​It started when I chose the scenic route out of Moab, gateway to Utah's red rock country.

​Taking a rain check on Arches National Park I headed to Grand Junction via Highway 128 and stumbled into Cisco….an eerie but iconic little ghost town where you get the feeling you're never quite alone.

'Keep Out' signs and one particularly threatening 'Never Mind The Dog - Beware The Owner' warning, complete with revolver aimed between your eyes, suggest this junk ridden, derelict old town of broken down dwellings and ramshackle sheds still retains a sense of menace amidst its lonely graveyard in the desolate Utah landscape. 

But it wasn't always that way. In the 1880's Cisco was almost a bustling hub along the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, a vital connection for local cattle and sheep ranchers - they say as many as 100,000 head of sheep were sheared in Cisco at the turn of the last century. Oil and natural gas kept the town thriving in the 1920's and America's love affair with the automobile brought new visitors as road travellers sought the need for gas stations, bars and restaurants. Trains were the first to abandon Cisco. When diesel replaced steam, trains no longer needed water stops at middle-of-nowhere towns like Cisco. Then came the Interstate and things changed as fast as a Chevy doing Denver to Vegas. By the 1980's Cisco was practically deserted, and the last occupants are said to have skipped town during the 90's. Hollywood, however, retained affection for the place. The movies 'Vanishing Point', 'Don't Come Knocking' and 'Thelma and Louise' all exploited the location and even Johnny Cash wrote a song about the place after filling his car up on $7 worth of gas. 

Cisco may never be very high on anybody's list of 'Must See' locations - but nearby Arches National Park would be. And when you've exhausted all that Moab, Arches and Canyonlands have to offer, why not make a little detour to one of America's most iconic ghost towns? You might just be the only one there.

Useful links

Arches National Park .   https://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm