Lynndyl, Petroglyphs, and the Great Stone Face of Millard Co.

South of Delta, Utah

September 3, 2013 -- Delta, Utah.   Traveling down highway 6 can be lonely, but looking across the desert you occasionally see monuments of old stage coach stops and pony express stations.

Soon we hit Lynndyl, Utah.  The town was once a bustling railroad town with the largest terminal between Lincoln, Nebraska and Los Angeles, California. Historically, Lynndyl has an impressive roundhouse that serviced trains is its 18 stalls. Today, you can only see the foundations via Google Earth and a model at the Great Basin Museum in Delta.

Lynndyl Roundhouse from Google Earth

After checking in to our hotel, we hit the museum on main street in Delta.  They were about to close but two wonderfully sweet couples let me brother and I explore the museum which has a nice collection of antiques, minerals and rocks, native american relics and lithographs from the Topaz Internment Camp.  After the museum it was off to visit Fort Deseret and the Great Stone Face south of the bustling town of Delta.

On the way to the Great Stone Face, my brother and I spotted countless petroglyphs along the hill side. If you've followed the blog, you know petroglyphs are my thing and after more than an hour we were still in awe of our discovery.

Finally, we made it to the Great Stone Face.  When early settlers first discovered the rock formation they dubbed the icon the "Guardian of the Deseret" because of the striking resemblance to the Prophet Joseph Smith Jr., first president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I must admit the higher I climbed as I hiked the base of the formation the more I convinced my mind that there is a face in that rock watching anyone who wanders 17 miles south of Delta to explore the mystery of such a remote place.