Abandoned Towns
Collapsed wooden cabins, a graffiti-covered trailer and scattered buildings at Cisco on a flat desert plain under summer clouds, seen from the train

Railroad and road town · Farm and ranch town

Cisco

A water stop for steam trains that grew into a small supply town, then faded when diesel and I-70 left it behind. Collapsed cabins and old cars remain, but a few people still live here and one property is an artist residency. We could not confirm whether visitors are welcome.

38°58′12″N 109°19′14″W · ≈4,360 ft

Photo: Mx. Granger, Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Two residents · 2026 report

People live here: KSL put the population at two in May 2026, and Southwest Contemporary at one to three in July 2025. Neither report says whether visitors may walk around Cisco. In December 2024 Kara Bard bought the one-acre former Home of the Brave residency, which includes the old post office and a 1923 log cabin, and runs it as an artist residency. Its previous owner told Southwest Contemporary of repeated vandalism and trespassing. Treat the buildings as private property. Look from the public road and don't go inside.

Overview

A water stop the railroad stopped needing

Two weathered wooden buildings, one with a faded red stripe across its front, beside a gravel street, October 2005
Two weathered wooden buildings, one with a faded red stripe across its front, beside a gravel street, October 2005 · Photo: Kevin Delaney (Yintercept at en.wikipedia), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5

Cisco grew up in the 1880s around a saloon and a water tank on the Denver and Rio Grande Western main line between Grand Junction and Salt Lake City. Steam engines had to stop for water here, and the railroad kept a depot and section buildings. Around 1900, sheepmen sheared more than 100,000 head at Cisco before shipping them to market, and ranchers from the Book Cliffs bought their supplies here.

Oil and gas found nearby in 1924 helped, and about 200 people lived here in the 1940s. Then diesel locomotives made the water stop unnecessary, and Interstate 70 took the traffic off old US 6 and 50, the highway through town, and the town's economy collapsed. Cisco was assigned a ZIP code, 84515, but for years it had no permanent residents, only occasional oilfield workers.

What's left is a scatter of collapsed cabins, a few standing buildings and rusting cars beside the tracks. Freight trains still use a siding here, and the California Zephyr passes through without stopping. Whitewater rafters use Cisco as a landing for trips through Westwater Canyon.

A few people still live in Cisco. In 2015 artist Eileen Muza bought property here, restored the old post office and a log cabin, and later started an artist residency. The 2020 census counted 4 people. Kara Bard bought the residency property in December 2024 and runs it today, and in 2025 and 2026 reporters put the population at one to three.

Timeline

From water tank to bypass

Scattered buildings, a collapsing wooden shack and parked trailers across the flat at Cisco, November 2011
Scattered buildings, a collapsing wooden shack and parked trailers across the flat at Cisco, November 2011 · Photo: Phil Whitehouse from London, United Kingdom, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
  1. Cisco starts as a saloon and a water stop for the steam engines of the Denver and Rio Grande Western, on its main line between Grand Junction and Salt Lake City.
  2. Over 100,000 sheep are sheared here before shipping, by Legends of America's count. Ranchers and herders from the Book Cliffs use the town as a supply point.
  3. Oil and natural gas are found nearby, which gives the town a lift.
  4. About 200 people live here, by Legends of America's account.
  5. Diesel locomotives end the need for a water stop, and the town starts to decline.
  6. Vanishing Point is released, with its opening and closing scenes filmed at Cisco.
  7. Interstate 70 bypasses the town and its already shrinking economy collapses.
  8. New oil and gas wells are drilled in the nearby Cisco Oil Field.
  9. Artist Eileen Muza buys property in Cisco and restores the old post office and a 1923 log cabin. The Home of the Brave artist residency opens there in 2019.
  10. The census counts 4 people, up from none, by Utah Humanities' account.
  11. Kara Bard buys the former residency property and reopens it as an artist residency.

What's left

What you'll see

The Cisco Landing Store, October 2009
The Cisco Landing Store, October 2009 · Photo: GerthMichael, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
A weathered white house and outbuildings, October 2009
A weathered white house and outbuildings, October 2009 · Photo: GerthMichael, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Legends of America describes Cisco as "numerous abandoned buildings and businesses, sitting amongst old railroad and oilfield junk and dozens of rusting cars," nearly all of it crumbling and vandalized. A photo taken from the eastbound California Zephyr in July 2025, at the top of this page, shows collapsed log and plank cabins, a trailer covered in graffiti and a few houses still standing. Some buildings are lived in. The old one-room post office and a 1923 log cabin, both restored, are part of the artist residency's property.

