On June 11th and 12th the Community and Partner Relations team was able to spend time in Duchesne County, and meet with county leaders, as well as Roosevelt City administrators.
Commissioner Irene Hansen has long been a champion of tourism for the county, and Ryan Lundstrom serves as their Tourism Director. Among the best tourism assets in Duchesne County is Starvation Reservoir which often has capacity crowds in its campgrounds throughout summer.
Roosevelt also has a great events center, which is really helping to put the small city on the map. In conjunction with those events, they’ve developed an innovative program to encourage visitors to try local restaurants. At events such as golf tournaments, each visitor is given a trio of five dollar “gift certificates”, one each for a variety of dining experiences. Once the customer uses the gift certificate, the restaurants can then redeem them with the city for the full face value. This program has been wildly successful, with roughly 20 thousand dollars annually being reimbursed. The real benefit, of course, is the fact that the five dollar gift certificate typically results in a much, much larger sale for the restaurants, and keeps customers in Duchesne County.
Like most of Utah, housing for visitors and workers alike is a pinch point in Duchesne County. Economic Development Director Deborah Herrin has recently updated zoning codes to allow for auxiliary dwelling units throughout much of Duchesne City. It’ll be interesting to see how this might impact their area, and tourism in general.
While exploring the area’s offerings, we drove north into the Uinta Mountains which are especially verdant following the last two strong winters. Outdoor recreation opportunities abound in this part of the county. Stillwater Dam was a highlight. During high water years, the water cascades down the spillway in dramatic fashion, sometimes drawing big crowds. Stillwater’s boat ramps have also been upgraded in the last year or so allowing for more use of the reservoir, and nearby, great fishing and camping spots are available. One of the state’s longest-running dude ranches is also found in this area.
Duchesne County officials tell us they’re constantly asked about Skinwalker Ranch. Its reputation as a paranormal hot spot has grown in recent years due to a popular television series. The ranch is technically not in Duchesne County, but the road to access it is. The ranch is privately owned and visitors are sometimes disappointed they can’t access the ranch. It’s also worth noting that many would-be visitors end up driving or parking on land near Skinwalker Ranch which is owned by the Ute Tribe. This can result in costly parking tickets or trespassing citations. There is a lot of work to be done in visitor education in this area.
Elsewhere in Duchesne County, trail development is a priority, and so are community events, to unify the spirit of cooperation between the county’s two largest population centers, Roosevelt City and Duchesne City.
