Penny Post
- Alex Cabrero
- Nov 9
- 5 min read
Updated: Dec 2
(Knolls) I have always loved weird things in the desert. And there are a lot of them in Utah. It’s hard to explain why, but I think it’s safe to say the desert does things to people. It also draws people to check out some of the oddities it hides. Penny Post is certainly one of them.
Penny Post is simple enough. It’s just a wooden post hammered full of pennies in the middle of the West Desert near Knolls just off I-80. However, it gets lots of attention by being… well… strange. And I love strange.
I don’t remember where I first heard about Penny Post. A random website? Social Media? Something somebody said? No idea. But I do know this about myself: if something quirky is sitting miles out in the open desert, I want to see it. I convinced Kylie she wanted to see it, too. Timber, our brave little black Borador, was always up for anything. Getting there, though… that turned out to be its own adventure.
Attempt 1: Up and Over the Knolls (wrong)
You would think finding a wooden post would be simple. The Knolls OHV Area is basically nothing but open desert, after all. However, our GPS had other ideas. On our first attempt, instead of guiding us anywhere reasonable, it pulled us up and over some of the actual knolls. Those are big sandy hills with nothing but wind, dust, and plenty of confusion at the top. We ended up perched on some high overlook, staring into a whole lot of “this definitely isn’t right.” I knew Penny Post was somewhere out there, but not there. Since it was getting dark, we figured we weren’t going to see Penny Post on this trip. The West Desert has a special way of making dusk feel even darker. We bailed.
Attempt 2: The Aragonite Detour to Nowhere (wrong again)
On our second attempt a few weeks later, the GPS decided to send us a different way than the first time. I figured this had to be right. It had us get off the Aragonite exit. Aragonite is some chemical mineral industrial plant. Our GPS took us straight down a narrow dirt track right past it. Then it kept going. Near some railroad tracks, another industrial area, and soon a long military fence. Eventually, we got to a rocky ridge the GPS insisted we drive up and over. Even our Jeep looked at that ridge like, “Yeah, no.” I got out and walked a bit just to check it out and knew right away this wasn’t right, either. And, once again, the sun was setting. Mission aborted. Twice.
Attempt 3: When in Doubt, Drop a Pin (finally right!)
Before the third attempt, I decided to outsmart the GPS. I dropped a pin near the information sign at the Knolls OHV area and mapped directly from that point to what I believed was the Penny Post location. It worked! Kylie will say it’s because we used her Samsung Galaxy phone this time instead of my Apple iPhone, but whatever. This route took us through salt flats and over little sandy bumps. Along the way, we passed the sort of random desert “art” the West Desert is known for. We saw a headless doll, a cardboard cutout of the Chick-fil-A cow, a bomb looking thing, and all sorts of mysteries I still don’t have explanations for. I loved all of it. Kylie wasn’t so sure.
After this quick stop to admire the amazing art, it was time to check the GPS and look out onto the salt falts to see if we could see Penny Post. We couldn’t, but we were still miles away. So, we kept driving. It’s always on odd sensation to drive on the salt flats because you’re not sure if you’re going to sink and get stuck. Your mind messes with you. It hadn’t rained in a long time, though, and the salt was dry. Then, eventually, we saw something in the distance.
We saw it just in time because we were beginning to wonder if we were lost again. Then, ahead of us in the distance, we could see what looked like a pole sticking out of the ground all by itself. It didn’t look like it should be there, which only meant we were in the right place. Penny Post is tucked into a little bowl of sandy mounds and scraggly desert shrubs. Up close, it’s even weirder than I thought.
Hundreds, maybe thousands, of pennies are hammered into the wooden post with nails. Some are wedged into cracks. Some are crooked. Some are shiny. Some are so weathered they’re practically part of the wood grain. It’s strange, wonderful, and makes absolutely no sense. Which is exactly why I love it.
Kylie thought it was cool too, though she’s always the more practical one between us. Timber sniffed everything, probably wondering what on earth we brought her to this time. Timber was never really a big fan of the desert. Plus, she only liked to potty where there was lush green grass. This definitely wasn’t the place to well a well-manicured lawn. But, as always, she had fun and loved these little adventures. Kylie and I miss her.
I love geocaching and there was one hidden in the desert vegetation nearby. We took pictures, laughed, questioned the “why” of the whole thing, then answered ourselves with “why not?” Some places don’t need meaning and that’s okay.
I don’t really know how Penny Post started. I did some research and couldn’t find anything. It’s now just desert lore and legend. Maybe Penny Post exists because enough curious wanderers wanted to say, “Hey, we were here.” So, of course, I had to leave a penny here. I didn’t have a hammer or nail, so I wrote our initials A, K, and T, in ink and slid the coin into one of the cracks. Our little mark in the middle of nowhere.
I would say Penny Post is worth the trip. Just make sure you check your map and make sure the GPS is taking you on a proper route :) We finally found it on the third try, but in a way, I’m thankful for the two wrong attempts. It makes our story even better and Kylie and I still laugh about it to this day. Without a doubt, it’s one of our favorite little adventure stories.
The West Desert may be dusty, lonely, and weird, but every so often it rewards you with something unforgettable. For me, Penny Post was exactly that. And now that the U.S. Government is no longer producing and minting pennies, maybe one day this place will be known as Penny Post National Historical Park. Hey, you never know!
LOCATION (again, check and double check): Google Maps coordinates
Make sure you have plenty of gas. There aren’t any gas stations near here. Delle to the east (45 miles) and Wendover to the west (78 miles) and your closest options. Also, cell phone signals were spotty. Download your GPS route while you still have a signal. Also, don’t forget to bring a penny, hammer, and nail.
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