Whether it is called Pahreah or Paria, this is another dog friendly area to explore on what is now the edge of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Located halfway between Kanab and Page off of Highway 89 you’ll find a marker for the Pahreah Ghost Town Day Use area. Follow Paria River Valley Road and enter the Paria Badlands, a landscape consisting of the striking Chinle formation, colorful river related deposits over 200 million years old.
Update 2021 – Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was restored to its original 1996 boundaries. The areas in white in the map below are once again under National Monument protection.
History of Pahreah
The area was settled in 1865 by a group of Mormons. It grew during the 1870s to as large as 47 families including some Paiutes. However, during the 1880’s the Paria River flooded every year washing away fields and buildings. By the time the area got a post office, in 1892, there were only 8 families left. By 1929 the area had been abandoned. Movie crews started using the area during the 1940s-1960s. With little of the original town remaining, a new town, the Paria movie set, was built about 2 miles away from the original town. This also suffered flooding and later a fire in 2006.
If you are expecting to see a ghost town or movie set you will be disappointed. There is little left of either. However, there is still a cemetery with about 20 graves. We didn’t venture far since it was K’Ehleyr’s first road trip after her amputation surgery for osteosarcoma. She enjoyed getting out to explore and finding some good sticks to play with while learning to navigate as a tripawd.
Even without the ghost town or movie set the area is worth the side trip for the scenery.
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