Entry No. 49 — the Salt Lake City file — filed under: ruins
Cottonwood Paper Mill
Built in 1883 by the Deseret News, this historic stone structure once produced paper for the region before a devastating fire gutted its interior in 1893. In the 20th century, it was repurposed as an open-air dance hall and later a haunted house attraction before being condemned in 2005. Today, its crumbling, graffiti-covered granite walls stand as a striking, fenced-off ruin at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon.
The story
Built in 1883 by the Deseret News, this massive granite structure was constructed using the exact same quartz monzonite stone hauled down from Big Cottonwood Canyon for the Salt Lake Temple. For ten short years, it ground down rags and wood pulp into newsprint for the region. Then came the fire of 1893—a sudden blaze that gutted the timber interior and destroyed the machinery, leaving only a hollow stone shell standing at the mouth of the canyon.
Rather than tearing it down, locals kept finding surreal second lives for the stone husk. In the 1920s, developers roofed over the open air to turn it into a dance hall called the Old Mill Club. Over the following decades, it cycled through uses as a discount craft market and a notorious seasonal haunted house attraction. Every commercial venture eventually folded, leaving behind layers of street art spray-painted directly over 19th-century masonry.
In 2005, city inspectors officially condemned the building due to severe seismic and structural hazards. Today, the roofless fortress sits behind chain-link fencing and silent alarms—a gothic industrial relic stranded right where suburban asphalt meets the Wasatch Range. You didn't hear it from us, but don't try to find a way through the barrier; modern security here responds much faster than you'd expect for a pile of 140-year-old rocks.
What it's like
You'll see the stone tower standing right near the busy intersection at the base of the canyon. Park nearby along the paved Big Cottonwood Canyon Trail to view the structure legally and safely. Up close, the perimeter is wrapped in chain-link wire, razor wire, and explicit warning signage detailing active security cameras and motion alarms. Local police and security patrol the lot regularly, so keep your visit strictly to the trail side of the fence line to shoot photos of the ivy-covered granite arches.
The move: Take a scenic stroll along the adjacent Big Cottonwood Canyon Trail to safely view and photograph the striking granite ruins from outside the security fence.
📍 Before you go The structure is condemned, fenced off, and monitored by active security systems on private property; entering is illegal and dangerous.
- 📍 Cottonwood Heights
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Low-key
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 6900 S Big Cottonwood Canyon Rd, Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121, USA
Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current access before you go.
Pair it with
- Mule Hollow Mine — Drive further up Big Cottonwood Canyon to pair a fenced-off stone mill ruin with an authentic 19th-century mining site hidden along the trail.
- Maxfield Mine — Continue up the canyon road to double down on Big Cottonwood's 19th-century industrial decay.
- Salt Cave & Selenite Crystal Cave at Synchronicities — Balance the exposed, cold granite walls of the mill with a subterranean session inside a warm pink salt grotto five miles south.
- Crone's Hollow — Match the eerie lore of Salt Lake's famous former haunted house venue with a trip to an active local pagan community hub.
Good to know
Can you go inside the Cottonwood Paper Mill?
No. The site is privately owned, structurally condemned, fenced off, and strictly monitored by security cameras and motion sensors. Entering the grounds is illegal trespassing.
Where is the best place to safely view the paper mill?
The adjacent Big Cottonwood Canyon Trail offers direct, unobstructed views of the exterior granite walls from a legal, public vantage point.
Why was the paper mill abandoned?
A catastrophic fire gutted the interior in 1893. While later repurposed as a dance hall and haunted house, the structure was permanently condemned in 2005 due to earthquake safety concerns.
Is the Cottonwood Paper Mill actually haunted?
The mill ran as a commercial haunted house attraction for years, which fueled decades of local urban legends, but its final closure in 2005 was strictly due to building code violations and structural instability.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Wikipedia · preservationutah.org
last checked: 2026-07-20