Beaver Utah is a really nice little town in south-central Utah, almost exactly 200 miles south of Salt Lake City on I-15.  Established in 1856 by Mormon pioneers, it has less than 7,000 people in the city limits and the elevation is just a shade under 6,000ft.  There are some really fantastic camping, hunting and fishing in the mountains around Beaver, but most people go to the larger and heavily forested mountains to the East of town.  This trip is a trip to the west, about midway between Beaver and Milford.

Milford is an ugly, smelly town that for some reason still exists. It was established in the early 1880s by retards following a drunken goat through the ugliest deserts in Utah, and they made a town when the goat died.  True story.  Elevation just under 5,000ft and stuffed in the corner of a wasteland, Milford has approximately 1,500 people who don't care where they live.  A large part of the income in this part of the country is from very, very large pig farms which can be smelled on a good day from 50 miles away.  On a bad day I had a whiff of them from over 100 miles.  True story.




This excursion is halfway between these two towns at the Granite Peak Reservoir, elevation 7,500ft.




To get to this location, take the highway from Beaver toward Milford, but about 7miles from Beaver there is a turnoff called Pass Road, which will take you over this mountain pass as a 'short-cut' to Milford.  Stay to the left as the road divides a few times without any signs.


Here is the face of the mountain from the east side.  Rocks; Big rocks, bigger rocks, boulders and bedrock.  All low-quality granite and slippery as ball bearings when you try to climb down a face.




Getting closer, this is the view from the rocks up a little further.




When you get to the top of the pass there is a cattle guard with enough parking for a single car, maybe two if you try hard.  Start walking up the trail to the north and about 1/2 mile further you'll get up on top, look like this if you've got a 12 year old in front of you-




Keep an eye out on the west, suddenly you'll catch a glimpse of the reservoir, pictured here.




Getting down to the waters edge




From the shore looking out-




Ice looks pretty thick, but it's been in the 40s during the day down in the valley so I'm cautious about walking on it.  There are countless bubbles trapped in the ice trying to make their way to the surface.




OK, Tom, it's safe, come on out here with me!




The dam, built by miners about 100 years ago in the rock to trap some of the water so they could use it for their mining operations just down the mountain.








Hey Tom, stay there, I'll set up the timer on the camera and we'll get a pic of the two of us....




That sucked, lets try again.....




Ouch! Cracked a rib and hit my head hard enough that later that night I had some CSF leaking out of my nose.  It would have been worth it if the camera had at least gone off a second or two earlier and captured this tremendous slip on the ice, I'd pay good money to see a picture of my fall.

This is a picture from the west side of the crack in the rock that was cemented up to make the reservoir.




Now we drive into Milford and get to a gas station with some Ibuprophen.  I hurt.....

What kind of DSL are you talking about here?

CSF from the nose? Better rub some dirt in it.

You're not joking about Milford.

I dunno, but I think 56k is only used in Milford UT and a few terd-world countries, so it doesn't really seem to re relevant anymore.

I iced it immediately

I haven't forgotten about your test results, still haven't looked to see if your slab has hte AIDS.  Contractor get back with you yet?

He called me today, I'll shoot you an IM.

DSL = Dick Sucking Lips

Just FYI

Very interesting series of photos,  thanks for sharing OP.  

I used to head out that way to load up hay cubes back when I was a super trucker.

Yes, hay does come in little cubes, I didn't know until I went out there.  

Cool pics.

We do a lot of cubed hay here in Sanpete county too.  The seeds are much smaller than the 1-ton bales seeds!

I went to college in Cedar City... I love Utah...

Had a buddy who had relatives who lived in Beaver... Beautiful, beautiful area...

Yup, CC is a phenomenal area.  The Cedar Breaks area is breathtaking.

This is from Dixie National Forest, west of CC about 50 miles or so.

In a couple years, there will be hundreds of millions of dollars in solar projects within view of that peak.  Lots of open ground, no irrigation water, and a whole lotta sun.  

And with any luck, I'll make a fortune building transmission lines from them to the grid, hating that gov't subsidies are feeding my kids.

Beaver, where their claim to fame is their clean water.

I laughed, at your description, your fall, and the missed photos. Then I said, Dammit, I wish I was there too. Looks awesome. Now i want to go exploring around here.

I Love Beaver.

I've spent a couple nights in Beaver UT, always wondered what they called the girls basketball team.


Cool area, hope to spend some real time around that area.

Thanks for the pics.
My wife and I went to Utah to UTV on the Arapaho trails on Rte. 89 I think, it was fantastic. Then went to St George. Went to Coral pink sand dunes and eventually to Moab. We loved Utah.

