The Temple & 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 built 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 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. - text of marker