Paria

Paria was constantly settled by Mormon ranchers and/or miners from 1865 to 1929. During this time, residents used the Paria riverbed as a constant roadway. Today access up the river is closed because the Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument doesn’t recognize this as a road. However, the site can be easily accessed from U.S. Highway 89. The dirt road is slippery and treacherous when wet. Western movies including great like the Rat Pack and Clint Eastwood were filmed there from 1943 to 1976. Today’s the original movie sets have been destroyed and little is left other than the town cemetery.