Woodside, Utah
Camping outside of woodside offers scenic views of the Book Cliffs and is home to some great camping and excellent dirt biking. We camped outside of Chimney Rock on BLM land. Traveling north, It is a quick left turn from Highway 6 where there is a map and BLM sign. Woodside is now a ghost town. Once a thriving railroad stop woodside today consists of an abandoned service station in the shadow of the Book Cliffs along Highway US-6 outside of Green River.
It was a bridge and water stop built by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad in 1881. In this dry and remote area of Utah, water rules everything. The following year homesteaders started to arrive and created a canal. They settled the area and named it Lower Crossing. As the town grew and stores started to populate the settlement was later renamed to Woodside for the cottonwood groves that grew alongside the Price River.
Woodside sits adjacent to the west bank of the Price River. One of the biggest challenges for the town to grow was the river itself. Before the development of the Scofield Reservoir the river flow varied. Its heaviest was during the spring and then by late summer it would be completely dry. Distant storms would cause flash floods to the valley which would bring destructive debris downstream where the town lay. Despite location the town continued to grow.
Woodside at one time had a railroad station that became a major supply point for nearby ranchers. A hotel popped up and stockyards were built next to the station, there was a blacksmith shop and a schoolhouse. In 1897 Butch Cassidy and Elzy Lay held up an employee of the Pleasant Valley Coal Company in a daylight robbery at the busy railroad station in Castle Gate, making off with $7,000 in gold. They eventually made it to Woodside and hid in a network of tunnels under one of the houses outside of town. By 1910 the towns population grew to 328 and was thriving, but by the 20’s the livestock and shipping facilities were removed when the railroad consolidated its operations in Helper. In 1924 Utah Oil and Refining drilled the Woodside #1 well that encountered a large flow of helium gas resulting in President Calvin Coolidge setting the filed as the United Sates Helium Reserve #1. The field never produced any helium because most of the other gas was nitrogen, but the potential was said to be substantial. Today it remains as an untapped helium resource.
By the 40’s the population dropped to 30, but turned into a slight tourist attraction when the railroad dug a large water well that turned into a cold bubbling muddpot driven by the natural carbon dioxide gas. At one time the muddpot turned into a geyser and would sprout as high as 75 feet. By the 70’s the last cafe and store burned down and all that remains is the geyser. In 2013 Woodside was put up for sale for a cool $3.9 million.
The town might not be happening anymore but there is plenty of camping and BLM land to explore on dirt-bike or other motorized devices.
Woodside is a remote place where you can watch the storms roll in. In the evenings the light against the Book Cliffs over a stunning view of what Southern Utah has to offer. You might be judging me right now by this shot of me in in dress but there is no better way to camp than in a dress. It’s lightweight, great to travel in and often covers bruised legs from hiking.