Cove Fort Historic Site

The site for Cove Fort was chosen by Brigham Young, the president of the LDS church and the territorial governor of Utah, as a waystation for travelers along the wagon road connecting Salt Lake City and southern California. Ira Hinkley, along with his family and local workmen, built the fort using volcanic rock quarried from the nearby mountains. It was designed to protect against Native American raids although that was never necessary as the Hinkleys and and local Ute and Navajo maintained a good relationship. 

The fort was run by Ira Hinkley and his family and later by Ira's brother, Arza, and his family from 1867 to the early 1890s. Two stage coaches and Pony Express riders stopped at the fort every day. At times there were 75 people requiring housing and food which was provided by the Hinkleys with all of the children pitching in to share the chores.   

The twelve rooms of the fort open into a center courtyard and include a telegraph office; a large kitchen and dining room; a laundry room; guestrooms; and the Hinkley's living quarters. All of these are open to tour and are furnished with period pieces. A barn, blacksmith's shop, ice house, and a bunkhouse are located on the grounds outside the fort. The log house where the Hinkelys lived before moving to the fort was dismantled, moved 200 miles from Coalville, Utah, and reconstructed across the street from the fort. Stop there first to see a short video of the history of the family and the fort. 

     

The fort is fairly accessible. A short step at the log house is bridged by a ramp on request. All of the rooms at the fort have slightly high thresholds that are easily rolled over. The sandy soil is soft and loose which isn't a problem in the interior of the fort because the stone walkways are in good condition however the exterior grounds do not have walkways and it's very difficult to roll along to see the outbuildings

      

The parking lot is located across the street from the fort and is large enough for any vehicle. Follow the sidewalk to the log house and the fort. The  Fort  38.60161, -112.58046

 

Lions Club Campground

 Milford, Utah is quiet, rural, agricultural community but it does have a free campground which is just a large gravel lot with shade trees and two water faucets. The community park/rodeo grounds, one block south, has a free dump station. Campground  38.40323, -113.01432 

Frisco Ghost Town & Cemetery

There's little left of Frisco so the site would be more aptly named a ghost mine. Silver was discovered in 1875 and by 1877 two smelters had been constructed to process the ore. Frisco grew rapidly to over 6000 people when a rail line was built in1880 to connect it to Murray, Utah where ore was sent for processing. The rail line also brought supplies to Frisco which was so isolated that all necessities even water had to be brought in from outside. Old ties can still be found along the road.

The five charcoal kilns are the most intact feature on the site. There are also ruins of buildings, cellar pits, a cemetery, and old machinery that was too large to cart away. The Horn Silver Mine, located about 1.5 miles from the kilns, was the most profitable of the numerous mines in the area and had sixteen levels and a 1,600 feet main shaft. In 1885, after the night shift had returned to the surface, the foreman noticed tremors and kept the day shift men from going down into the mine. A massive cave in closed the mine for almost a year. Even though it kept producing until the 1940s the mine and town never completely recovered. The town was mostly deserted by the late 1920s. Over its lifetime the mine produced 17 million ounces of silver, 25 thousand ounces of gold, 9 million pounds of copper, 196 thousand tons of lead, and 23 thousand tons of zinc. 

Due to the terrain and condition of the roads the kilns and ruins are not accessible to people with limited mobility but can be seen by driving a short distance on old Ely Highway. The road to the cemetery has a washed out area and can not be accessed by a vehicle without four wheel drive. 

 

We managed to push up the roads and get to the kilns and cemetery so even though it's tough it's doable with a strong helper and by going slow and resting a lot.. There's a fence around the kilns but we found an unlocked gate at the south side that gave us access. Do not go into the kilns as they are dangerous due to falling rocks. 

Most of the graves at the cemetery are young children - very sad.

 

We camped by a pull out near the largest stone ruin. This was a far as we felt we could safely drive. Four wheel drive trucks and ATVs can go farther but there are huge rough spots. The Frisco town site and Horn Silver Mine are privately owned. It's okay to explore the kiln area and the cemetery but the Horn Silver Mine is too dangerous with open mine shafts and poisonous gases. I zoomed in to get the photo of the tipple.

 

The road to our camp spot and the road to the washed out area before the cemetery are accessible by any vehicle.  Frisco  38.45984, -113.25907

Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge Trails

We camped at the wildlife refuge in 2016 and really liked the campsites that are on the shoreline of  Upper Pahranagat Lake. But other people like it too and, since it's first come/first serve, it's always a gamble on whether a site will be open. If there aren't any sites open there's a large lot across the street from the entrance that people use as an overflow area.

The one accessible site was occupied but we were lucky and could stay in Site 10 since we fit even though the site has a 21' max length. There are three sites on this short road the loops off of the main park road. It's too narrow and tight for RVs longer than 25" so it doesn't get a lot of traffic. Site 11 is always the last site taken because the parking pad is very short and there's a steep hill up to the picnic table. Good in a pinch if you have a short vehicle.

Two trails that we didn't try on our last visit are now designated as accessible and most of the other trails are rated easy so we wanted to try some of them. 

 Pahranagat Loop and Cabin Trail

 Both of these trails are accessed from the visitor center. The Pahranagat is a .4 mile loop. The Cabin Trail is .8 miles out and back. There's an option to make it a loop by following a gravel road but we backtracked because the path was in better condition. Both trails are packed sand or gravel and travel along roads or paths. The Cabin Loop has several spots with loose sand. Wheelchair users may need assistance. The two cabins, one wood and one stone, are not opened to tour. Bats spend the day in the stone cabin and a volunteer said it's a good place to watch them leave at dusk.

Black Canyon Loop

The loop is 1.25 miles long and goes past many petroglyphs. They're a little hard to spot and not as varied as ones we've seen at other sites. Binoculars are helpful to see them better. Dots in a grid are the most common. There are also a standing figures known as Pahranagat man and and bighorn sheep. This trail is designated as accessible but it has loose sand in spots and a steep hill. Wheelchair users may need assistance. A large gravel parking lot is large enough for any vehicle. A smaller lot has paved accessible spaces.

Upper Lake Trail

This 3 mile trail circles Upper Pahranagat Lake making use of the campground road on the east side and a service road on the west side. The campground road is hard packed gravel and dirt and very easy to roll along. The service road is gravel and dirt with some loose spots and a long steep hill. Wheelchair users may need assistance on this section.

Four more trails are designated as easy so we'll have more to see and do when we visit again! 

Camping is free with a fourteen day limit. There's kiosk at the beginning of the camp area with a log book to sign in with your name and number of days you're planning to stay. When making rounds, the camp host stops at the campsites and takes additional information. It worth making a trip though the camp area even if there's a sign indicating that it's full because people leave in the morning before rounds. If you leave for the day and are planning to return mark your space as occupied. There are parking lots at the start and end of the camping area for day use. Refuge  37.2872, -115.11871