Mars Station
Around Hanksville - Utah
Note: On dirt roads, road conditions can change constantly. Therefore, we strongly recommend that everyone check the road conditions before each trip. We do not recommend driving on unpaved roads before, during or shortly after rain or snowfall.
Here are the GPX files of the drive and our hike
Our visits: So far 1 visit in April 2022
Mars Desert Research Station
Description: The Mars Research Station is located west of Hanksville in the middle of a colorful badlands landscape. In fact, this is exactly how you could imagine Mars.
Here in the station a lot of experiments are carried out to simulate life on Mars and perhaps help to actually live on Mars someday. The station is not open to the public and can only be viewed from the street.
Until a few years ago it was possible to access the station, but now there are signs indicating that it is forbidden to enter the area. There is a small parking lot and a small path from which you can have a look at the station.
Depending on how long you spent on the 3mi drive, we would estimate the time required to be about an hour.
Our rating: Even though you are no longer allowed to approach the station, we considered the trip here quite interesting. Not only the station, but also the way to it are well worth a detour. The landscape is inhospitable but there are always small interesting hoodoos or other stone formations.
The unpaved approach was a bit rough during our visit in April 2022, but still easy to drive. As always on dirt roads, a higher ground clearance is not a disadvantage.
