Keep right at a prominent junction toward Grafton. A left turn goes up scenic Smithsonian Butte Backcountry Byway. These include three early settlers killed in a raid by Indians in as well as the graves of Paiutes. Grafton, like most old places, boasts its share of eerie happenings. The renowned Grafton ghost town is probably not a place to linger after sundown. Grafton, with its crumbling cabins and old buildings, seems like the perfect spot for a movie set, a fact not lost on Hollywood.
Parts of several movies were filmed here , notably the classic flick "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The kid-friendly Grafton ghost town is easily explored. The town was never large, but it flourished into the early 's. A canal was built in that moved most of Grafton's irrigation water to Hurricane. Many residents left Grafton soon afterward. Lack of land and irrigation water pushed Grafton's youth to more prosperous places and prevented new families from moving in.
The population dwindled in the early 's, and Grafton was abandoned by The land is still privately owned. Grafton has been used as a movie set. Grafton's school house and the house next to it are easy to spot. Grafton has a standing school house with a half-dozen houses nearby. These buildings looked better than the last time I visited, about 15 years earlier. The Grafton Heritage Partnership Project has improved the structures and put up a couple of interpretive signs for visitors.
My kids liked the sturdy swing that had been installed across from the school house. We were able to wander through some of the houses, but not others.
The school house was locked, but a platform and stairs have been built to make it easy to look inside through the window. A small cemetery is located a short distance from the town. Look for it on your way in. All 8 photos. Save Review Directions Add Photo. Download the Outbound mobile app Find adventures and camping on the go, share photos, use GPX tracks, and download maps for offline use. Get the app. Features Chillin.
Family Friendly. Camp on Wire Mesa Wire Mesa off the Smithsonian Butte Backcountry Byway is a fantastic place to camp in southeastern Utah even if you do not plan on visiting Zion, just a few miles to the north. There several backcountry campsites on the Mesa, with the northwestern-most site giving the best views overlooking the Virgin River Valley and the Grafton Ghost Town. To get there, take the Byway south off of Grafton Roa To get there take Utah Highway 9 and a left if you're coming from the east or a right if you're coming fro The ride starts at the end of Dalton Wash Rd just off of Route 9.
However, when the Hurricane Canal was built in that delivered the river waters to a wide bench 20 miles downstream, many Grafton families packed up and moved to Hurricane. More families left when Grafton was hit by another devastating flood in The last classes were taught in the school building during the school year, at which time the enrollment had dwindled to nine students. The following year students were transferred to the school at Rockville.
The last residents of Grafton, Frank Russell, and his wife, Ellen, moved away in Electricity, plumbing, and other modern utilities were never introduced into Grafton homes. Today, this historic community is preserved by the Grafton Heritage Partnership Project, a non-profit organization that unites government and private landowner interests in preserving Grafton as a historic site. Unsurprisingly, the site has been utilized in three movies, including the popular film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman.
The old townsite displays several original buildings including the two-story adobe schoolhouse. The site also includes the adobe home of the Alonzo Russell family, built in Russell was a blacksmith by trade and supplied the settlement with all manner of services.
He lived in the home until when he died at the age of His son, Frank, and daughter-in-law Mary Ballard Russell moved into the house in and lived in the home until they moved to St.
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