Hanksville is a small town of about 220 citizens, give or take. Settled in 1882, the town obviously hasn't attracted many permanent residents, but does bring in a lot of tourists due to its location. It is right in the center of a great many parks and other attractions offering a wide variety of outdoor activities. With an average of just over six inches of rain each year, the area around Hanksville is classified as desert.
Our first day here was spent exploring the vast desert that surrounds town and contains some of those colorful bentonite hills created by volcanic ash. We were intrigued by the Mars Society observatory, part of the world’s largest and most influential space advocacy organization dedicated to the human exploration and settlement of the planet Mars. We also learned that astronauts have done training for moon walks here, and moon rover testing was also done here.
Muddy Creek flows out of San Rafael Swell to join the Fremont River and become the Dirty Devil River, which then merges with the Colorado River. The gorge created by the Dirty Devil is one of the more impressive sights in the area, being as much as 1800 feet deep in places. It was near here that Butch Cassidy and his gang successfully hid from the law for years.
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