Travel-Curious

Travel Curious

For independent travelers who want to dig deeper

Swasey Cabin

Visit Joseph Swasey’s 1921 cabin. The Swasey brothers, Joe, Sid, Rod, and Charley were some of the earliest pioneers of the San Rafael Swell and many local landmarks bear their names.

Swasey Cabin with the broken cross formation in the background
 
The cabin was built in 1921 by Joseph Swasey, from Douglas fir trees he harvested and hauled from nearby Eagle Canyon, he was 60 years old at the time.
 
The Swasey brothers, Joe, Sid, Rod, and Charley were some of the earliest pioneers of the San Rafael Swell and many local landmarks bear their names – there is Sid’s Mountain, Rod’s Valley, the rock formation Joe, and His Dog, and the Sid and Charley hoodoos. and most famous for its story, Sid’s Leap. They settled here and became ranchers. The small cabin was used when they were running their livestock operations in the area which involved raising cattle and horses.
 
Sid’s Leap got its name back in the late 1880s Sid’s brother Charlie bet him some cattle that Sid couldn’t jump his horse over a narrow section of the San Rafael River Canyon. Sid took the bet, made the leap and won the cattle fair and square by jumping the 12-foot gap over a 55-foot fall to the canyon bottom. It is said he took the long way back to meet his astonished brother Charlie waiting at the rim.
 
 
Getting there
  • Reaching the panel is on good dirt roads, with the last 0.4 miles being sandy and rougher.
  • From I-70 take Exit 131 which is marked with signs for the Temple Mountain and Sinbad Roads.
  • From the interstate follow the Temple Mountain Road which will double you back parallel to I70 for about 3.9 miles and turn right on the Sinbad Road Rte 3228 ( 38.843685, -110.705305 ) where the signs are also pointing the way to Swasey’s Cabin.
  • Continue following the Sinbad Road for about 1 mile and turn right onto Swasey Cabin Road at ( 38.836795, -110.722405 )
  • Keep going on what is the main road for about 6 miles to an intersection at ( 38.839403, -110.795146 ), turn right and follow the dirt road 0.7 miles back to the parking area 
 
Note

culvert

 
Parking ( 38.836186, -110.806834 )
A small dirt lot.
 
Route
From the parking area head south about 500 feet to the cabin, it is to the left of the “broken cross” rock formation
 
 

The path up to Swasey Cabin

Old photograph of Swasey Cabin with the broken cross formation in the background
 
Imagine spending time in these tiny four walls, getting a respite from the heat of the summer and the cold of the winter. The cabin had some bunk beds a wood stove and a table and chairs back then but is empty today.

The inside of Swasey Cabin

 

Detail of the log construction

 
Joe’s Office and the Icebox
From the parking lot walk or drive less than a quarter-mile down the Eagle Canyon road to another fenced pull-off parking area in front of a giant rock formation. The left side of this large rock holds “Joe’s Office”, a large cave-like hole where the Swasey’s kept gear. Following the unmarked trail further from the office for 2 minutes takes you to an area against the cliff base where a spring feeds a water trough and there was another hole in the cliff face where they kept food called the Ice Box.

Joe's Office and the Icebox

Old photograph of Joe's Office and the Icebox

The Icebox

 

Explore Nearby...

Hikes...

Rochester Rock Art Panel

A short hike leads to a boulder on an overlook with hundreds of petroglyphs chipped into the desert varnish from the Fremont Culture dating back to at least 1300 AD

Horseshoe Canyon – Hike

Once known as barrier canyon, it contains rock art that gave name to the barrier canyon style of artwork, contained in four galleries including the Great Ghost.

Goblin Valley State Park Utah

Goblin Valley State Park

The park contains thousands of mushroom-shaped (goblins). You can walk amongst the hoo-doos, there are hiking trails and a cave on the back side of the valley called the Goblin’s Lair

Scenic Drives...

Nine Mile Canyon Utah

Nine Mile Canyon – Scenic Drive

A forty-mile long canyon drive with the highest concentration of rock art in the world, with an estimated 10,000 individual artworks from Archaic, Fremont, and Ute Indians

Buckhorn Wash Green River Utah

Buckhorn Wash

Rock art on 100 foot panels. See pictographs painted by the Barrier Canyon culture 2000 years ago and petroglyphs pecked into the rock by Fremont Indians 1000 years ago.

Wedge Overlook

Called “Utah’s Little Grand Canyon”. There are multiple overlooks 1000 feet above the San Rafael River and canyons below you, each one gives you a different vista.

Everything Else...

Crystal Geyser Green River Utah

Crystal Geyser

Crystal Geyser is a CO2 geyser created accidentally in 1935 by an oil drilling rig.

Temple Mountain Pictograph

Significant because it contains some of the largest prehistoric painted figures in Utah. The largest image in its current condition is about 6 feet tall.

Lone Warrior Panel Green River Utah

Lone Warrior panel

The Lone Warrior is the main feature, but there are some petroglyphs, some signatures with dates and some sharpening grooves carved into the base of the cliff to see also.

Head of Sinbad / Locomotive Point

On the south side of a locomotive-shaped rock formation, are amazing Barrier Canyon Style pictographs so pristine they look like they were painted yesterday

Dutchman Arch

Visit a small but picturesque arch you can walk inside of or climb right on top of

Swasey Cabin Green River Utah

Swasey Cabin

Visit Joseph Swasey’s 1921 cabin. The Swasey brothers, Joe, Sid, Rod, and Charley were some of the earliest pioneers of the San Rafael Swell and many local landmarks bear their names.

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