a nice WPA mural in the soon-to-be-closed Post Office, done, I was told, by one of two sisters from Rifle, CO (a Route 6 town) who typically painted these murals all over this area together. When one died, this was the first solo painting done by the surviving sibling. There’s lots of history here, mostly mining and train – and you can get a good taste of it by stopping into the chock-a-block Western Mining and Railroad Museum, located in the former 1914 Helper Hotel. Though displays are haphazard at best, there are three reasons to visit; one – it’s cool to wander around four floors of an old mining town hotel, peeking into different rooms each with its own (mostly local interest) themes, like the Kiwanis Club, yet other pretend shops and offices, and lots of old mining equipment. Two – there’s a fascinating display of old photographs of kids, some who don’t look more than 5 years old, donning miner’s. One in particular still looks like a toddler, and he’s smoking a pipe. Obviously, this was prior to Child Labor Laws, but I couldn’t help thinking how fast children grew up back then and in these conditions. The third reason to come to this quirky museum is for the awesome, new bathrooms! All road-travelers place a good deal of emphasis on potty-breaks, and this place has one of the best I’ve seen. Helper has one nice-looking restaurant – the Balance Rock Eatery. I was there too early in the day for lunch, but I heard it’s good and seems to be the only game in town.
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| Tie Fork Rest Area West of Soldier's Summit, UT |
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| Tie Fork Rest Area West of Soldier's Summit, UT |
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| Tie Fork Rest Area West of Soldier's Summit, UT |
West on Route 6 out of Helper, the road constricts into a narrow canyon cut. Traffic slowed (thank goodness) due to roadwork and one-lane stops, and there was a lot of it. It’s 58 miles to Spanish Fork – and I15 merge from here – and there was lots of truck and recreational traffic. It’s really a grand drive on this portion of Route 6. I had been so worried about the “Deadliest Road in America” label that I never even considered that it would be so stunning; up and up to Soldier’s Summit, there’s a gas station, snow-capped mountains before me, and a sign that pegs the former train town at 7,477 ft. elevation. On the way down the hill, there’s a great new rest stop; Tie Fork Rest Area that’s a bit of a train Round House museum (I heard a Dad explain the roundhouse to his 4 year old son in “Thomas” terms) , a bit of a Visitor’s Center, a bit of a picnic area and again, great toilets. Lovely amenities on Route 6 in seemingly the middle of nowhere.
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| In Elberta, Utah |
Rolling down into a vast valley, all of a sudden….it’s Switzerland! Verdant hills surrounded me, a bit of a shock after all that sandstone and brown, brown, brown. I was approaching Spanish Fork – a “bedroom community” of Provo. And sure enough, here came the fast food joints, shopping centers, roads going hither and yon. I looked for and found a closed Daughters of Utah Museum– only open on Mondays, so I continued on Route 6 and found myself merged onto Interstate 15. There’s no Route 6 sign indicating that you must veer South on 15, but you must. I drove quickly through Payton and then peeled off the thruway in Santaquin – Exit 244. Ahhh. Two lanes and quiet driving again – and thanks again, Utah – the Route 6W exit sign is clearly marked.
There were bunches of bicycle riders as I made my way West. From here, it was 72 miles to my next overnight stop: Delta. I drove through the farming town of Goshen (yep, back to farms and back to a bit of green), the half-blink ghost town of Elberta where I snapped a picture of an old Sinclair Station, then up again into the hills where the air and traffic thinned considerably.
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| Tintic Mining Museum Eureka, UT |
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| Lyman Davis Tintic Mining Museum Eureka, UT |
While driving through the nearly abandoned downtown of Eureka, I spied an “open” sign on the Tintic Mining Museum door. So I stopped and went in, and met Lyman Davis who was born and raised here, lived in California for 30 years, then “came home.” He was a font of information about the mining done in this area. “Eureka, I found it!” did not refer to coal, of course. There was lots of gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc taken from the ground here; over $600 million dollars worth. No longer. There are plenty of shells of mines and mills in these hills; “someone would always be coming up with a better process,” Lyman said. The museum contains some amazing photographs of miners and thigh-wide veins of gold in the richest rock along with an incredible sculpture of a miner that looks out of place here. I bid farewell to Lyman and he told me to “drive careful….the rest of ‘em don’t.”
I passed Wide Load trucks carrying Army tanks, and shared the road with one lone tanker truck for awhile. I passed a sign for “Little Sahara Sand Dunes” – which gives you an idea of the landscape here. I could see and feel my skin drying up. If you’re so inclined, you can ATV there or just hike the dunes. I pressed on.
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| Red Rock Cheese Shop Delta, UT |
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| Anita Nilson, Owner Red Rock Cheese Shop Delta, UT |
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| Red Rock Cheese Shop Delta, UT |
On the outskirts of Delta, I passed a nicely groomed golf course (a Country Club!), and then the most improbably situated cheese shop in the country. Or at least on US Route 6! A cheese shop? In this hot, punishing part of the country? Yep. The Red Rock Cheese Shop, owned by Anita Nilson, also makes cheese. You can watch the process from an observation window and sample the dairy goodies, too. Red Rock turns out both Goat and Cow cheeses, and something called “curds” which is apparently big in the Midwest. Curds are the biggest sellers in the store (she gets lots of travelers on this road), though she ships more Fetta than anything else. Anita told me that though she’s the only cheese-maker in Delta, there are other dairies and cheese makers in the area. Very cool.
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| Camp Topaz Baracks Great Basin Historical Society and Museum Delta, UT |
The Days Inn, Delta, UT is pretty much the only game in town for a decent night’s stay. Rooms are dated and Spartan, but the hotel offers complimentary breakfast and maintains a beautifully landscaped outdoor pool and picnic area. I just had to take a dip on a glorious hot evening, right after walking over to the Mi Ranchirito Mexican restaurant next door. I didn’t expect anything – just a basic TV dinner type meal – but was pleasantly surprised. My “marinated steak” strips were tasty, service was friendly, and the diner-type room cheerful. Not haute, but filling and well-prepared. A surprisingly nice evening in a place I thought was in the middle of rocks and sand.
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