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Smithsonian Butte Backway - Pictures

Zion National Park on one side of this 9 mile long backway and the oddities of the polygamist towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona on the other make for an interesting area to explore. John Wesley Powell and Clarence Dutton explored the area in the 1800s and it was named by Powell.   Views along the path include Smithsonian Butte, Canaan Mountain and of course Zion in the distance.

To Get to the Smithsonian Butte Backway
The road can be entered from Rockville (near Zion) or from SR-59 at Big Plain Jct., near the areas polygamist communities.  From Zion, exit the park through the south entrance; drive through Springdale and into Rockville and look for the road sign.  Allow 45 minutes to travel the dirt road.  Area Map

This backway is drivable by a 2WD, but it’s impassible when wet.

To Get to Grafton Ghost Town - From Zion, exit using the south entrance to the park.  Drive through Springdale and into Rockville, locating Old Bridge Road on the northeast end of town.  Look for the small brown Grafton sign.  Follow the road a couple of miles until you come to the ghost town. Pictures

Located near the byway is the Ghost town of Grafton. Probably due to its proximity to Zion National Park, this small ghost town is one of the most photographed in the West. The ghost town of Wheeler was first settled in 1859 as a cotton growing project, just below Grafton.  The town people moved to higher ground due to flooding of the lower area.  In 1866 due to Indian influence the 28 or so families that were living in Grafton was completely abandoned it for two years.  Three families remained into the 1920’s.  In more recent times scenes from many movies where shot there, the most famous is probably 1968 movie: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance. Kid.  For a very short time Grafton, instead of Kanab, was the county seat of Kane County.  Today Grafton lies in Washington County.

Directions to Zion National Park From the North: Travel I-15 south, past Beaver. Exit on Hwy 20. Follow US-89 to Mount Carmel Junction. Take SR-9 to Zion's east entrance. From Arizona: Travel US-89A through Fredonia, Arizona and Kanab Utah. Follow US-89 to Mount Carmel Junction. Take SR-9 to the east park entrance. From the South: Travel I-15 north. Take exit 16 and travel through Hurricane to LaVerkin. Continue on SR-9 to the south entrance of the park. SR-9 through Zion National Park is always open and is also called the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway.			Photo: This church is one of the buildings you can see at Grafton Ghost town just out of Rockville, not far from the south entrance to Zion National Park and fun to visit before or after driving the Smithsonian Butte Backway.
	Zion National Park Lodging Lodging and services are available in East Zion. The main road through Zion, the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway (SR-9) is open year-round, and is not a route the Zion Canyon Shuttle takes. Zion Canyon is deep inside the park. Towering 3000' walls form a slot canyon, forged by the violent rush of torrent water over millions of years. From late March to late October access through the six mile stretch of road is via the Zion Canyon Shuttle, the rest of the year the canyon is accessed in private vehicles.

History of the Thunderbird