This morning, as I roll out of St. George, the posse takes on a new look. First, it’s shrinking considerably. And, our co-ed adventure is ending. Boo-hoo.
An ancient proverb dating back to the 1300s said, “All good things must come to an end.” Essentially, the proverb means nothing lasts forever, all things and situations are temporary. It may be used to express regret when something that brings you happiness ends.
That’s how I feel as the Sarah ditches me and heads home.
It was fun while it lasted – riding with Sarah the past five days. But apparently, all good things must come to an end. We have Geoffrey Chaucer to thank for that, articulated in his poem, Troilus and Criseyde.
Today, instead of Sarah climbing aboard my Harley, I watch her ease into an Uber, which takes her to the St. George Regional Airport. For those of you who want to track Sarah’s travels, she’s on UA # 5080, a Skywest Airlines flight departing St. George at 9:45 am.
If you want to track my ride, keep reading.
***
Heading Toward Cedar City
The posse that remains – Mark and me – departs St. George early. It’s gonna be a long day. More than 285 miles. Six-hours plus in the saddle.
We begin by jumping on I-15 North. If you’re a faithful blog reader, you know I’m not a big fan of interstate riding. It’s not about danger versus safety; interstates are just inherently boring.
So, let’s plan on 50 miles of boredom as I put my bike on cruise control and head toward Cedar City. Let the apathy begin.
Just before departing I-15 at Exit 567, I tap on the brakes, disconnecting cruise control and returning my ride to some sense of normalcy.
We’ve arrived in rapidly growing Cedar City, population 38,000. Home to Southern Utah University and the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Cedar City sits at an elevation 5,845 feet. The city was originally settled in 1851 by Mormon pioneers, who were sent to build an iron works. The area where the city is today was about ten miles from vast iron deposits, but Cedar City was named for the abundance of local trees, which are actually junipers, not cedar.
Cedar City is our first stop of the day. From here, the riding kicks up a notch. Or two. Or three. Soon, we’ll gain nearly 5,000 of elevation.
Utah Highway 14 takes us east, into Cedar Canyon. We’re riding along the Markagunt Plateau, where we”ll spend much of the morning. Off Highway 14 are the entrances to Brian Head Resort, Cedar Breaks National Monument, the Zion Overlook, Navajo Lake, and the Virgin River Rim.
Cedar Breaks National Monument
About 18 miles into the canyon, after passing 9,917-foot Cedar Canyon summit, there are signs for Cedar Breaks National Monument. The rim of the monument sits above 10,580 feet, and looks down into a half-mile deep geologic amphitheater. Cedar Breaks National Monument is rated the number one attraction for Cedar City visitors. Cedar Breaks National Monument is rated the number one attraction for Cedar City visitors.
Millions of years of sedimentation, uplift, and erosion carved out this giant amphitheater, which spans three miles. The rim of the canyon is forested with islands of Englemann spruce, subalpine fir, and aspen, separated by broad meadows of brilliant summertime wildflowers.
Our visit to the area should bring me to the Cedar Breaks National Monument by mid-morning. Many travelers come here at a different time of day, for a different kind of sightseeing.
The night sky is a protected feature of the area. You can experience dark skies at Cedar Breaks, year-round, from any of its overlooks. Every Saturday from May through Labor Day weekend, weather dependent, crowds ranging from 100 to 500 people gather at Cedar Break’s main overlook, Point Supreme. They’re here to gaze up at the region’s amazing dark skies and explore the stars and the planets that make up the solar system. The skies are so dark because Cedar Break is more than 10,500 feet above sea level, far away from any light pollution.
Unfortunately, daytime or night, we’re unable to get a good look at Cedar Breaks.
Cedar Breaks National Monument has received record amounts of snowfall this winter. It always snows a ton in this area, but this year saw more than double the normal amount of snowpack. Not long ago, the monument had 10 feet of snow with snow drifts up to 40 feet deep covering the main road. As a result, the National Park Service decided to not open the road to Cedar Breaks until possibly July.
How does that help us? Not at all. The road closure causes us to miss Cedar Breaks, and instead, keep heading east on Utah Highway 14, Cedar Canyon Road. It’s the second time this has happened to me. I met the same disappointment in 2016. Apparently, one should plan a trip here a bit later in the summer. Live and learn.
Red Rock Country
We continue on Highway 14, heading toward Bryce Canyon National Park — one of today’s highlights.
