Random Rambler: The Ovens

The Ovens are some super, super old oven structures along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST) in Provo. They are in rough shape, but actually surprisingly good condition being so close to the city without any measures to protect them. I love me some old structures so naturally I decided this was totally in my realm of interests. It took a little oomph to find but we did find them.

Quick Details:

Length: We did about 1.25 miles out and back, with some exploring.
Trail Type: Out and back.
Difficulty: Eh, its a bit of a climb, with a couple scrambles, but not too bad. DR3.
Elevation Gain: About 240 feet.
Restroom: No.
Dogs? I think they are technically allowed, but this isn’t the kind of adventure I would bring them on.
Other Info: There is no shade. Not recommended on a hot day. Also, this is our history. Please do your part in protecting it. Do not tag, do not remove rocks or bricks. Be gentle.

To Get Here:

I am not trying to gatekeep or anything, but these are special, so I am not going to give directions. If you are as determined as I am, you will find them. But I am not going to make it any easier.

On our way back north from Salem I noticed this old smoke stack (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

I don’t know what it is, but it is a neat old building of some sort (PSP).

The Trail:

We found an old jeep trail neighborhood connector to get us up onto the benches.

There is a decent view of Utah Lake below.

Panoramic.

Following some power lines.

Then we took a thin offshoot trail heading up.

Everything is starting to dry out, but it is pretty.

The view down.

Pretty trail.

This trail took us up to the top, so I guess we will explore that first.

Narrow canyon above.

Where the chimney was. It looks like they decided to fill it in. I imagine due to safety concerns.

Looking over the edge.

The narrow canyon again.

I believe this is a mountain bluebird.

The canyon again.

These are cute.

The other side of the oven.

I was hoping to find a trail down on this side. There was one on the other side but it looked a bit steep.

We went a little further but did not find a trail down, so we turned around.

Oh look, you can see Spanish Fork Canyon and the windmills below it.

The narrow canyon again.

Heading down the steep path on this side of the ovens.

The bottom half of the hill. It is a little less steep than the top half.

That looks like lime.

The side again.

It is a little sketch to get in close between the steep slope and the trees.

It looks like there are 3 portals.

The right portal. There is quite a bit of graffiti on the structure.

Getting closer.

It is in surprisingly good shape, considering. And, while I generally hate graffiti, at least that is clever and artistic.

The release chute.

Alright, so I am certainly no expert on pioneer era structures or ovens, but I have seen enough limekilns to be fairly certain that is what these ovens are. Plus you know, the big piles of quicklime outside are another clue. I had heard of a Provo Limekiln as well, and now I am starting to wonder if this is one and the same. I am going to have to dig a bit more.

Anyway, there are two limekilns that have been restored and are in good condition you can see. The biggest being the 4 portal limekiln in Limekiln Gulch, and a small single portal one called the Historic Ogden Canyon Kiln.

I don’t know how old this one is but, according to the sign at the Ogden Kiln this style of kiln was popular in the late 1800’s. They produced quicklime, which was important to building buildings as it was used to form mortar and plaster. They fell out of favor in the early 1900’s when Portland cement came into wide use. The Ogden one was built in 1865.

The remaining one in Limekiln Gulch was built in 1850’s. So, I would speculate this was probably built around the same general time.

The release chute again. Sadly, like Stone House and Limekiln Gulch, it appears to be a local teenager haunt to drink, do drugs, and cause mischief. Aside from the vandalizing, I am not judging. Me and my friends found places like this to drink and do drugs and be mischievous. But, as mischievous as we were, none of us ever tagged or damaged anything. For the record, if you do that, you are a dick. Come here and smoke as much pot as you want, just leave the structure alone! Sadly one of my favorite old buildings we used to haunt has been torn down.

Back to the kiln... Original brickwork.

Getting to the middle portal was a little bit more of an adventure.

It has been caved in. Totally just speaking out of my ass here, but I suspect this is from filling in the chimney.

