Generally thought of as being a “western Iron County” valley, the Escalante Desert Valley stretches the length of both Beaver and Iron Counties and includes a wee bit of Millard and Washington counties.

The acutal watershed extends west into Nevada (Lincoln County) and east nearly to Cedar City. It is estimated to be nearly 100 miles from east to west and over 60 miles from south to north. That is about 3000 square miles.

The Escalante Desert Valley represents the most southerly finger of the ancient Lake Bonneville. It is widely believed the Escalante Desert is part of the Bonneville Bench, a shoreline formed when Lake Bonneville overflowed near Red Rock Pass south of Downy, Idaho some 14,000 years ago. That dropped the lake level some 350 feet and would certainly have drained the water from all but Sevier Lake, which is now a dry lake bed.

At some point in recent (post WWII) history, the area within Iron County has officially changed it’s name to the Escalante Valley, reflecting the lush irrigated alafalfa and potato crops.

The Escalante Desert Valley News provides local news gathered from around our remote valley. We are looking for reporting assistance from the commuities of Lund, Modena, Beryl, Newcastle, and Enterprise.

Why this online news source?

At this time, there is NO news coverage of local happenings for this valley. Neither The Spectrum (St George) or the Cedar City Review (Cedar City) covers any local news in the Escalante Desert Valley. So, we’ll create our own news source. For several years, there had been a small local “newspaper” written in Enterprise, but that was discontinued earlier this year.

The Escalante Desert Valley is isolated by mountain ranges and many miles, at least 40, from both St. George (south), and Cedar City (40). The valley lies within the western parts of both Iron and Washington Counties. The only incorporated town is Enterprise, located in Washington County.

Plans call for articles to be published at least weekly. There are news feeds on the right sidebar, which are constantly updated. Coverage will include subjects that matter in our valley, ag news, the weather, local family happenings (as appropriate), governmental issues, local sports, obituaries and opinion/letters to the editor. Eventually, advertising will be offered to help defray the costs.