Rolling through Duck Creek Village, we soon arrive at Tod’s Junction, where we turn north on US Highway 89. This gentle roadway takes us through the town of Hatch, named after pioneer Meltier Hatch.
Soon, we turn east onto Utah Highway 12, one of the top five motorcycle rides I’ve been on, even if a portion of it frightens me every time I’m on it. More on the sphincter-tightening hogbacks later. Highway 12 is 122 miles of riding bliss. Except for the hogbacks.
Highway 12 is an All-American Road, Utah’s only byway with that designation. Considering the abundance of next-level awesome riding in Utah, that’s saying something.
Heading east on Highway 12, we arrive at the start of Red Canyon. The red color of the rock that characterizes this canyon – and this part of Utah – is due to the combination of iron and oxygen, called iron oxides. Of all the common colorful minerals found in the Earth’s crust, few are as abundant, dynamic, and multi-colored as iron. The beauty of Utah’s Red Rock Country is due to a single element: iron. The process of the iron oxide weathering is what gives the rock its signature red color.
Soon, we’re surrounded by brilliant red sandstone spires and formations. The rocks are largely limestone, built from sediment of a lake that covered the region 35 to 50 million years ago.
Near the beginning of Red Canyon, Highway 12 ducks through two short red rock arch tunnels, originally built in the early 1900s. Since then, the tunnels have served as the unofficial gateway to nearby Bryce Canyon National Park, which we’ll visit shortly. Both tunnels are listed as National Historic Landmarks.
Highway 12 was added to the state highway system in 1914, and it required tunneling through two rock formations. Ceremonies to open the newly authorized Bryce Canyon National Park, occurred in front of one of the tunnel arches almost 100 years ago. On June 1, 1925, a 315-car caravan arrived at the Red Canyon tunnels to celebrate the opening of Utah National Park – later renamed Bryce Canyon National Park. A banner at the ceremony proclaimed, “Welcome to Utah’s Fairyland.”
The tunnels are technically part of the state’s bridge inventory, and are inspected regularly for structural integrity. In 2018, before the busy tourist season got underway, construction crews shored up the tunnels, a $2.5 million rehabilitation project designed to address nearly 100 years of decay and erosion.
Bryce Canyon National Park
Less than ten miles past the tunnels, we take a respite from Highway 12, to check out scenery that’s equally breathtaking: Bryce Canyon National Park. It’s the fifth of 11 national parks we’ll visit on this trip.
Like most of Utah, the area near this canyon was settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s, and named after Ebenezer Bryce, who homesteaded here in 1874. Bryce, originally from Scotland, became a ship’s carpenter, converted to Mormonism, and left Scotland for Utah in 1847 at age 17. He was the only member of his family to be a Mormon Church convert; his father was so displeased about the conversion that he disowned young Ebenezer.
Bryce Canyon is a natural amphitheater adorned with hoodoos, irregular pillars of red, white, pink, and orange. Hoodoos exist on every continent, but Bryce Canyon has the largest concentration of them anywhere on earth. Hoodoo shapes are affected by the erosional patterns of alternating hard and softer rock layers.
Minerals deposited within different rock types can cause hoodoos to have different colors throughout their height. Bryce Canyon’s hoodoos are as small as a human, and as high as 200 feet. Hoodoos are formed over thousands of years of repeated freezing and thawing of water.
The word “hoodoo” means to bewitch. The name is derived from Hoodoo spirituality, where some natural forms are said to possess certain powers. The word’s origins are obscure, but are believed to originate as an alteration of the word “voodoo.”
Despite its name, Bryce Canyon is not a canyon at all, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The largest of the amphitheaters is Bryce Amphitheater – 12 miles long, 3 miles wide, and 800 feet deep.
The park covers 35,835 acres, making it about one-fourth the size of Zion National Park, which we visited yesterday. Bryce Canyon receives about 2.5 million visitors a year.
The scenic areas in and around what is now the park were first described in magazine articles published in 1916 by Union Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads. The region’s natural beauty sparked interest, but poor access to the remote area and lack of accommodations kept tourism to a minimum.
By the early 1920s, there was talk of rail service expanding into southwestern Utah to accommodate more tourists. At the same time, conservationists became alarmed by the damage unregulated visitation was causing. A movement to have the area protected soon started, and National Park Service Director Stephen Mather proposed that Bryce Canyon be made into a state park.
