This place has blown our minds. Look at this. In this episode, we're exploring Buckhorn Wash, Utah.
We see impressive pictographs and petroglyphs and towering cliffs reminiscent of Zion National Park.
We stop at the visitor center where the Spanish Trail passes by
and then boondock at beautiful Utah Lake on our way out of the state.
The last time you saw us, we were boondocking at The Wedge and marveling at the Little Grand
Canyon of the San Rafael Swell. Buckhorn Wash is just a short drive from there.
The land appears flat and unassuming until you make the turn and head in.
The MK Tunnels are a series of subterranean tunnels in the sandstone contracted by the
DOD in 1948. Tunnels over there. Tests were performed using surface-placed explosives.
The tunnels are gated though and not accessible to the public.
Heading into the wash, the sandstone walls get taller and taller to more than 1500 feet high.
We have driven into the Buckhorn Wash which is only about 15 minutes from where we're camped.
We came here to go see some cool pictographs and uh, Ruin Arch I believe is down here we're gonna
go check out. Did not know what to expect. I knew that there were some campsites here that might
have been a possibility if ours hadn't worked out. This place has blown our minds. Look at this.
This place is really incredible. I mean everywhere I look there are big walls, beautiful colors.
I mean, in a way it's like a little Zion or something.
So we just parked for the Pictograph Panel. And we saw it from the road. And
the pictographs are so huge. So we want to go check them out right now.
This site is so cool. There's both petroglyphs and
pictographs here. The rock face itself is impressive.
To have all this stuff right here is just super impressive.
So far Buckhorn Wash, I mean, what an unassuming name, this place has been spectacular. And
never knew this was here. We actually saw some campers uh some some tenters, a van,
and an RV, as we drove through here. And I'm, I'm thinking maybe next time
we should stay somewhere in here. It's even better than where we're
at. And that that's pretty great. Just... There is no cell service though. Exactly.
Wow. Mind blown.
I don't even know which direction to look. Everything's good.
So there's actually two campgrounds down here at the bottom of Buckhorn Gulch called Swinging
Bridge North and Swinging Bridge South. They're both BLM campgrounds, and they're six bucks a
night. I like our spot better. I wouldn't be opposed to staying here though. It's beautiful. It
is beautiful. It is. Maybe not as much solitude, but definitely good options to check out.
The San Rafael Bridge is the only suspension bridge remaining in Utah. The deck and side boards
are suspended from two large cables spanning the river. As heavy loads crossed the deck,
it would shift and roll hence the name swinging bridge. The bridge is listed on
the National Register of Historic Places and was constructed by the CCC between 1935 and 1937.
Somehow we managed to miss the arch. I'm not sure where it is exactly.
I ran out of cell service down here so I can't look it up, but I'm still not disappointed.
We got down to the bottom here and we're gonna go check out this bridge.
This is the Buckhorn Wash Visitor Center. Um, it's kind of in the middle of nowhere,
but it's perfectly located for all of the adventures to be had in this area. And it's
definitely worth a stop because every side of this little building has a bunch of panels.
And they talk about all the stuff to do in the Swell, in this whole region of Utah. I mean it
includes some of the national parks there as well but all sorts of other things: river activities,
mountain biking, climbing, pictographs, museums, dinosaur bones.
I mean, so we knew it before but now we know we definitely need to come back. So we've seen
some billboards about the Swell as we've been driving through Utah, and we weren't really sure
what that was. But I've since discovered it's you know this entire region of Utah. And it's just
full of amazing things to do I think. So we were at the Wedge Overlook and we saw the Pictograph
Panel and the swinging bridge. There are more pictographs over here. I think this might be
a slot canyon I had looked up that sounded really neat but too far away for this trip.
Maybe in the future. And then Huntington State Park, that's where we were the other day, and
we're actually going back there just to have full hookups for a few days after boondocking. I also
just noticed Goblin Valley State Park, and that is on our list of things to see and do. It has
a bunch of rock formations, like hoodoo rock formations. That's part of our our bucket list
that I think keeps getting longer. Every time we see something and go to an area I
add like 10 things to it and we do one or two. So we need to be on the road for a lot longer.
Anyways, tons of stuff. We're gonna have to come back. And if you're ever in the area, you will not
be bored. So we should have stopped here on our way by, on the way in. But I mean we were only
here for a few days, so we did everything we could fit in I think. Yeah. But there's so much more.
The Spanish Trail, a National Historic Trail, passes by here as well.
It was a trade route between LA and Santa Fe.
It's widely known as the longest, most arduous, and crookedest pack mule route in America.
On our way out of Utah, we boondock at beautiful Utah Lake near Salt Lake City.
It's the third largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi
at 150 square miles. It has tons of spots to park both on the shore and hillside above.
Thank you for joining us. stay tuned as we head to the Bonneville Salt Flats
and then to Lamoille Canyon, Nevada's Yosemite.
Make sure to subscribe, and hit the notification bell, so that you're notified the next time
we release a travel video. See you soon. So to have all this... what would you call it?
Kind of bumpy! So there's actually two campgrounds down here at the bottom of
Buckhorn Draw. It's called uh Swimming Bridge North and Swimming Bridge South.
Swinging. Swinging? Let me try that again.