Thistle Ghost Town

My son had added the Thistle Ghost Town to his bucket list this year but never go to it before leaving on his mission, so we stopped by to check it out for him on our way to Spring City. 

It was remarkable how well preserved the home was in the water since the early 80's. There is a place to pull off on the side of the road right where the house is on the East side. You can't miss it.

There is also a fence surrounding the water.

More structures and history below.

Thistle, Utah was established in 1883. It was a charming little farming and ranching community and became a major stop on the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad.

April of 1983, a massive landslide, the costliest in U.S. history, dammed two creeks, flooding and destroying most of the tiny town. Roofs became rafts and can still be seen strewn about the area. Only a few structures remain, and most can be seen from the road, including a red schoolhouse, a house on a hill (which has recently been demolished), and a half-sunken house into a bog, and the old train machine shop.

In August 2018, a large fire burned through Spanish Fork Canyon after a lightning storm. More than 30,000 acres of land were destroyed, including many of the remaining structures in Thistle. A few of the homes remain, damaged beyond recognition. But the foundations still stand. Tho there is no where to pull off the main road to get out and explore those.