Utah’s governor and state legislature lobbied for national protection of the area, and in 1923, Bryce Canyon was declared a National Monument. Congress upgraded the monument’s status to a National Park in 1928. Rim Road, which we’ll ride shortly, was completed in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
We enter Bryce Canyon National Park, and head south toward Rainbow Point, the highest part of the park, at 9,105 feet. It’s an 18-mile ride to the Rainbow, which is at the end of the road.
Returning to UT-12, the All-American Road
After exploring the park, my fifth of the trip, we rejoin Utah’s Highway 12 for the 100-mile ride to tonight’s destination, Torrey.
Just ahead is Tropic, the largest of three small ranching communities that make up the Bryce Valley. Tropic was founded in 1892, when 15 Mormon pioneer families came to settle the community. Today, the small town of 500 residents remains a ranching community, and is also part of the valley’s booming tourism industry. Ebenezer Bryce’s historic cabin is now a pioneer museum in Tropic, and you can visit it. The cabin is about two miles south of town, on the east side of the Pahreah River.
The other two ranching communities ahead on Highway 12 are Cannonville and Henrieville. Both started off with a strong Mormon history, and retain the church’s cultural and religious dominance today.
Cannonville, population 150, bears the name of George Q. Cannon, a Mormon leader in the late 1800s. He was the church’s chief political strategist, and an early member of the church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Cannon was a five-time Utah territorial delegate to the US Congress, from 1873 to 1882 — before Utah became a state in 1896.
Henrieville, with a population of 200, is named after James Henrie, another Mormon leader. Henrie was the first president of the Mormon Panguitch Stake, which was established in 1877.
Just past Henrieville you’ll see the actual “stairs” in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, extending across 1.9 million acres of federally owned land. Cannonville, Henrieville, and Escalante – a few miles up the road – sit along the northwest edge of the huge monument. Grand Staircase-Escalante is so large that it borders Bryce Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Lake Powell, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, and stretches almost to the Grand Canyon.
It was established as a National Monument in 1996 by President Bill Clinton, under the authority of the Antiquities Act, which gives presidents the authority to protect land. Establishing the National Monument was a big moment for conservation in the US. In this vast monument, you’ll see everything from Navajo sandstone cliffs to narrow slot canyons and arches. It’s so huge and remote that it was the last part of the lower 48 United States to get mapped.
In 30 miles, we arrive in Escalante, home to 800 residents. Escalante’s been on maps for a long time.
The town of about 800 is named after Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, a Franciscan missionary and a member of the first European expedition into southern Utah. Escalante was part of a small group that left Santa Fe, New Mexico – and tried to find a route to the missions of California.
The Dominguez–Escalante Expedition followed a route north through western Colorado, west across central Utah, and then southwest through what is now called the Escalante Desert. The expedition finally circled back to the east after reaching what is now Arizona, near the north rim of the Grand Canyon. They returned to Santa Fe having never entered California or the areas near what is today the city of Escalante.
In the 1870s, settlers from Panguitch first visited the area, where they met members of the John Wesley Powell expedition. The settlement was named based on a suggestion of Powell’s group to honor Escalante, even though the expedition had not traveled into the valley. In June 1875, the settlers returned to survey the valley. They staked out 20-acre parcels, liked what they saw, and decided to stay.
Hogbacks Ahead
After a break in Escalante, we press on for the final 64 miles to Torrey. This stretch of road is some of the most awe-inspiring and sphincter-tightening of the day.
Building Highway 12 was no piece of cake. Utah took nearly four decades to complete construction of the byway. It’s an engineering masterpiece, which we’ll soon discover.
Sporadically, from the 1940s to the 1980s, construction crews blasted, cut and paved their way through rugged hills and cliffs. Road construction was an engineering marvel, and was the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Soon, we have a startling vista of the Escalante Canyons, a labyrinth of deep channels breaking up the expanse of petrified dunes, appears. There are no guardrails along this section of Highway 12, which local residents have named the Hogsback, or Little Burma Road. With 14 percent grades, it snakes along a ridge with fatal drop offs on either side. It’s only fatal if you go off the road.
Sometimes known as Hell’s Backbone, the road follows the spine of the Aquarius Plateau, skirting the edge of the Box and Death Hollow. Hell’s Backbone was built to connect Escalante with Boulder, a distance of 28 miles.
I’ve ridden the Hogback a handful of times, all with the same feeling of utter terror. As someone who loathes steep drop-offs – on hikes, on skis, and Harley rides – I hate this part of Highway 12. But it’s the only route to Torrey, so we press on.
Sometimes, you just gotta suck it up.
The next town ahead is Boulder, which sits at 6,700 feet at the base of Boulder Mountain – just eight miles past the Hogback.
