SPANISH FORK, Utah — Dozens of vehicles parked on the road in a portion of Diamond Fork Canyon were towed over the weekend after a driver reported heavy congestion in the area.
When a Utah County Sheriff’s Office arrived, they were unable to drive through the congestion either, which prompted the towing and ticketing of vehicles.
“That’s kind of where we draw the line, we don’t like to come up here and just hang tickets on people’s cars and impound cars we recognize how inconvenient that is for people,” said Sgt. Spencer Cannon. “If a camper and a pickup with a trailer can’t get thru then we know that EMS, an ambulance and search and rescue wouldn’t be able to get thru if we needed to be up here.”
Some hikers were in for a rude awakening when they returned to the parking areas, or in many cases, along the road.
In total, roughly a dozen cars were towed and nearly 40 were cited.
“There was at least one car that I know of that was parked fully with all four tires inside the travel lane, so not even the outside tires were outside of the white line,” added Cannon. “If you hike out to the hot pots here and you come out and your car is gone, then you’ve got a ten-mile hike back to highway 6.”
The area lacks also cell reception, meaning people who had their cars towed had to find rides back into the Spanish Fork area.
“There was a lot of people, I’ve been there one other time, it’s been a couple of years, but most of the time they tell you don’t park on the sides and it was really bad yesterday,” said Anne Herbert, who went to drive and hike in the area on Sunday. “Just park correctly, read the signs , it says no parking, there’s probably like every five feet there’s a no parking sign.”
Parking can be tough at the main trailhead for the Diamond Fork (Fifth Water) Hot Springs. Many visitors are forced to park further down the road in marked ‘pullout’ areas or lots.
“We recognize the inconvenience this is for people, but the signs clearly post where you can and cannot park,” said Sgt. Cannon.
