Jacob City was one of Utah's oldest mining communities. You have to wonder how people survived in the 1800's living and working in such rugged country. Jacob City sits high up in the steep, Oquirrh mountains to the west of Salt Lake City. This is extreme desert terrain, hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter. The road up is suitable for most SUV's but is extremely steep with sharp curves. After WayPoint 6, the road gets extrememly narrow and the scrub oak on the sides of the road will scratch up the pain on your vehicle. A small fourwheeler (quad) may be better for most people. I had heard that you could drive over the top of the mountain and into Salt Lake City but was not able to find a way to do this yet. When I get more time, I will search for a road that will lead us into Salt Lake.

Warning: NEVER go into old mines!

GPS Coordinates

Way Point 1: Trail starts in Stockton, Utah at the corner of Hwy36 and Silver Ave. Set odomoter to 0 and drive east.	Odometer 0	Altitude 5050 ft
Way Point 2: Pavement ends. At 2.2 miles stay right on main road.	Odometer 2.1	Altitude 5299 ft
Way Point 3: Good views of Rush Lake	Odometer 5.1	Altitude 6736 ft
Way Point 4: Good views south.	Odometer 6.0	Altitude 7136 ft
Way Point 5: Tailing pile on right. This pile is what was dug out of one of the many mines in this area.	Odometer 7.1	Altitude 7540 ft
Way Point 6: This is the first (lower) entrance into Jacob City.	Odometer 8.2	Altitude 8039 ft
Way Point 7: Good views into Rush Valley and into Jacob City.	Odometer 9.0	Altitude 8437 ft
Way Point 8: Commodore Pass. Road Y's, bear right then left to cabin.	Odometer 10.2	Altitude 9075 ft
Way Point 9: This old cabin was livedin not too many years ago. It even had electricity.	Odometer 10.4	Altitude 9021 ft
Way Point 10: West of Cabin, go north, downhill.	Odometer 10.5	Altitude 9120 ft
Way Point 11: Very narrow steep road, ends at old mine.	Odometer 11.4	Altitude 8572 ft

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JacobCity.mps

The desert is beautiful. Looking west from Way Point 3.	Looking south from Way Point 4.	This is the first (lower) entrance into Jacob City. Way Point 6.	This is looking down into Jacob City at Way Point 6.
Looking across the valley at Way Point 6.	Looking west into Rush Valley from Way Point 7.	Looking way down into Jacob City from Way Point 7.	It is rare to find cabins in this good of shape. It might have been a hunter's cabin twenty years or so ago.
Here is the end of the trail. A big tree lies across the road and there is an old mine to the right of the tree.	This photo and those following are from earlier trips made to Jacob City.	This is back about 1993, before I had my truck lifted.	The desert is so peaceful and beautiful.
Looking down into Rush Valley. This road is very steep and climbs quickly.		The altitude makes you feel like you are in an airplane.	While I was there, a bomb was blown up across the road at the Deseret Army Depot.
Much of the old mining equpiment still stands at mines throughout the west.	Be sure to read the story about the white Toyota.

 

The Story of the White Toyota Several years ago, my son and I were driving up to Jacob City on a lonely summer day. I was amazed at how steep the road was and how narrow it was in some spots. As we neared Jacob City, I saw a white car coming up behind me very quickly. I couldn't believe that there was actually a car up on this road, so I stopped and got out to talk to the two men in the car. Both men got out of the car and were rather dirty and the car's front tires had steel belts showing through. They said they were going to the mine also and wanted to know if I would go in the entrance first in case they high centered their car when they went in. That way I could pull them on into the mine entrance. After we parked our vehicles, the two men began to tell me why they were at the old ghost town and gold mine. They seem to have a hobby of going into the old mines looking for things and they had seen some old bottles on a previous trip. They were going back to see if they could find them to see if they were of any worth. They also told me of a group of Boy Scouts who had been exploring the mineshafts at Jacob City a few years prior to this. When the Boy Scouts came out of the mine, they were one boy short. The Sheriff's department was called and they looked for days trying to find the boy. These two men told the Sheriff that they new of a room in the mineshafts that the boy might be in and they wanted the opportunity to go in and look for him. The Sheriff was not interested in endangering anyone else's life so he would not let them go in. Finally, after several days, when they thought all hope was lost of finding the Boy Scout alive, they let the two men go in. In just a few minutes the men brought the Boy Scout out, alive but hungry and dehydrated. They asked me if my son and I would like to go with them into the mines to explore. I was happy to let them go on ahead without me or my son. There have been too many people die in these mines and exploring them is best left up to the experts.

 

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