Boulder, with a population of 230, claims to be the last community in the continental US to have received its mail by mule train. Completion of a year-round dirt road in 1939 opened Boulder to car traffic from the south and west. The mail mules are now retired.
Torrey, tonight’s destination, is just 37 miles north of Boulder on Highway 12, but if the mountain route was closed, you’d have to drive more than 200 miles to get there, by way of Panguitch. In 1977, this stretch of road was the only remaining unpaved section of Highway 12. Before the Boulder Mountain section of Highway 12 was paved, snow and mud closed the dirt road from late November until May. Even in the summer months, traveling the unpaved road over Boulder Mountain could be a bone-rattling adventure.
Paving the road over Boulder Mountain brought change to communities along Highway 12. And, it attracted visitors from around the world to these once-isolated communities, making tourism a central part of local economies. That, along with its designation as an All-American Highway, brought tourism to Boulder.
If you have time – we don’t – stop by Hell’s Backbone Grill for lunch. Travelers will be pleasantly surprised to find this Zagat-rated organic eatery, run on Buddhist principles, with a focus on sustainability. The restaurant serves a style of “Four Corners cuisine,” an updated combination of cowboy classics, Mormon recipes and traditional Southwestern fare. The food is organic and locally produced, matched with the seasons. For a town of 200, Boulder has some other restaurants worth a try, including Sweetwater Kitchen and Burr Trail Grill.
Boulder Mountain
We leave the town of Boulder, elevation 6,700 feet, and begin our journey up the mountain.
We’ll climb nearly 3,000 feet, twisting and turning, before arriving at the Highway 12 summit of Boulder Mountain. Also known as Bluebell Knoll and Boulder Top, Boulder Mountain reaches 11,317 feet – not the highway, the mountain peak.
When the Tour de Utah bicycle race was held annually, beginning in 2010, it attracted world-class cyclists for a 700-mile, week-long battle. One of the stages ended in Torrey. The 99-mile ride began in Escalante, went over Boulder Mountain, and crossed the finish line in Torrey. During that day’s ride, the peloton gained 9,435 vertical feet, and included a King-of-the-Mountain climb.
The race’s terrain boasted a mix of high-altitude mountains, punchy climbs, testing time trials and rapid sprint finishes. Each year, the field got bigger and stronger, and included well-known cycling names who had Tour de France experience; Levi Leipheimer won the event in 2010 and 2011.
The Tour de Utah is no longer held, primarily due to lack of economic support. Cycling hasn’t caught on in the US, the way it has in Europe. Utah’s isn’t the first race to disappear off the USA bicycle racing calendar; the Tour de California, and the Tour of Colorado have both fallen by the wayside, leaving no major American cycle races.
Whether on bicycle, motorcycle, car or truck, Highway 12 traverses the eastern side of the mountain from Boulder to Torrey. It follows the same route as the peloton did, and as we are today.
Boulder Mountain’s 50,000 acres of trees cover half of the Aquarius Plateau making it the highest wooded plateau in North America. The mountain is filled with a dense forest of pine and aspen trees. As we approach the summit, we’re riding above the tree line. It’s very stark, and a much lower tree line than what we experience in Colorado.
The summit of Highway 12, which sits at 9,591 feet, is nearly flat and covers roughly 70 square miles.
Arriving in Torrey
As you would expect, the summit is about halfway between Boulder and Torrey. We begin our 3,000-foot descent into Torrey, and arrive in the town of 250 fashionably late as a result of today’s longer-than-usual ride.
Torrey marks the end of our Highway 12 fun-fest.
It sits at the intersection of Utah Highways 12 and 24. The town is home to an annual Cowboy Music and Poetry Festival. It also has a Chamber Music Festival, held every summer over a three-day weekend. This year, the festival was held last weekend, June 5-7. Sorry we missed it.
Torrey, population 250, is probably best known as the gateway to Capitol Reef National Park, which I’ll visit tomorrow. Because of its clear skies and high elevation, Torrey has been designated one of just 115 certified International Dark Sky Places in the world. Of the 115 places, Torrey is one of only 18 communities to earn that distinction. Nearby Capitol Reef National Park is also a designated Dark Sky Park, and was the first national park in the US to become one.
Originally settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1880s and called Youngstown, the town was renamed when it got a US post office. It was named in honor of Wyoming legislator and Rough Rider Colonel Jay L. Torrey. The town of Torrey has always attracted famous visitors, including Major John Wesley Powell, outlaw Butch Cassidy, author Zane Grey and artist Maynard Dixon.
