page_title: Ninemile Canyon (Utah)
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Ninemile Canyon (Utah) / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: Aerial view of Nine Mile Creek at North Franks Canyon, in Nine Mile Canyon, Utah. An array of natural gas wells in visible in the distance.
context_page_description: Ninemile Canyon is a canyon, approximately 40 miles long, located in Carbon and Duchesne counties in eastern Utah, United States. Promoted as "the world’s longest art gallery", the canyon is known for its extensive rock art, most of it created by the Fremont culture and the Ute people. The rock art, shelters, and granaries left behind by the Fremont make Ninemile Canyon a destination for archaeologists and tourists alike.
  The canyon became a main transport corridor in the region during the 1880s. Settlers established a number of ranches in Ninemile Canyon, and even a short-lived town named Harper. No longer heavily traveled, the rugged canyon road was used mostly for recreation and tourism through the end of the 20th century. The discovery of rich deposits of natural gas deep beneath the West Tavaputs Plateau has brought an influx of industrial truck traffic since 2002. The large amounts of fugitive dust produced by the trucks' passage may be damaging the rock art. Public debate is ongoing about how best to balance energy development in the canyon against the preservation of its cultural resources.
context_section_description: Ninemile Canyon runs roughly southwest to northeast, with numerous winding turns, just to the north of the Book Cliffs, and south and east of Ashley National Forest. The full 78-mile (126 km) canyon route, formerly SR‑53 through Gate Canyon, connects the towns of Wellington and Myton. Nine Mile Creek, the stream that formed the canyon, is by no means a major body of water. Its importance lies in the fact that it is one of the few water sources in the region that are reliable year-round, and it has been so since prehistoric times. Nine Mile Creek is actually a minor tributary of the Green River, emptying into Desolation Canyon on the east. A number of tributary canyons branch off Ninemile Cayon itself, including Argyle Canyon, Cottonwood Canyon, Minnie Maud, and Dry Canyon. Significant rock art sites are frequently located near the junctions where they meet the main canyon.
caption: Ninemile Canyon (the dark green area at the bottom) at North Franks Canyon. An array of natural gas wells is visible in the distance, May 2019.
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