There must be something special about the number 12 when they use it to designate highways. We went on a Highway 12 in Colorado and it was just gorgeous. Today we drove into Torrey and then turned south on Utah Highway 12 and it is truly extraordinary. The well-maintained two lane road starts climbing just outside Torrey with an elevation around 6500′ and continues up to about 9600′ between Grover and Boulder. From this stretch of road through the Fishlake and Dixie National Forests the views are down upon Capitol Reef National Park and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument AND up to snow-capped peaks to the east. They are magnificent views. This road above the scenery reminds me of the Blue Ridge Parkway with its views over North Carolina and Virginia. The difference here is the scenery isn’t just below you a couple thousand feet. Here the views extend from 4000 feet below to 2000 feet above you. Very spiffy.
In Boulder we turned east on Burr Trail Road headed for another remotely accessed section of Capitol Reef. The Burr Trail Road runs about 30 miles to the west boundary of Capitol Reef but the absolutely amazing scenery along this road is mostly within Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The road offers expansive views from ridgetops yet other portions of the road pass through a beautiful slot canyon with the unimaginative name of Long Canyon. A better name would be Magnificent Colors Canyon or Truly Awe-Inspiring Crack or something a bit more creative. The walls are very tall and very colorful along with being quite close together. At the north end of the canyon, the road breaks out at a nice pullout overlooking the entire Waterpocket Fold. This place is stunning.
The road then drops at 10% for a while before flattening out across a high desert mesa with soil the color of red wine. After about 10 miles the road hits the Capitol Reef boundary and it promptly turns to gravel so we chickened out, turned around and backtracked home. For those into 4 wheel drive fun, the gravel road at the end of the paving actually offers the quickest way back to Torrey but tough tires and good equipment would be prudent. If you get hurt down in this remote place, aid is a long time coming and medical help is very far away.
Utah Highway 12 and Burr Trail Road together offer truly world-class vistas filled with extraordinary scenery. I rank these roads right up with Colorado Highway 12 and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
We got some yummy pix which you can see if you click here