8 Secluded Towns in Utah

Utah is already secluded by American standards, ranked as one of the lowest states in population density (at around 40th place). Narrow your focus to small towns, and the state is downright desolate. Do not, however, confuse desolate for uninteresting. Low on people and infrastructure, towns such as the Dinosaurland of Vernal and Boulder, the last community in the continental US to have its mail delivered by mules, offer unfettered access to rugged attractions ranging from fossil pits to natural arches to salt flats to a simulated Martian habitat. These secluded Utah communities prove that less is more.

Vernal

Tucked between the Flaming Gorge, Uintah and Ouray Reservation, and Colorado, Vernal is a lone hub in northeastern Utah, home to just over 10,000 people. Vernal is so rustic that, along with hiking the Flaming Gorge and other oases, a popular activity for residents and tourists is fossil hunting.

"Dinosaurland," as Vernal is nicknamed, contains the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum and neighbors the Dinosaur National Monument. Both have an enormous collection of fossils, but many in the latter preserve remain undiscovered. Collecting is prohibited for regular guests, but you can join a fossil field program and help experts collect specimens for the museum.

Torrey

Many small, secluded Utah settlements are gateways to large, lively national parks. Torrey is no exception. Each year, this town of about 200 people ushers almost a million tourists into Capitol Reef National Park, who get happily lost in a kaleidoscopic maze of sand and stone. Among the above-ground "coral" rimming Capitol Reef are Cassidy Arch, Hickman Bridge, and a pair of natural monoliths called Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon. The last of these wonders are inaccessible when roads are wet or when driving a low-clearance vehicle. If you find your way back to Torrey (or get rained out), chill in the Rock Reef Cafe or Capitol Reef Resort.

Wendover

If you drive west on the I-80 from Salt Lake City and pass the Great Salt Lake, you will see almost nothing for nearly 100 miles until you hit the Nevada border. That is where Wendover, Utah/West Wendover, Nevada sits. The Utah side of this border community complex has around 1,100 residents, while the Nevada side claims about 4,500. But what Wendover lacks in population, it makes up for in natural and historical oddities.

The Bonneville Salt Flats lie just outside of town and, spanning dozens of miles and holding over one hundred million tons of salt, have been showcased in films like Independence Day and Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End. Just southwest of the flats is another fantastically flat feature called the Historic Wendover Airfield, which is an airport and Air Force base-turned-museum with such artifacts as the Enola Gay Hangar. Yes, Wendover housed the plane that bombed Hiroshima.

Boulder

Carved even deeper into red rock country than Torrey, Boulder is so remote that it claims to be the last community in the continental US to have its mail delivered by mules. You might think that a place easier traversed by hoof than wheel has little to offer tourists, but you'd be wrong. Boulder is the western terminus of Burr Trail Road, a 66-mile scenic backway through parts of Capitol Reef National Park, the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Though the road is paved (save for a section in Capitol Reef), there are no services, and drivers are urged to take a well-maintained, high-clearance, fully fueled, four-wheel-drive vehicle. Back in Boulder after besting Burr, tourists can relax at Hell's Backbone Grill & Farm, Annie's Place Bed & Breakfast, and the Anasazi State Park Museum.

Moab

It's easy to forget that Moab, a dynamic city of 5,400ish residents and thousands more tourists, is secluded. But once you are a few miles away, especially during the off-season, you will be hard-pressed to find another human. Moab is flanked by Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park, a cumulative 73,000 acres of arches, canyons, mesas, buttes, fins, spires, streams, plants, and animals. Recreation possibilities are endless, as are relaxation possibilities. In-town retreats include the Moab Museum, Moab Backyard Theater, Moab Diner, Moab Garage Co., and Moab Springs Ranch.

Hanksville

Hanksville is considered one of the most isolated towns in Utah based on its distance from other settlements. Torrey sits about 40 miles away on the other side of Capitol Reef National Park, while Moab sits about 100 miles away on the other side of Canyonlands National Park. This in-between region is so rugged that the Mars Desert Research Station uses it to simulate Martian topography. Even Hanksville's top commercial attraction is a gas station/convenience store built into a giant Marslike rock. Appropriately, it's called Hollow Mountain. Everything in the area can be prefixed with "hollow."

Brian Head

Rather than horizontal distance, Brian Head is isolated from other communities by vertical distance, AKA elevation. This 150ish-person town sits 9,800 feet above sea level, making it the highest town in Utah. During winter, skiing fuels tourism courtesy of Brian Head Resort on Brian Head Peak. During summer, that same resort becomes a hiking, mountain biking, zip-lining, and rock-climbing mecca. Whatever the season (with a possible exception of "mud month," a late-spring deluge of impassable mud), you can rest and refuel at Pizanos Pizzeria, Rosales Mexican Food, and the Navajo Cafe.

Kanab

Located in southwestern Utah near the Arizona border, Kanab is ringed by rugged terrain. Before said terrain was marked, named, and commodified, Kanab was a dot in the desert accessible to hardened adventurers. Now, it is a paved gateway to such preserves as Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument on the Utah side, and the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, and North Rim of the Grand Canyon on the Arizona side. Kanab's legendary past does endure, though, since some believe it to be the burial site of Montezuma's apocryphal gold.

Even if Montezuma's gold isn't real, other gold is hidden in secluded sections of the state. It comes in the form of scenic byways, Air Force artifacts, skiable mountains, sand dunes, canyonlands, dinosaur bones, and all the rugged wonders in between. Go find them and make these towns your bases. There is no need to rough it when hidden Utah gems are also restaurants, hotels, museums, and even a gas station carved into rock.