Day 9 - Torrey, Utah - Hells Backbone Road
Highways today were south on State Hwy 12 from Torrey to Boulder. Just south of Boulder we turned west on Hells Backbone Road/FR 153 which turns into Pine Creek Road/Posy Lake Road to Escalante and back on Hwy 12 heading south. Just south of Escalante we turned onto Reservoir Road to Escalante Petrified Forest State Park then back on Hwy 12 heading north. A few miles later, we turned east on the Hole-in-the-Rock Trail to Devil's Garden and back to Hwy 12, then north to Boynton Overlook, over the Hogback, through Boulder and back to Torrey. A long time on the road but only 174 Miles. Google Map
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| Highway 12 (2010) |
Utah State Route 12
Utah State Route 12, also known as "Highway 12 - A Journey Through Time Scenic Byway," is a 124-mile All-American Road connecting Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks.
It's a highly scenic drive through diverse landscapes, including red rock canyons, high desert plateaus, and alpine forests. The byway is known for its stunning views, unique geological formations, and opportunities for outdoor recreation.
Between Torrey and Boulder, Byway 12 crosses the eastern flank of Boulder Mountain with spectacular views. On a clear day travelers can see more than 100 miles into Colorado and Arizona.
Before the Boulder Mountain section of Highway 12 was paved, snow and mud closed the dirt road from late November until late May. Even in the summer months, traveling the unpaved road over Boulder Mountain could be a bone-rattling adventure.
In 1977, the Utah Department of Transportation began to prepare the Boulder Mountain road for paving. Eight years later, in 1985, nearby residents gathered with highway officials on Boulder Mountain to celebrate completion of Highway 12 pavement.
Anasazi State Park Museum - Boulder, Utah
I don't know how many times we've blown through Boulder in our rush to get to somewhere else, but today we stopped to visit the Anasazi State Park. The Park features the ruins of an ancient Anasazi village referred to as the Coombs Village Site. Ancestral Puebloans were likely the descendants of an Archaic Desert culture known as the Basketmaker culture.
The Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) village was likely occupied from 1050 - 1200 A.D. It is one of the largest communities west of the Colorado River and is located near what is considered to be the border of the Ancestral Puebloan and Fremont cultures. Anasazi State Park Museum
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| Anasazi Replica Dwelling |
Outside the museum, there is a life-sized, six-room replica of an ancient dwelling. Inside, we viewed a short video and toured the Museum. There are artifacts excavated from this site and a store where we found an amazing selection of a jewelry, pottery, and baskets - just the treasures we needed to buy!
Magnolias Street Food
This is the second time this trip we've stumbled on great food served out of a converted bus on the side of the road. With our Museum Tour finished, it just seemed like a good time to have lunch. After all, we have been on the road a whopping 37 miles now.
Hells Backbone Road
There are two roads between the towns of Boulder and Escalante. One is the beautifully paved Scenic Byway 12. The other is the jaw dropping, back wrenching, heart stopping Hell's Backbone through the Box-Death Hollow Wilderness. Well OK then. Let's go. Just south of Boulder we turned west on the Hell's Backbone.
Hell's Backbone, named for the very narrow ridge traversed by the road where the land on both sides falls away vertically, was built in the early 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (the CCC). The CCC crews dubbed it the Poison Road – one false step, and down you go. The name alone should be a deterrent. It just seems ominous.
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| Hell's Backbone Bridge (Wikipedia) |
Hell's Backbone Bridge
One comment I read (referring to Hwy 12 vs Hell's Backbone) was "both roads boast ridiculously beautiful scenery, but only one has a bridge that can make an acrophobic's heart skip a beat."
If I had told Karen this was the main attraction, we just might be on solid ground bouncing across the Burr Trail by now. She might be OK. (It's not above water.) If not, she can always "walk" across it.
In any event we are on the infamous "Hell's Backbone Bridge" with a history all it's own. Halfway along the route, the road crosses the historic Hell's Backbone Bridge. This show stopper is 109 feet long, 14 feet wide and is 1500 feet above the valley floor. The bridge actually rests on a narrow strip of rock but it does have railings!!
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| Hell's Backbone Bridge (1935) |
The historic wooden bridge was built in 1933 and replaced in 2005 with the current steel and concrete bridge but you can still see remnants of wooden beams beneath the structure and beside the road.
Grand Staircase Escalante
This part of our day is in the The Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument. We've travelled through here many times, going in all directions, but today is actually something new for us as we are exploring the area.
The land is among the most remote in the country and was the last to be mapped. There are three main regions: the Grand Staircase, the Kaiparowits Plateau, and the Canyons of the Escalante (Escalante River). All regions are administered by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Conservation Lands system.
