Pine Canyon Conservation Area
Cache 6 of 8 in the PCCA Tour | Cache is located at the posted coordinates.Â
The Tooele Valley Railroad
You're walking the bed of the Tooele Valley Railroad. The rails are long gone, but the grade is unmistakable once your eye picks it up — a flat, raised line cutting straight through terrain that has no reason to be flat.
Look around. Notice the grade vanishing in both directions. Notice the cut banks. It looks like a trail, but it's an artifact. The hillside above is a good place to see wildflowers in spring.
Getting there
About 0.2 miles each way from the PARKING waypoint at the pedestrian gate. Easy footing on the old rail grade.
What's inside?
A logbook, the cache's letterbox stamp and ink, a pen, and a printed card on where this railroad connected to, what it carried, and how far the metal from here actually traveled.
The lid word. Each cache in this series has a word inside the lid. Collect all eight to unlock a future Mystery bonus.
First time at Pine Canyon?
The Pine Canyon Conservation Area is 3,000 acres of protected open space on the east bench of the Oquirrh Mountains. From 1910 to the mid-1970s, this was the International Smelter — one of Utah's largest industrial sites. The land was cleaned up and replanted. The Wildlife sign at the trailhead names six common animals you might see here, including mule deer, coyote, and elk.
This cache is one of eight in the PCCA Tour. Tour 1: Trailhead is the best place to start — there's an Adventure Lab there too.
The PCCA Tour
Bonuses: Trailhead Bonus (Adventure Lab) · Lid-Word Mystery (coming later this year)
Please tread lightly. The grade itself is durable ground — stay on it where you can.