You’ll need a good memory for the last time the club went on the Eureka (Eu-ri’-ca) Gold Run, because it was 1998! This year we will resurrect that trip on May 15th. You may want to bring a warm jacket for this trip because if your going topless (ok, I’m talking about without convertible roof) we’ll be going over a fairly high pass, about 6,500 ft) and it may be a little chilly.
Eureka was originally known as Ruby Hollow before it developed into a bustling mining town. Incorporated as a city in 1892, Eureka became the financial center for the Tintic Mining District, a wealthy gold and silver mining area in Utah and Juab counties. The district was organized in 1869 in the East Tintic Mountains, southwest of Utah Lake. If you would like to see some pictures in advance of the trip, check out http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/ut/eureka.html.
We will marshal at the Fresh Market (formerly Albertson’s) grocery store parking lot on the north west corner of 12600 South and Redwood Road in Riverton at 10:00 am for a 10:30 am departure. (This site puts us far enough south that we won’t have to much difficulty with stop lights to keep everyone together.)
We will then proceed south on Redwood Road and then on to Route 68 (Camp Williams Road) and follow the west side of Utah Lake down to Elberta. Then turn right onto Route 6 over the summit and into Eureka. This will be our lunch stop. The Summit Drive-In is at the top of the hill or you can bring a picnic basket. After lunch, there is the Tintic Mining Museum (open from 10:00 to 4:00) and lots of cool old buildings to look at. On the way out of town there is a very old cemetery with some interesting grave stones for anyone not afraid of ghosts.
When we get to the bottom of the hill, we will make another right onto Highway 36 and go North through Rush Valley and Tooele to the Lake Point Junction. Then it’s time to say “Good Bye” and take I-80 home. The distance start to finish is about 127 miles and we should be done by mid afternoon.