Jordanelle, and the town underneath it

The Bureau of Reclamation began construction in June 1987 and completed the dam in April 1993 as part of the Central Utah Project. The structure is about 300 feet of earth and rock across the Provo River, and the reservoir holds 320,300 acre feet across 3,068 surface acres. The water came up over the following two years and the three townsites in the basin, Keetley, Hailstone and Jordanelle, went under in 1995. It is one of the youngest large reservoirs in the state.

Hailstone on the west shore is the marina and the motorized side, with an eight lane ramp, a separate personal watercraft ramp, an 80 slip dock, camping, cabins and cottages. Rock Cliff sits on the east arm where the Provo River enters and is non motorized, with wetland boardwalks and a nature center. Ross Creek, also on the east, has a non motorized ramp, 23 first come day use cabanas and two short trail loops. Each has a different approach road.

Three of them. Keetley was a mining settlement named for Jack Keetley, a former Pony Express rider who became a local mining supervisor, and Hailstone and Jordanelle were the other two. All three went under in 1995 after the dam was completed in April 1993. Keetley also housed a Japanese American farming colony in 1942 organized by Fred Wada of Oakland, and the two trail loops at the Ross Creek Recreation Area, Wada Way and the Keetley Loop, are named for that history.

Fred Isamu Wada was a produce dealer from Oakland who leased land at the Keetley townsite from mayor George Fisher in 1942 so Japanese American families could farm in Utah rather than be sent to a wartime incarceration camp. They left Oakland on 26 March 1942, four days before General DeWitt froze Japanese American movement. State history records them moving 50 tons of rock to clear 150 acres, two dynamite incidents that hurt nobody, and a change in local relations after Wada met trade union representatives that April.

The state park's own figure is 22 miles from Rock Cliff to Hailstone. Third party maps quote different totals, some near 15 miles one way and some around 30 out and back, because they count different segments of a system that has been extended over time. Riders regularly run the southbound leg from the Ross Creek parking area to the Rock Cliff day use area at roughly 9.5 miles one way. It is largely exposed, so spring and autumn are its best seasons.

Yes, at Hailstone. The campground carries 103 RV sites with partial hookups at 30 amp power and water, the McHenry tent loops, hike in sites at Phostan Bay that sit half a mile to a mile from parking, a group site that takes up to 75 people, five cabins and three cottages. Rock Cliff on the east side adds seasonal walk-in tent sites through the summer. Reservations run through 800-322-3770 and summer weekends fill well ahead. Dry camping is not allowed in winter, although the cottages stay open year round and the park rents snowshoes.

About eight miles and roughly 12 minutes north on US-40 to the Hailstone side. Rock Cliff and Ross Creek are on the east side of the reservoir and take longer, around 18 to 20 minutes, because they are reached from SR-248 and SR-32 rather than from the Hailstone road. That approach difference is the most common planning mistake here, and it is worth checking on a map before leaving rather than after arriving at the wrong entrance.

It is in the Jordanelle basin above the west side of the reservoir, in Wasatch County, and the gondola and hotels are visible from the water. It is a resort development rather than part of the state park, some of its homes carry Heber City mailing addresses while sitting eight to twelve road miles from Main Street, and much of it falls under a state agency rather than the city or county. The Deer Valley East Village page covers the governance and what it means for a buyer.

It holds rainbow, cutthroat and brown trout along with smallmouth bass and perch, and it fishes both from a boat and through the ice. The caution is the ice. This is a large reservoir with a river coming into its east arm, so inflow keeps some areas thin well after the surface looks continuous, and reading it from the shoreline is unreliable. Call the Hailstone office on 435-649-9540 for current conditions and get local guidance before walking out for the first time.