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Show Visitors invited to Goblin Valley "There's no place on earth quite like it!" That's the way visitors describe des-cribe Goblin Valley in south-central south-central Emery County, one of Utah's most unusual and little-know little-know scenic attractions. Its name is apropos, because when one walks amoung its eerie, fantastic, formations, goblins, giant birds, reptiles and all manner of strange creatures crea-tures seem to jump out from all sides. Goblin Valley is located at the southeast corner of the San Rafael Swell, a short drive away from State Highway 24 between Green River and Hanksville. To get there, visitors visit-ors must drive over some 10 miles of dirt road, portions of which' are " impassable to the ordinary vehicle at certain times of the year, especially after a heavy rain. Visitors should also be cautioned cau-tioned that there are no camping camp-ing facilities at Goblin Valley. One should also carry water with him as there are no developed wells, or springs in the area. Goblin Valley is being featured fea-tured in this week's "See Utah" series because it is a proposed state park and needs to be called to the public attention, according to D. James Cannon, director of the Utah Tourist and Publicity Council. "At the present time Goblin Valley lies in the public domain do-main and is unprotected from vandalism," Mr. Cannon said. "We are hopeful that the State Park and Recreation Commission Commis-sion can acquire enough land in the near future to make it a part of the Utah Park system." sys-tem." About 600 acres of land, a small portion of the scenic area, is held on lease by the state park agency from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management Manage-ment which administers the mining and grazing rights on the surrounding domain. The discovery of Goblin Valley Val-ley is attributed to Arthur L. Chaffin of Teasdale, Wayne County, Utah. Chaffin, now a retired river runner and former operator of the Colorado River Ferry at Hite, Utah, stumbled onto the site about 35 years ago while looking for a good route between Green River and Hanksville. |