Harker Canyon is a canyon in southeastern Tooele County,

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, United States, about south of the town of Vernon.

Description

The

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

is oriented east-west on the southern side of the

Sheeprock Mountains The Sheeprock Mountains are a 24-mile (39 km) long mountain range located in extreme southeast Tooele County, Utah, and part of northeast Juab County. The range trends southeasterly and forms a section of the northeast perimeter of the lar ...

, a small mountain group in the larger

Wasatch Range The Wasatch Range ( ) or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the Gr ...

. The canyon is entirely encompassed by the boundaries of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, and is accessible from Harker Road by a

forest road left, alt=Pathway through forest., Concrete pathway through deep forest in India. Forest tracks or forest roads are roads or tracks intended to carry motorised vehicles or horse-drawn wagons being used mainly or exclusively for forestry purposes, ...

designated NF 586. There are many abandoned

mines Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun Mi ...

in the canyon.

Bird watching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...

and

horseback riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the u ...

are popular recreational activities in the canyon.

History

Harker Canyon has been extensively mined for hard minerals. Artifacts of a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

and abandoned mining operations below a natural spring remain. Management of the old mines is assigned to the Vernon Sheeprocks Project, a joint project managed by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

, the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

, the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation ...

, and the

Utah Department of Natural Resources Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northeast, Idaho to the ...

. In a report issued in January, 2005, Harker Canyon was singled out as having the highest concentrations of heavy metals in its groundwater of any sampled area in the Sheeprock Mountains.Rohrer, J. Chris and Resare, Duane (2005).
Environmental Assessment: Vernon Sheeprocks Project
U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, State of Utah Department of Natural Resources. January, 2005. p. 22. Harker Canyon is located in the

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) is part of the Utah Department of Natural Resources for the state of Utah in the United States. The mission of the Division of Wildlife Resources is to serve the people of Utah as trustee and guard ...

Wildlife Management Unit 19B.Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (2006)
"Wildlife Management Unit 19B - West Desert, Vernon"
''Utah Big Game Range Trend Studies''. Retrieved Aug. 16, 2006.

Geography

Harker Canyon is about long. The road entrance to the canyon at its eastern end is at approximately elevation, and the top of the canyon at its western end is at about elevation. A natural

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

can be found in the canyon at elevation, which flows into Harker Creek. Vegetation in the canyon is principally a pinyon-

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

woodland.

References

External links

Harker Canyon
- Ghost Towns and History of the American West
Harker Canyon Photographs from 1997 to 2002
- Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Canyons and gorges of Utah Landforms of Tooele County, Utah Protected areas of Tooele County, Utah Wasatch-Cache National Forest {{Utah-geo-stub

Description

History

Geography

See also

References

External links