Silver Reef

Silver Reef is a ghost town tucked into Washington County, Utah, roughly 15 miles northeast of St. George and just a mile west of the small community of Leeds. Its origins trace to 1866, when a Nevada prospector named John Kemple turned up a vein of silver locked inside a sandstone formation — a find that initially drew skepticism from geologists, since sandstone is not a typical host rock for silver. Nearly a decade later, in 1875, a pair of Salt Lake City bankers dispatched William Barbee to stake claims on the site. Barbee secured 21 claims, and a wave of miners soon followed, giving birth to the town.

Visitors today reach the site easily by passenger car and will find a well-preserved historic setting in the Utah desert. The area rewards those interested in western history, and the open landscape makes it a natural draw for photography and sightseeing. Given its location in the warm, sun-drenched terrain of Washington County, the site is most comfortable in spring and fall, with summer heat demanding extra preparation and winter visits generally posing few serious hazards at this elevation.