ATV Adventures: Burnt woods and ghost towns on the State Line Trail
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- Passing through the almost ghost town Modena.
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- Riding through the burned-out woods on the Stateline Trail.
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- Stopping at Stateline, the third ghost town we visited on our ride.
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- Lynn Blamires
The State Line Trail was one of the trails offered at the First Annual Color Country Jamboree in Cedar City. Being a new jamboree, I wasn’t familiar with all the trails offered, so I just closed my eyes and pointed at one.
I was not disappointed. Every trail I have ever taken has offered some kind of adventure, and this was no exception.
Our ride started in the ghost town of Modena, which is west of Parowan on state Route 56. Modena is a ghost town with lots of old, vacant buildings. Ghost towns I have visited have foundations where buildings once stood.
Technically, it isn’t a ghost town because a few people still live there. Trains still pass through town regularly and it has a post office, but it feels like a ghost town because of all the vacant buildings.
Modena was established in 1899 as a railroad town. In 1905, it was a route for auto traffic between Salt Lake City and Southern California. At one point, it was an important shipping and supply center. It was also a water stop for steam engines. When the change from steam to diesel happened, it proved to be the demise of Modena.
We exited Modena and headed west on Center Street. Following Route 56, we turned northwest onto Gold Springs Road.
Another turn onto Hackett Road brought us across the Nevada border. We soon stopped for a break by an old windmill that used to pump water for cattle. The mill was turning fast, but it was not pumping water. We watched it spin while the disconnected bar moved up and down.
Moving on, we came to the ghost town of Fay, Nevada. This mining town started the same year that Modena began. In 1901, it had four saloons, several stores, a post office and regular stage service. It had one of the first ball mills that serviced mines in the area. Fay is worth seeing because it still has several buildings that are still standing.
We rode through large sections of burned-out woods on this trail caused by wildfires in 2020. This added intrigue to the adventure as we rode through forests of these blackened sentinels.
The runoff this year had washed out large sections of the trail. Our challenge was to work through these washouts — just the kind of adventure for which UTVs are made.
The third ghost town on this trail was Stateline, Utah. Stateline was also a mining town with an interesting history. According to https://forgottennevada.org, “Stateline grew quickly from a small tent camp to a full-fledged mining town. … By 1903, Stateline had grown to a solid mining town of 300, with two or three general stores, a fine hotel, two saloons, a blacksmith shop, shoemaker, restaurant, a daily stage to Modena on the railroad sixteen miles away, and its newspaper, the Stateline Oracle.”
The site also states: “A masquerade ball was the community’s way of celebrating Thanksgiving in 1903 since, as the editor lamented, they had no place of worship where they could give thanks more appropriately. Even in this far corner of the county, live music was played. The ball was not limited to residents, as a great many attended from Fay, Nevada. …
“The canyon was also used by cattle rustlers and other outlaws. They found it a convenient route to move their stolen Mormon cattle from Utah to Nevada, where officials turned a blind eye to stray Mormon cattle brought in to feed the hungry miners of the Nevada mines. One such outlaw was Nate Hansen, who was shot within a few hundred yards of the state line by an angry Mormon posse determined to get their cattle back before they could be sold.”
Like most mining towns, Stateline was a flash in the pan. In 1918, there were only 18 people left in town to carry on mining in some of the lesser claims. In 1984, the EPA closed the last small milling operation for improper environmental procedures. Stateline gained ghost-townhood.
These stories are what I love about riding in the backcountry. Being in the places that made history is so interesting to me.
We came back to Modena, finishing a ride of about 56 miles. The best time to visit this area is in the spring or fall. Our temperatures were in the 70s. When you go, take plenty of water, keep the rubber side down and enjoy visiting these interesting ghost towns.
Contact Lynn R. Blamires at quadmanone@gmail.com.