The town of Pahreah was originally settled in 1865, but Indian raids forced it to move upstream in 1870, and by 1910 floods forced settlers to leave the area altogether. In 1963 Hollywood chose the site to build a Western movie set, and it was used for films and TV shows until 1991. Flooding in 2003 forced local volunteers and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to dismantle and move the set to drier ground.
A small plaque and fence posts remain, and it is a lovely, quiet spot to poke around. From the picnic area, it is about 1.5 miles to the original site of the town of Pahreah, Pahreah Cemetery and the Paria River, where you can splash about in the muddy water. To get here, head 35 miles east of Kanab on Hwy 89 to the signed 5-mile dirt road (passable with a 2WD when dry).
