How Multiple Classic Cars Came to Be Piled Up Like Firewood in a Canyon in Utah

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      Located just off Highway 89 in Utah, near mile marker 25, slightly above the Arizona border and approximately 80 miles east of Zion National Park, lies a peculiar sight: the remnants of Detroit automobiles in various colors, stacked from the canyon floor up to the road. These discarded vehicles have been on site for roughly sixty years and now appear oddly out of place in the desert. There was a valid reason for their presence—or at least there used to be.

      This spot is known as Catstair Canyon, and the structure of junked cars is referred to as the Catstair Riprap. “Riprap,” for those unfamiliar with waterway terminology, refers to any material placed along banks to safeguard adjacent land from erosion. While rocks or concrete are typical choices, during the mid-20th century, some specialists preferred using scrapped car bodies filled with gravel and secured to a slope.

      Although it appears strange now to see a pile of damaged Bel Airs, Continentals, and Corvairs tall enough to scale (though caution is advised, as demonstrated by the adventurer in the video below), this method was relatively common at the time.

      For example, along the banks of the Loup River near Columbus, Nebraska, you can spot rows of cars lined up along the river, spaced about a car width apart, extending as far as the eye can see. While this installation differs significantly from the one in Catstair Canyon, the intention was identical: to alter the flow of water and protect the riverbanks from gradual erosion. In the case of Catstair, the worry was about rainwater rushing through those channels.

      Did it succeed? Indeed, but at an evident price. “It was part of a long-standing trend of treating rivers as little more than sewers and riverboat routes,” stated David L. Bristow of the Nebraska State Historical Society in a 2022 article. “For many years, a town’s riverfront was predictably its least attractive, most industrialized area.”

      By the early 1970s, the practice of using cars as riprap was waning, according to Hot Rod Magazine’s Steven Rupp, due to the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the emergence of new construction technologies and methods. However, despite the cessation of this practice, the rubbish remains.

      You can access the Catstair Riprap from small dirt parking areas on both the east and west sides of the attraction. The western lot is closer and offers an easier pathway, making it the preferable choice. If you continue walking past the vehicles from that side, you'll encounter a 10-foot drop and a significantly more challenging trek, as noted by My Zion Vacation.

      Have you visited Catstair Canyon in person? Please comment below and share your photos if you have any!