Hanksville, Utah, located right outside of Capitol Reef National Park, is home to some of the most otherworldly scenery in the United States, with sandstone monoliths, bentonite hills, and epic mountains. One of its most stunning land features just so happens to also have a pretty ridiculous name—Long Dong Silver (yes, really!), a dramatically jagged rock spire, jutting 80 feet out of the desert floor.
Like most of the beautiful areas in Hanksville, you can’t exactly just drive up to Long Dong Silver—so here’s everything you need to know to visit this uniquely beautiful place.
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Before we get into it, I want to flag that Long Dong Silver and the area around it are incredibly fragile and made of soft crumbly rock.
PLEASE follow the leave no trace principles and leave this place better than you found it—be sure to comply with the signs that tell you where not to drive, do not carve or make holes in its spire (better yet, just don’t touch it in the first place!), walk on the well-trodden pathways around the monolith, and pick up any trash you create or see in the area.
How to get to Long Dong Silver
Long Dong Silver, also known as The Spire, is located here, along Utah’s Highway 24, approximately 10 minutes west of Hanksville or a little over 20 minutes east of Capitol Reef National Park.
The closest airports are either in Grand Junction, Colorado (2 hours and 45 minutes away), Salt Lake City, Utah (4 hours and 15 minutes away), or Las Vegas (6 hours and 15 minutes away). If you’re flying here, you’ll need to rent a car, as there’s no public transit that goes to the Hanksville area.
From Highway 24, there’s no actual roadway that leads to Long Dong Silver. Instead, you’ll find this unmarked pull-off onto the dirt floor of the desert, with some well-worn tire tracks leading off towards the spire.
If you do not have a 4WD car, you might want to consider leaving your car right off the highway and walking approximately four miles round trip to the spires.
When my husband, Justin, and I drove here, the path to the trailhead wasn’t particularly bumpy or challenging to drive on and did not necessitate having a 4WD vehicle (even though our SUV does have 4WD).
However, given the “road” is made of an EXTREMELY malleable mud-clay substance and may be reshaped when it rains or is driven on by other visitors, it’s DEFINITELY possible for it to get a lot more potholes than when we drove on it!
If you do leave your car parked close to Highway 24, just be sure to take any valuables in your car with you. Cars that are parked close to thoroughfares are extremely easy for ne’er-do-wells to target for break-ins!
If you feel comfortable continuing to drive past the pull-off, just follow the tire tracks leading north, between the two cliffsides off in the distance and towards Long Dong Silver.
The path leads through the desert for about a mile, before you’ll reach a sign instructing you not to drive any further. When we visited, there was a handful of other cars parked here, so it was pretty obvious when you’re supposed to stop!
Unlike some of the more established hikes in the area, there’s no toilets, trash cans, or other amenities of any kind here.
Insider tip: Even if you have a 4WD car, I would recommend avoiding driving in this area (including even the pull-off) if it is or has recently rained. The ground is made of a muddy clay-type substance and gets SUPER soft with any kind of moisture. If you attempt this when the ground is wet, your car has a solid chance of getting stuck—meaning your only way out is a very expensive tow!
The Hike to Long Dong Silver
From the parking area, you’ll continue to follow the unmarked, but well-worn pathway (from when people were allowed to drive here) to the north for about a mile.
The hike to the spire is easy and flat, until the last 0.1 mile or so. Even though the trail isn’t particularly challenging, you definitely won’t be bored here—the scenery surrounding the pathway is ABSOLUTELY stunning, with dramatic cliffs, buttes, and mountains in every direction.
After about 0.9 miles, the pathway will curve towards the right around a cliffside and you’ll get your first glimpse of Long Dong Silver, off in the distance.
This black spire sits on top of a small hill, so, to reach its base, you’ll need to climb up a short but steep pathway, worn into the crumbly soil. This can be super slippery, especially if it’s been raining, so be careful here!
The pathway continues around the spire and gradually climbs uphill along ridgeline to the base of a cliffside, which provides an excellent vantage point over the surrounding area.
When to Visit Long Dong Silver
The best time to visit Long Dong Silver is when you can actually get to it—i.e., when the ground is dry!
The rainy season in Hanksville is typically from July through September—but it actually rained almost every day when we camped in Hanksville, for about a week, in May! So, if you’re really set on visiting Long Dong Silver, be sure to give yourself a handful of days in this area, in case you get unlucky with some rainy weather.
You generally don’t have to be too worried about crowds here—Capitol Reef is one of the least visited national parks in Utah (only beating out Canyonlands National Park, the least visited one) and Long Dong Silver is even more under-the-radar than Capitol Reef. Still, if you want to enjoy this feature all to yourself, I’d suggest trying to visit on a weekday.
We visited at golden hour on a Wednesday and were lucky enough to get the entire area to ourselves for about an hour!
Speaking of golden hour, sunrise and sunset are STUNNING times to visit this area, especially if you have a bit of an overcast day. The soft light at this time of day really has a dramatic contrast with the surrounding dark gray cliff sides.
This was the kind of moody lighting that we had at Long Dong Silver and it seriously looked straight out of Mordor!
Tips for Visiting Long Dong Silver
You are currently allowed to fly a drone here
If you’re a drone enthusiast like we are, great news—at the time I’m writing this, drones are allowed here, as well as other popular areas in Hanksville, like the Bentonite Hills or Moonscape Overlook. We got some absolutely INSANE footage of Long Dong Silver and the surrounding landscape with our drone.
That being said, please be respectful of other visitors while you’re here—ask if they’re okay with you flying and try to limit your flight time so others can enjoy the space sans whiny drone noise. Inconsiderate drone pilots are the reason we all have such a bad rap!
Be prepared for no shade
Whether you’re walking from the pullout along Highway 24 or from the main parking area, there is absolutely no shade along the trail.
Luckily, the pathway is mostly flat, but I’d still recommend bringing sunscreen, a hat, and plenty of water (we swear by these comically enormous Nalgene bottles), especially if you’re visiting on a warm day.
Hanksville can get dangerously hot in the summer months, with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, and it can feel even hotter than it actually is outside—the dark soil here just seems to soak up the heat!
There’s no cell service
I’d recommend downloading offline maps on Google Maps ahead of time, so you can track your progress and make sure you’re headed in the right direction. The pull-off, trailhead, and trail are all totally unmarked, so having a map and GPS to guide the way definitely soothes the nerves of just randomly driving off into the desert!
Additionally, if you’re in doubt about whether your car can make it past the pull-off (like, if the ground feels a bit squishy), I’d strongly recommend erring on the side of caution—not only would a tow truck cost at least a couple of thousand of dollars out here, but that’s if you can even manage to call one in the first place!
I hope you enjoy Long Dong Silver (beyond its hilariously awesome name!) as much as we did! Do you have any questions about this unique feature? Let us know in the comments below!
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