Those are both awesome places!  I live 3 miles or so from some of the Arapaho trails and my wife was raised about ten miles from the Coral Pink Sand Dunes.

We really have a fantastic variety here, from alpine to desolation, and everything but jungle inbetween.

Thanks for sharing these.  I like how in the picture that was snapped right after you fell, your hat is about 10' away from you.

The first couple of pictures led me to believe Tom had an Afro.

LMAO.... My job takes me to Milford from time to time. I kinda like it.

Yeah but did you go the the great beaver sport and pawn shop?

If not you should have. looks like a nice outing.

That boy just ain't right.  

Where do you get something to eat?  Subway or The Golden Colonic Chinese food?  Even the grocery store has discounted out of date and green meat.

I guess from the Nevada side it doesn't look too bad, small mining towns out there are pretty sketchy.

ALWAYS!!!  

That's got to be one of the best gunshops I've ever been in.  Unbelievable for a town that size.

Nice pix!  I want to move to utah when i retire.

Damn I wouldn't be out on ice against a dam.

I was a little nervous about it, but if it's been there 100 years it's not likely to go crashing when my fat ass walks out there!

Drove through there last summer.

In order to have actual proof you have been to Beaver, you are obligated to buy a shirt and/or a bumper sticker which reads "I love(heart) Beaver"

It's somewhere in my closet.

thx OP.  i moved to utah recently, and have been looking for some things/places to explore.  this is on my list now.

I have one... But it's from Beaver Ski Resort.



 

There is a little taco joint up by the high school, I think its called Dons Tacos or something like that. They are actually really good, authentic mexican, I love the burrito and he makes a killer home made hot sauce. It's right down the street from the oak tree hotel and penny's diner. Looks like I will be heading up that way today as a matter of fact, should roll in to town around 1 or 2 in the morning.



ETA: I dare you to order a steak with mashed potatoes and gravy from the chinese joint. What is up with the color of that gravy? The egg rolls there are pretty good, they are about the size of a burrito. There is also a little pizza place across from Wells Fargo that is decent.





 

Milford sounds nice.

I'd rather live there than eastern Massachusetts or New York or New Jersey or Santa Monica CA or.....

But there are a few places I'd rather live than Milford.  Just a few

If that's the one right off the exit and right next door to a Wendy's, I've stopped there too.

After seeing 5 billboards on the way in about how Beaver's water is the best water ever, I rolled up to the Wendy's drivethrough and asked for a cup of water.

Next time try the Crazy Cow Cafe off the north exit and have the barnyard burger with a glass of water.  Good beef with egg and bacon on the burger.  Tater tots and fry sauce is the only appropriate side.

I love Utah.  I have family that will be driving to Idaho from Georgia this summer and they've asked where are nice places to visit along the way.  I've suggested Southeast Utah, which I believe is some of the most beautiful country in our Nation, but all of Utah is beautiful.  ...and I'm not saying this with "Stay out of Idaho" sarcasm.

Nice pics OP

SHUT UP ABOUT THE GREATNESS OF UTAH !!!!!
or you are going to have a bunch of commies and nitwits moving there messing up the state.

I hate seeing the "visit Utah" commercials on tv telling people about how great Utah is, they are letting out the best kept secret in the American west.

I have family and friends that have retired out to Cedar City, Utah. Ive done some shooting at the local range and fishing at the city pond, and it isn't ruined by thousands of a-holes like in the big city.

Im thinking about semi-retiring to Utah in 10 years maybe.


So keep telling people HOW TERRIBLE UTAH IS -- DONT GO THERE -- ITS FULL OF MORMONS THAT WILL CONVERT YOU AT THE POINT OF PITCHFORKS OR BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN -- STAY AWAY FROM UTAH !!!!!!

Nice pics. I really enjoy the area west of Fillmore-Beaver

Why post this?  You want more people up there so it can be ruined don't you?

What you described is a slow Missouri weekend.

At least the goat fucking anyway. I haven't started any towns yet.

There is a town of less than 100 with my exact last name though.


Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Nice pictures. We've had a couple of people fall through the ice in the last couple of days. I'm glad you weren't one of them (despite a solid effort from the sounds of it).

I went out past the Frisco mountains and toured the Wah-Wah valley a few months ago.  Not much out there, even the coyote hunting was slow.

It's pretty amazing the variety you cN get within 100 miles of Beaver.  Puffer lake is georgeous alpine timber and right across the freeway is a huge expanse of desert.  I like it out there.

Dude, he's from Nevada....