Updated 02/11/23 7:04 PM
Utah’s highway 12 is on many a short list of the top scenic highways in the country. It is 112 miles of some of the most incredible and interesting scenery in Utah’s red rock canyon country.
Utah
1999, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2017
If you are planning to drive from Bryce Canyon National Park to Moab, Utah to visit Canyonlands and Arches National Parks there two choices.
The easy way is to take Utah highway 12 and US highway 89 about 100 miles north to Interstate 70. Take I-
Alternatively, you can take Utah’s scenic highway 12 combined with Utah highway 24, Utah highway 95 and US highway 191. Each of these highways is scenic in its own right. This itinerary will take you 350 miles through Utah’s incredibly beautiful canyon country with its strange and eye-
The photo gallery has pictures taken in all of the places mentioned below. Each heading is a link to another website with additional information about each of these places.
If you came from Zion to Bryce Canyon National Park you would have passed through Red Canyon shortly after turning onto highway 12. Red Canyon is a preview of the red rock scenery that you see in Bryce. There is an information Kiosk located at the mouth of Red Canyon. Here you can get information that provides an overview of the entire highway 12 scenic byway and highlights significant features.
This park has its own page on this website. The link is to that page for information about Bryce.
This is located 11 miles east of the entrance to Bryce. You take a right turn at the intersection and a mile or less down the road is the ‘entrance’ to the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. It is about 9 miles to the park and, to the best of my recollection, the road is a good graded road i.e. not paved. The park was named to highlight the photogenic qualities of the scenery. The Kodak company was happy to have the association with their famous kodachrome brand of color film. This can be about a 2 to 3 hour side trip. Cottonwood Road, which is the road down to the state park, is a terrific back country drive that ends at US Highway 89. It is a 47-
This back country drive is off highway 12 about 5 miles east of Escalante, Utah. Hole In The Rock Trail is a historic trail used by Mormon pioneers. The ‘Hole in the Rock’ is a notch in the sandstone that is right at Lake Powell. It was thought to be a short cut and, for the wagon train of 83 wagons and 250 men, women and children, it was not what they expected. The link has a picture and tells the story. It is 55 miles from highway 12 to the ‘hole’ and the dirt road was not all that great. Not terrible but not worth the time to go all the way to the ‘hole’. As such, I only took the road the 12 miles down to the Devil’s Garden. The ‘garden’ contains sandstone formations of arches and hoodoos. It is about a 1.5 -
A few miles further the road goes through an expanse of the most rugged wilderness of sandstone formations that stretch for as far as the eye can see. It rides the spine of a long ridge with 360 degree panoramic views of this awesomely beautiful wilderness. There are parts where the road is narrow, with a decent shoulder, and steep slopes on both sides of the road that drop off hundreds of feet. It is not exactly a road that you want to drive at night. Beautiful it is by day; scary at night. It is certainly a highlight of highway 12 that you don’t want to miss. The photo gallery has an aerial photo of the spine of the ridge.
If you have already driven the Hogsback, and are looking for something different, this is a 36-
A little past the half-
I had heard back in 1999, when I was taking a trip through the area, of a scary Hell’s Backbone bridge. I can recall seeing a picture of the original bridge which looked narrow, wooden and without sides. On that trip I didn’t have time to go there. In 2005, when I did take the Hell’s Backbone drive, the new bridge had replaced it. It may have been replaced prior to my 1999 trip. I searched the web and haven’t been able to find out that information nor a picture of the original wooden bridge.
After you pass over the Hogsback you reach the ‘town’ of Boulder, Utah which is more a postal code than a town in the sense that most people know the word.
Boulder is at the intersection of Highway 12 and the Burr Trail. You’ll know you are there because you’ll see the Boulder Mountain Lodge at this intersection. Boulder was the last town in Utah to still receive its mail by mule which it did until 1935. I suspect the completion of the Hell’s Backbone road had something to do with that. Electric power came in 1947. As of the 2010 census the population was 226 with a population density of 8.6 people per square mile.
The Burr Trail travels 69 miles down to the ‘town’ of Bullfrog on Lake Powell. The first 30 miles, up to the border of Capitol Reef National Park, is paved. This part of Capitol Reef is the remote southernmost part of the national park. If you are planning on visiting Capitol Reef National Park the part of the park with the visitor’s center is on highway 24 about 10 miles east of the terminus of highway 12.
About 12 miles east of highway 12 the road goes through dramatic Long Canyon. If you can’t take the entire Burr Trail taking a side trip down to this canyon and back is recommended.
