Beck Hot Pots in SanPete County, Utah

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mudxdresser
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Beck Hot Pots in SanPete County, Utah

Postby mudxdresser » Sat Apr 30, 2016 2:07 pm

I've been trying to identify where the mud pots shown in this video are for years, any help appreciated! The same video used to be on YouTube but has disappeared. There is still a copy on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/13943730.

There are a couple of clues, they are referred to as the Beck Hot Pots and reference was made to the "Beck compound" in the text to the original YouTube posts. The area around is flat and may be in one of the two river valleys in SanPete County. A hundred years ago there was a Beck hot pots but the area is now destroyed by I-15 as best I can tell. And I don't see I-15 in the background of any of the videos. I've spent hours at high resolution on Google satellite view checking along the Sevier River valley to no avail. I tried to engage Dave King, the author, in conversation to no avail. I've verified that there are folks with Beck surnames in SanPete County, too many actually, they're everywhere.

Sure looks like a great place! If anyone can find it, I'll find a way to get permission for us to visit.

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Mynock
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Re: Beck Hot Pots in SanPete County, Utah

Postby Mynock » Sat Apr 30, 2016 4:02 pm

Natural mud volcano with a spring nearby for cleanup. That's like the Holy Grail of sinking. Kind of sucks the guy won't talk to you but I can understand the reasoning, I don't tell anyone where my spots are either. 8-)
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Re: Beck Hot Pots in SanPete County, Utah

Postby Fred588 » Sat Apr 30, 2016 4:39 pm

This site:

http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/all-warm ... id=2148332

says this, in part:

"..... By 1850, a resort there featured Utah’s first public dance and recreation hall. Mule-drawn trolleys delivered patrons. The resort thrived, then gradually declined and closed in 1951. The building that most recently housed the Children’s Museum still stands. Much of the water has been diverted, but Warm Springs Park remains. A warm pool had been made too shallow for soaking, but transients now use it for sponge bathing.

In 1885, German miner John Beck built Beck’s Hot Springs Resort three miles farther north, where an interstate highway, train tracks, refineries, and other industries now dominate the terrain. A railway once carried eager soakers to the spot from downtown.

Five other Utah hot-spring resorts rose and fell on the heels of shifting social dynamics. As indoor plumbing became common, the attraction of public bathing declined. In the late 1800s, physicians convinced the public to rely more on medical cures. A 1950s polio scare brought requirements for prohibitively expensive chlorination of constantly flowing waters. TV and radio replaced the live music that had been a big part of the appeal. And a series of devastating fires took their toll. Finally, the state of Utah condemned what had been Beck’s resort in 1953 to build a new highway (now Interstate 15) and, “so ends of the story of Beck’s Hot Springs,” Pearce wrote. "

The reference to "three miles north" is not entirely clear but I suspect refers to three miles north of Warm Springs Park"
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Boggy Man
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Re: Beck Hot Pots in SanPete County, Utah

Postby Boggy Man » Sun May 01, 2016 8:51 am

I did a little Google Maps exploring, and the closest place I could find is this:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@39.5045702,-112.0818234,237m/data=!3m1!1e3
I sink, therefore I WAM!!!!

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mudxdresser
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Re: Beck Hot Pots in SanPete County, Utah

Postby mudxdresser » Sun May 01, 2016 1:22 pm

That area appears to be depressed below grade while the hot pots appear to be high points so I doubt that is it. However, the swampy area between there and I-15 to the southeast is one of the best possibilities.

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Boggy Man
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Re: Beck Hot Pots in SanPete County, Utah

Postby Boggy Man » Tue May 03, 2016 8:35 am

mudxdresser wrote:That area appears to be depressed below grade while the hot pots appear to be high points so I doubt that is it. However, the swampy area between there and I-15 to the southeast is one of the best possibilities.


I had my doubts, but sometimes raised areas could look like depressions, and vice versa. :? What attracted my attention was the grey pool to the upper right of the pond (mud volcano or just another pond with the water gone, leaving a muddy bottom). But also, I notice something smaller, like small raised bumps (mud volcanoes?), to the lower left of the pond, with a trail leading to the pond (mudflows?). Or those trails could be man-made and those bumps are something else. :? Anyways, there are structures near those bumps which are not in the video, the shapes of the areas are different from the video, which shows an elongated depression where the pond is in the video, while here, things are squarish. But, it still looks interesting. 8-) I spent a bit of time looking over the multitude of springs and marshy areas in the general area, including places where streams appear from out of nowhere (spring-fed).

I guess that this is the swamp area you were mentioning:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@39.4658703,-112.0395509,3540m/data=!3m1!1e3
I sink, therefore I WAM!!!!

(((ioi)))

-The Boggy Man

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mudxdresser
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Re: Beck Hot Pots in SanPete County, Utah

Postby mudxdresser » Tue May 03, 2016 11:35 pm

Yes, you nailed it. I've been on I-15 right there but didn't see anything from the road.

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mudxdresser
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Re: Beck Hot Pots in SanPete County, Utah

Postby mudxdresser » Tue Jan 10, 2017 6:31 pm

Well, I finally located the Beck Hot Pots just off of US 89 in the northern part of SanPete County, Utah. They are not distinguishable on Google Maps. It turns out the "Beck's compound" referred to in the video is a somewhat pricy guest ranch. So, it looks like it is more economical to visit as a large group so now the question is, is there anyone on this forum up for visiting a place that may be as much as $350-$400 per day to visit with a two day minimum?

Keep in mind that unlike so many other places like quarries and public places where there are all sorts of potential illegalities involved in accessing the mud, we would be paying guests on private property so this is a rare opportunity to do incredible mud legally. And by renting as a group, we assure that there will be no one else around to disturb our having our way with the mud in any way we wish!

I've been in this area before and it is at moderate elevation so it would be best to schedule a visit in the summer when temperatures are reliably hot as it never really gets all that warm in this area.

I am also up for combining this with a visit via pontoon boat to the mud flats on the upper end of Lake Powell which is not all that far away.


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