The Temple and Honeymoon Trails
The Temple Trail
The temple trail is the route used from 1871 to 1877 to haul timber from Mt. Trumbull, Arizona, to St. George, Utah, for the building of the St. George LDS Temple. Pioneers traveled 80 miles along the rough, dirt road, hauling by horse drawn wagon, one million board feet of timber. In places, rock was laid by hand to build up a roadway which would support the heavy logging wagons. Negotiating the trail laced with washes, canyons, and sandy areas, from the valley bottom to the rim of Hurricane Fault, demonstrated the resourcefulness and faith of these Pioneers.
The Temple Trail is still an obscure wagon road which has faded with the passage of time. The depressions formed by the wagon wheels are still visible in some places. The staging sites for the Temple Trail are at the Sawmill at Mt. Trumbull and here at the St. George Temple.
The early settlers who were called to St. George were given an assignment to build a Temple in an inhospitable desert from scarce raw materials. They not only completed the tremendous task, but did so before building their own homes. The surrounding communities and the vast, wild and beautiful Arizona Strip has had a long and lasting relationship, worthy of note and celebration.
The Bureau of Land Management joins with the people of the area in honoring this historic colonizing event.
Old Arizona Road
Honeymoon Trail
The original Old Arizona Road linked the Little Colorado settlements in Arizona to northern Utah through Kanab, Utah and Lee's Ferry, Arizona. Its southwestern extension, linked these same southern settlements to St. George, Utah, through Pipe Springs and the Arizona Strip. Settlers first began traveling this route in the 1860's and the road was established in the early 1870's. The Old Arizona Road soon became a major communication and transportation artery in addition to serving religious and economic functions.
The St. George LDS Temple opened in 1877. Many faithful members of the church traveled the Old Arizona Road from southern Arizona to the temple to be married or participate in other rites of the church. The name "Honeymoon Trail" comes from this use.
Religious use of the road declined with the arrival of railroads in northern Arizona and ceased in 1928 with the building of the Temple in Mesa, Arizona. The Old Arizona Road continued to be used for commerce and the segment from Pipe Springs to St. George was in use to the Mid-1930s, even though it was not paved until later. Today, U.S. Highways 89 and 89A parallel its original route near House Rock Valley, Arizona. Highway 89 in Utah follows the trail from Pioneer Gap into Kanab, Utah. In other segments, dirt roads follow or parallel the route.
Marker is on South 300 East, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
