Old Iron Town | Southern Utah

Welcome to Old Iron Town!

We've just added Old Iron Town to "Tiny Towns" you need to visit in Utah. Old Iron Town is about 25 miles west of Cedar City, hidden in Dixie National Forest. Mormon pioneers were sent from Cedar City in the 1850s to create an ironworks at Iron Town, but the little town didn't last long.

Since then, the historic buildings have been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

I actually used to live in Old Iron Town. Back in the day, before kids, the husband and I thought we would be country people, living far away from all civilization and street lights. We were the youngest couple out there. There were only 15 people that lived out in Old Iron Town.

Old Iron Town is appropriately named. We used to explore all the big mining pits hidden in the forest and go exploring. Not only does Old Iron Town have these cool kiln ruins, there are also lots of mini cemeteries with headstones from pioneers scattered throughout the area. Because of all the iron in the ground, we witnessed crazy lightning storms. We only lived there for a year and our next door neighbors house was struck by lighting twice.

I truly do miss Old Iron Town. We used to sit out on the front porch and watch the stars. There were hardly any lights at night. You could listen to coyotes and gun shots from neighbors hunting jackrabbit. One of the younger couples introduced us to jackrabbit stew. Our dog used to wait for us on the road everyday. When she saw us, we would race to the house. So many good memories.

Don't forget to visit the pond. We used to go swimming, fishing and kayaking all the time. (I'm not sure if it's open to the public, I think it may be Private Property.)

Old Iron Town will always have a special place in my heart! It's worth visiting at least once or twice in your life. Be sure to go out and have a picnic next time you stay in Cedar City and want to go for a country drive.