These tunnels are the third example of landscape art we know about
in the Utah Salt Flats area. The others are the Spiral Jetty and
the Utah Tree. In fact, the creator of the Sun Tunnels is the wife
of the creator of the Spiral Jetty.
Long after you and I have returned to the dust from whence we
came, the Sun Tunnels will remain. In ten thousand years, if man is
still around, they will regard these tunnels the same way we think
of Stone Henge or the Mayan Temples.
If you come out here be prepared! It is a very remote and
desolate area. Plan on about a 3 hour drive one way from the Salt
Lake area. More if you plan on getting some of the other caches in
this area.
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We wanted to see the sunset and sunrise through
the tunnels so we planned on arriving shortly before sunset. (This
isn't the sort of place where you want to spend the whole day.) We
drove out to Wendover and gave Mrs. Cach-U-Nuts some time to win
$150. Then at about 4:00 we left and found 5 caches on the way. We
spent some time metal detecting at the Miner's Hideout cache and
then got a flat tire after the Love Thy Flag cache so were almost
too late to see the sunset. We slept in our cachemobile and saw a
fabulous sunrise the next morning. |
I was curious about the angles at which the tunnels were placed. I
set a waypoint on the center marker and wrote my coordinates on it.
N 40º 18.212 and W 113º 51.826. Then I walked out and took readings
from all 4 tunnels back to the center and wrote down the angles.
The angles were not what I expected. I would be very interested to
see what angles other geocachers measure.
Another mystery to ponder is what is the cause of the dark
streaks that spiral around inside the tunnels? We first thought
that people were riding their bikes around inside the tunnels but
abandoned that theory for a better one. Tell us what you think the
streaks are.
By way of Wendover there are about 45 miles of dirt road. The
road is well maintained and any car with good tires will be able to
make it if the roads are dry. (Make sure you have a good spare tire
and plenty of gas. There are a few ranches along the road so it's
not quite like being on the moon.)
If you come by way of Highway 30 from the north then you will
only have about 10 miles of dirt road but you will have a much
longer drive overall. (From the Salt Lake area.) This northern
route would be good if you live in the Ogden area or farther
north.
The cache is placed about 1000 feet away from the Sun Tunnels so
you will be able to access it even if there should be a large
gathering at the tunnels.