Tonight, it gets two far less-famous visitors, arriving hungry and ready to settle in for the evening.
***
The Day in Review:
Click here to see today’s complete route from St. George, Utah, to Torrey, Utah – via Bryce Canyon National Park and Utah Highway 12, an All-American Road.
Today’s Takeaways:
- The posse shrinks.
- Bryce Canyon, a hoodoo lover’s dream.
- Hogbacks. They never get easier. Or less frightening.
Today’s Trivia: All-American Roads
We spent the last 112 miles of today’s ride on Utah Highway 12. Of course, it’s spectacular, but what makes Highway 12 or any other roadway an All-American Road?
To receive that designation, a road must have multiple intrinsic qualities that are nationally significant and have one-of-a-kind features that do not exist elsewhere. The road or highway must also be considered a “destination unto itself.” That is, the road must provide an exceptional traveling experience so recognized by travelers that they would make a drive along the highway a primary reason for their trip.
All-American Roads are part of the National Scenic Byways Program, administered by the US Department of Transportation. Created in 1991, the program is designed to help recognize, preserve and enhance selected roads throughout the US. The Department of Transportation recognizes certain roads based on one or more archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational and scenic qualities. The Scenic Byways and All-American Roads have long been seen as a major part of the nation’s $2.9 trillion tourism industry.
There are 40 All-American Roads in 36 states. They’re as varied as the Alaska Marine Highway, and the Las Vegas Strip – two very diverse examples.
The Alaska Marine Highway covers 3,500 miles of ferry routes, and connects 35 ports in Alaska, Washington state and Canada – each with a different flavor of Alaskan indigenous and modern culture. The Las Vegas Strip is 4.5 miles long. It’s one of America’s only nighttime byways, and possibly the most concentrated collection of neon and lights in the world.
Over the years in various Harley rides, I’ve been fortunate to ride on 20 of these All-American roads. Here are a few of my favorites. They’re all epic, in their own way.
Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway. Here, you can take a world-class drive through the geologic wonders of northeastern California and southern Oregon. The 500-mile journey takes you from volcano to volcano throughout the Cascade Mountain range, including Mount Shasta, Mount Lassen, Crater Lake. The byway is home to one Cinder Cone, one Caldera Complex, two Lava Domes, three Shield Volcanoes, and three Composite Volcanoes.
Big Sur Coast Highway. This 72-mile gem runs along the California Coast beginning near San Simeon, and ending in Carmel-by-the Sea, just south of Monterey. The road was described by Australian painter Francis McComas as the “greatest meeting of land and water in the world.” I’ve ridden this road three times.
Trail Ridge Road / Beaver Meadow Road. It runs through Rocky Mountain National Park, connecting the towns of Grand Lake on the west, and Estes Park on the east. The road reaches an elevation of 12,183 feet. Eleven miles of the 48-mile road are above tree line in the alpine tundra. I’ve been on this road four times, and will do it twice more later on this trip.
Beartooth Highway. This 69-mile beauty is in Montana and Wyoming. The road makes its way across the rugged Beartooth Mountain Range, providing visitors access to Yellowstone National Park’s northeast entrance. The Beartooth Highway is the highest elevation roadway in the Northern Rockies.
Northwest Passage. The Lewis and Clark Expedition journeyed through north-central Idaho 200 years ago in search of the Northwest Passage. This All-American Road includes 134 miles along the Clearwater River, between Kooskia, Idaho and Lolo, Montana. I’ve been on this roadway twice, once in each direction.
Blue Ridge Parkway. I’ve ridden the BRP end-to-end, all 469 miles of it. Twice, in each direction. The road, which runs through North Carolina and Virginia, was primarily built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, in the 1930s and ‘40s. It’s been the most visited unit of the National Park System almost every year since 1946, and it is often referred to as “America’s Favorite Drive.”
Scenic Byway 12. Today marked my fifth journey on this 122-mile chunk of riding bliss. The road begins near Panguitch, Utah, and ends in Torrey, Utah – where we’re staying tonight. The sheer diversity of geography makes it a unique ride, going from red rock country to beautiful aspen groves to barren high desert.
And now you know.
Riding With Gary 
Loved being a member of the posse this year. The views from the motorcycle are awe inspiring. Great to reconnect with Gail, Dave, Jackie and Scott. Mark – you are an absolute joy to have on a motorcycle ride! Ride safe, Dear Gary, Mark and Jim!
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