Utah State Route 12

Overview

Utah State Route 12 is a 123-mile All-American Road from south of Panguitch to Torrey, one of the most scenic drives in the U.S., passing through Dixie National Forest, Red Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Escalante, and Capitol Reef country. It crosses Boulder Mountain at more than 9,000 feet.

Highlights

• Red Canyon: red hoodoos beside the road, with short hikes
• Bryce Canyon National Park: a spur road (SR 63) to the rim
• Hogsback: a narrow ridge with steep drops on both sides between Escalante and Boulder
• Burr Trail and Escalante: access to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
• Capitol Reef: the east end near Torrey

Overview

Proceeding west to east for 123 miles (nearly 200 km), the highway starts south of Panguitch at an intersection with US-89, crosses part of Dixie National Forest and Bryce Canyon National Park, continues through the small towns of Tropic, Cannonville, and Henrieville. It crosses various parts of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GS-ENM), continues northeast through Escalante and over the Escalante River, then over "The Hogback", a narrow ridge with no guardrails or shoulders and steep drop-offs on each side. It then proceeds north through more of GS-ENM, Boulder, the Aquarius Plateau, and Grover, ending in Torrey at an intersection with SR-24, five miles (8 km) west of Capitol Reef National Park. The 30-mile (48 km) long portion of the highway that ascends and descends Boulder Mountain on the Aquarius Plateau is known as Boulder Mountain Highway.

The segment of SR-12 between the US-89 and SR-63 junctions is part of the National Highway System.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Utah State Route 12", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0