Adobe Rock

The rock was a landmark long before it had a name. Travelers crossing into Tooele Valley steered by this lone tower of stone, a fixed point in open country. In the winter of 1849, Captain Howard Stansbury's survey party, circling the Great Salt Lake with a herd of cattle, threw up an adobe shelter beside it — one of the first structures built in the valley. The adobe melted back into the ground long ago. The rock it named did not. Adobe Rock still stands beside the highway, steering traffic it was never meant to guide.

What the plaque says

Daughters of Utah Pioneers No. 103 Erected July 27, 1947. Adobe Rock On July 27, 1847, three horsemen from the scouting party sent out by Brigham Young, obtained an excellent view of the surrounding valley, from the top of this rock. In 1849 Captain Howard Stansbury of the United States Topographical Engineers, built a small adobe house by this rock, for his herders, hence the name "Adobe Rock". The near by highway follows the same route as the old pioneer trail used by explorers, trappers, emigrants and gold seekers. A spring near by made this a favorite camp site. Tooele County Company

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Saltair — 12 mi
  A haunting lakeside resort with a storied past
• Bingham Canyon Mine — 12 mi
  The largest man-made excavation on Earth
• Great Salt Lake — 13 mi
  The largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere
• International Peace Gardens — 19 mi
  A hidden garden where 28 countries are represented in miniature

More markers nearby

• E.T. Benson Grist Mill — 0.8 mi
• Buffalo Park — 2.6 mi
• Black Rock Resort — 4.6 mi
• Garfield & Lake Point Resorts — 4.6 mi