More original brickwork.

The left portal was also a little tough to get to.

But we eventually made it.

Inside.

This is so neat.

The way that the ovens worked is they would break limestone into small pieces, then stack alternating layers of it and wood into the kiln. Then they would light it all on fire. Over the course of a few days the super heated kiln would convert the limestone into quicklime, which would drop down into these chambers to be collected.

Brickwork.

The walls above.

This is unique in that there is a separator between the ovens.

We popped over to the right over again real quick.

Where I found this work of art. Snort.

The whole kiln from below, where you can see the little separators.

Lime piles on both sides.

The remains of some structure to the right. I wonder what that was.

And another below. These are both odd.

The kiln again. It kind of looks like it curves into a slight crescent shape. That is different too.

Now, I am just pulling this out of my ass, but it looks like this was some sort of holding bin for the quicklime.

The kiln above.

Overflowing lime.

Lots of graffiti.

The lime pile again.

That is a lot of lime.

I was wondering why there was a little canyon in it, but now that I am looking at this picture, it aligns with the narrow canyon above, so I am guessing this is where the rain flow goes. Again, totally pulling that out of my ass. But, it does make sense.

More lime piles.

Wait a minute… what is that???

We decided to see if the trail would get us there, or if we would have to bushwhack.

Morning glory.

Power lines.

The trail plopped us out on the top again. This one is a bit more overgrown, but it looks like we found a 2nd kiln! Yay! I was not at all expecting that.

I suspect this is where the chimney was. Just a faint indentation.

The other side.

Panoramic of the top of the kiln.

Heading down along another steep slope along the side. It looks like the side of this oven has crumbled away a bit.

The trees are even more thick in front of this one! Holy crap.

Super covered.

Eventually I found my way in.

Someone painted a rainbow over the left oven.

It is a little caved in.

This looks like it might be original structure wood. Neat!

The middle oven is quite caved in as well (again, likely due to filling in the chimney for safety). That looks like possible original wood back there as well.

The right oven. This structure is crumbling away. I started to feel a little unsafe in here.

The wall to the right that is crumbling away.

Stonework above.

The oven that is caved in as well.

Back to the middle oven.

The left oven.

Some original wood again.

The outside.

Again.

The front.

Panoramic. Most of the kiln is hidden by trees. I might have to come back in the dead months.

Well, we were starting to get hungry, so it was time to start heading back. We 86’d our final plan for the day in favor of dinner. So, we will be making another trip down this way eventually.

From the side again.

Heading back.

The valley below.

Panoramic.

Back to the lime piles.

And the 1st kiln.

The valley, and I thought there might be something interesting here too, but.. just a flattened hill.

The 1st kiln again.

Closer.

It looks like we will be going directly below the power line poles.

The valley.

Under the powerline poles.

Alfalfa.

The Y (PSP). I have thought about getting closer to it, but that hike looks like a little more work than I am willing to put in for a college letter. Plus I am not a sportsball person at all, but if I was, I would be more of a U fan.

Grove Creek and Battle Creek Canyons below Mount Timpanogos (PSP).

We made a quick stop in American Fork for dinner. I gotta say, I kind of appreciated breaking up the drive a little.

Some nice sunset (PSP).

I am not sure if their logo is always rainbow, or just rainbow for Pride Month, but either way, neat! (PSP).

Up over Point of the Mountain (PSP). Sometimes this minor pass bothers me, sometimes it doesn’t Today was a day that did not bother me day.

Fading sunset (PSP).

The Claw (PSP).

Well that was freaking neat! As I mentioned they are in surprisingly good condition considering where they are and the fact that they are not protected. That said, they are in pretty bad shape. Explore at your own risk. Anyway, we only ran into a 2 other small groups along the trail and had The Ovens to ourselves which is always nice. I love historic stuff like this, and I love that we found an unexpected bonus kiln! That was a nice surprise. 10 out of 10 squirrels.