After Long Canyon the road climbs slowly up the Waterpocket Fold and into the national park. In the park the road becomes unpaved but it is a good gravel road that takes you to the Burr Trail switchbacks. The switchbacks are also unpaved but wide and were in excellent condition and did not require 4WD. The switchbacks take you down to the east side of the Waterpocket Fold. The ride down (or up) is spectacular with beautiful views. From the switchbacks it is about another 5 miles until you hit pavement again which you have until you reach Lake Powell. At the base of the switchbacks there’s the very scenic back country Notom-
One caveat -
That being said, the Burr Trail is said to be Utah’s most scenic backway. It typically rates a 10 out of 10 for the unparalleled scenic beauty of the drive. There’s several links below to websites listing the most scenic roads in America and Utah’s highway 12 ranks high, or highest, on each list.
You reach the end of highway 12 at Torrey, Utah. From here you turn east on highway 24 which takes you through Capitol Reef National Park. The link above takes you to the page for that national park on this website.
Forty-
This is a long desolate but scenic road that runs 121 miles between Hanksville and U.S. Highway 191 with virtually no services in between. It is even more remote than the most remote parts of highway 12. Make sure that you have enough gas before traveling this lonely stretch. One description that I read said that highway 95 was one of the most underrated, in terms of scenic beauty, roads in the U.S.
The Dirty Devil River is an 80-
Located 104 miles south of Hanksville, Utah, this is another place to spend a few hours on your drive. The parks scenic drive is a 13-
The most visited part of this is on the south side of Lake Powell especially the area around the Glen Canyon Dam at Page, Utah. The northern side has a number of dirt roads that lead to the lake for hiking, fishing and boating.
Utah Highway 95 ends at US highway 191 which is no less scenic than any of the others. At the junction you head north towards Blanding, Utah and Moab. It is 75 miles to Moab. Before you reach Moab you will reach the turn off for state road 211 which goes into the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. Moab is the quintessential outdoor sports mecca -
This itinerary is obviously not one that can be done in one day. Depending on how much of the above points of interest you want to explore, and how much time you want to spend on them, especially if you want to do justice to Capitol Reef National Park, I would suggest allowing at least 4 days for this drive. These are very good roads, one lane in either direction, that you can easily do 60 MPH or more in many places; much less in others. The scenery begs you to look at it. At 70 MPH you really need to be looking at the road.
Another note about back country drives. What I traveled on and called a good graded road might not be so today. You always need to research this before you take a drive on them. Talk to the park rangers, the BLM and search the web if this is something you might want to do. The condition of the road is a function of how often they send a grader to smooth it out. That is a function of money to spend on this and over the recent years the national parks and state budgets have been cut to the bone and the result is roads in poorer conditions.
Desert Bighorn Sheep, elk, mule deer, foxes, beaver and other small mammals. Parts of this drive pass through desert and the usual array of snakes, including rattlesnakes, lizards, other reptiles and amphibians will be found there. There’s golden eagles, falcons, hawks and a couple of hundred other bird species.
Lodging to be found in the Utah towns of Boulder, Torrey, Teasdale, Hanksville, Blanding and Moab.
At the intersection of the Burr Trail and highway 12 is the Boulder Mountain Lodge which is home to the Hell’s Backbone Grill. Having stayed at the lodge twice I can vouch for both its fine accommodations and dining. It is a great place to stay and I highly recommend it. It’s convenient to Long Canyon, Hell’s Backbone and the Hogback -
If you take a trip down to Lake Powell there is the Defiance House Lodge at Bullfrog which is a Burr Trail terminus. The lodge sits on a bluff overlooking Lake Powell and the views, especially in the dining room, are beautiful.
Most of the places mentioned above have hiking options. A search of each individual place that you plan to visit will give you the best and most current picture of what may be available at the level you are comfortable with.
Five miles north of Natural Bridge National Monument is an intersection with highway 276. This is a paved road that goes down to Hall’s Crossing at Lake Powell. There is nothing there but a ferry that you can take across the lake to Bullfrog where the Defiance House Lodge is. The lodge is a beautiful, scenic place and Bullfrog is one end of the Burr Trail. Knowing the ferry schedule in advance can save hours of waiting.
About 2 miles south of Natural Bridges National Monument is the intersection with Utah’s highway 261. This 30 plus mile road goes through the Grand Gulch Primitive Area wilderness and ends just outside of the town of Mexican Hat, Utah (pop. 31) which is just north of Monument Valley. The road is paved until it reaches an old uranium mining road called the Mokee Dugway switchbacks. Here it is unpaved but wide and in good shape because it is one of the very few north-
These side trips are only mentioned because they intersect with highway 95. Unless you have weeks to spend criss-
These following sites contain lists of the most scenic drives in the U.S.
Reader’s Digest -
Trip Advisor -
Travel And Leisure -
Attractions of America -
DeskToDirtbag.com’s most scenic drives in the USA -
National Parks Zone