The 1958 USGS sheet in the historic maps below shows a compact grid of buildings south of the tracks, a landing strip, and oil and gas wells around the town. The 1960 sheet marks a dismantled railroad loop west of town, and the 1983 sheet shows I-70 passing to the northwest.

  • Collapsed cabins and sheds
  • A few standing houses and businesses
  • Old post office and 1923 log cabin (restored, private)
  • Rusting cars
  • Railroad siding (in use)
  • Oilfield debris and nearby wells
USGS topographic map of Cisco beside the railroad, with 2nd Street and roads leading off
USGS The National Map, topo. Cisco just south of the rail line, with 2nd Street running off to the southwest.
Aerial view of a rail line crossing a pale desert flat, with scattered buildings along the streets below it
Aerial imagery, same area. The rail line runs diagonally across the top; Cisco's scattered buildings line the streets just south of it, with a larger yard of structures at lower right.

Historic maps

Cisco on USGS maps, 1958–1983

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

USGS topographic map around Cisco, 1958
Cisco sheet, 1958, 1:62,500 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

Moab is the nearest town with full services. Drive north on US 191 to I-70, east to exit 204, and follow SR 128 a short way before turning onto the old highway into Cisco. From Grand Junction, leave I-70 at exit 214 and follow the old highway west. Legends of America gives the same two exits: 204 eastbound and 214 westbound.

USGS topographic map from Moab north to I-70 and Cisco with the route drawn on it

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

From Main Street in Moab59.6 miabout 1 h 14 min
  1. From Main Street in Moab, head north on US 191.31.4 mi
  2. Take the ramp onto I-70 east.22.4 mi
  3. Take exit 204 and turn right onto SR 128.3.1 mi
  4. Continue straight onto County Road 175, the old highway, and 2nd Street into Cisco.2.5 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

  • People live in Cisco, and the residency and other buildings are private property. No source we found says whether visitors may walk around, so stay on the public road and don't go inside.
  • Old buildings here are collapsing. Keep clear of fallen roofs and loose boards.
  • There are no services in Cisco. Fuel up in Moab, Green River or Grand Junction and carry water, especially in summer.

Photos

Cisco in photos

Visitor reports

Been to Cisco?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Cisco

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Utah index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. ghosttowns.com, "Cisco": fact sheet fields (roads, climate, best time).
  2. Wikipedia, "Cisco, Utah", retrieved October 2026: 1880s saloon and water stop, sheep shearing, 1924 oil and gas, 2005 wells, I-70 bypass, ZIP code, years without permanent residents, siding and Zephyr, rafters, Vanishing Point, coordinates.
  3. Legends of America, "Cisco", updated August 2026: depot and section buildings, 100,000 sheep, about 200 people in the 1940s, diesel in the 1950s, remains, exits 204 and 214.
  4. "Ghost Towns: Cisco", Beehive Archive, Utah Humanities with the Moab Museum, July 8, 2024: the 2020 census count of four, up from zero.
  5. "Eerie Abandoned Artist Colony in Utah Ghost Town Finally Snags a Buyer", Realtor.com, November 26, 2024: Eileen Muza's 2015 purchase and the 2024 sale of the residency property.
  6. "The Birth, Death, and Resurrection of a Ghost Town Artist Residency", Southwest Contemporary, July 29, 2025: Kara Bard's December 2024 purchase, a population of one to three, the post office and 1923 log cabin, the residency since 2019, vandalism and trespassing.
  7. "This Utah ghost town doubles as an artist residency", KSL, May 19, 2026: a population of two, and Bard owning and running the residency.
  8. Coordinates: Wikipedia (from USGS GNIS). Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Not field-checked.

Photo and map credits

Record7 of 9
  • Coordinates
  • Railroad and oil history
  • Residents and the residency, 2024–2026
  • Photo of the remains, 2025
  • Historic maps, 1958–1983
  • Routes from Moab and Grand Junction
  • 2020 census count
  • Visitor access, dated
  • Post office dates
Missing items are what we'll ask readers and local sources to fill.