ArrowsIn the Desert
What to look for
Content including photographs are Copyright © 2015 - Present - Don & Linda Gilmore Navigation Arrows
This article is about the "navigation arrows" in the desert that can still be found to this day in Washington County in Southwestern Utah. There are 4 listed here that we found and explored. You'll find photos, videos, GPX tracks and a map (shown below). Also, some interesting history is listed on the pages linked below on the map.
Washington County, Southwestern Utah
Try to imagine what this area and others must have looked like back in the early 30's. No major roads, no electronic navigation and no GPS to follow. A lot of these desert areas look the same from above in an airplane, so this was their answer. You should go out and see at least one site for yourself.
Use the links on the map.
The first airmail flight on this route was on May 23rd. 1926, making these arrows almost 90 years old. There are a lot of other areas and states with these old navigation arrows. Like Nevada, California, New Mexico, and Texas plus other states throughout the U.S.
Click on "green dot" on the map for specific "arrow" locations and info - Continue to the Blackridge Arrow Page -- Continue to the Quail Lake Arrow Page -- Continue to the Shinob Kibe Arrow Page -- Continue to the Bloomington Arrow Page -- As an alternative you can click on these buttons to navigate to a page
Many desert explorers have seen these "arrows" in the desert and did not know why or how they got into these locations. The map above should give you a clearer view of what their intended purpose was. In their earliest use, the steel uprights (found at many of the arrows). were used for oil lamps to light up the arrows at night.
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