The Grand-Staircase-Escalante National Monument was originally designated by President Bill Clinton in 1996 protecting 1,880,461 acres. In 2017, the monument's size was cut in half by President Trump. Conservation, angling, hunting, and outdoor recreation groups filed suit to block any reduction in the national monument. The cases were still pending at the 2020 election. Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument - Wikipedia
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| Petrified Wood (Wikipedia) |
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park was created in 1963. The visitor center was built in 1991, and features displays of plant and marine fossils, petrified wood and fossilized dinosaur bones.
The wood is multicolored (mostly red, yellow, white, and black). A 50 foot log in the Park is one of the most complete fossil logs known from the Morrison Formation. Escalante Petrified Forest State Park - Wikipedia
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| Hole-in-the-Rock (Wikipedia) |
Hole-in-the-Rock Trail
We took one quick side trip from Hwy 12 to the Hole-in-the-Rock Trail. We did not be spending much time on this road - just going as far as the Devil's Garden.
The historical Hole-in-the-Rock Trail, established in 1879 by the Hole-in-the-Rock Expedition, ran east-southeast from the town of Escalante to Bluff.
The 180 mile route is named for the place where the Mormon pioneers constructed a descent to the Colorado River.
The natural crevice on the 1,000 foot cliff above the Colorado was enlarged by the party to lower the wagons down to river level, where it could be forded. The portion of the trail below the Hole-in-the-Rock Trail is now flooded by Lake Powell.
Devil's Garden (Mile 12 Mark)
The Devils Garden is a protected area featuring hoodoos, natural arches and other sandstone formations. The United States Geological Survey designated the name Devils Garden on December 31, 1979. Many hoodoos of varying sizes and shapes are scattered throughout the Devils Garden, with a particular group of four prominent hoodoos, with no official name, being a popular photographic subject. We took the time to have our lunch at one of the picnic tables provided.
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| Four Hoodoos (Wikipedia) |
The majority of the interesting sandstone formations are located in a compact area adjacent to the parking lot.
The formations in the Devils Garden were created, and continue to be shaped, by various weathering and erosional processes.
These natural processes have been shaping sandstone layers formed more than 166 million years ago during the Jurassic period's Middle epoch. Devil's Garden - Wikipedia
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| Boynton Overlook |
Boynton Overlook - Hwy 12
Boynton Overlook gives visitors a bird's eye view of the riparian area along the meandering Escalante River. The overlook was named for John Boynton, a cattle man caught in a confrontation over a woman that ended with murder in 1878.
Today, the overlook serves as a welcome stop to experience the sights and sounds of the Escalante River Canyon. Boynton Overlook Wayside - BLM
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| The Hogback (Scenic USA) |
The Hogback
Heading north again on on Hwy 12 we reached The Hogback. It takes every once on concentration to "keep it between the lines" navigating the series of "S" turns.
I remember the first time we were on this section and suddenly realized we were on a balance beam - no shoulders, no rails and nothing but steep cliffs on both sides of us. We will do anything for an adrenaline rush.
Torrey
By the time we got back to the Burr Trail turnoff, we decided not to go to Bluff tonight but to go back to Torrey and head down the Notom-Bullfrog Road in the morning. It seemed like a good compromise - we did the Hells Backbone today and can do the Notom-Bullfog Road tomorrow. Also, this new plan gives us time on our way to Bluff to visit Natural Bridges National Monument - one of the few Trail of the Ancients places in the Bluff area that we have not done yet.
 Post Note - Day Nine:
Today had a new twist. Now that I've involved Karen, she has this urge to make sure the navigation is correct. In reality she did want to take the Notom-Bullfrog Road instead of the Burr Trail (although there wasn't really an argument). The difference was she was sitting right beside me at the computer - while I drove (of course). I just smiled and said "no, I have something else in store for us". However, by the time we finished the day, we realized we didn't have time to get to to the Bullfrog Ferry before it's last sail at 5:00 pm. We could make it "virtually" run later, but in the end we decided we would go back to Torrey and take the Notom-Bullfrog Road tomorrow. She just smiled and said "so I win after all". I'm not sure if that is a "win win" or a "lose lose" but we are back in Torrey for our third night.
It amazes me how much there is to see in areas where we thought we had seen it all. We had no idea the Hells Backbone existed and we questioned how we could have missed it. Also the history of the Hole-in-the-Rock and the Trail is familiar, but we didn't realize exactly where it is.
I've given up trying the shorten the verbiage for each day. It really doesn't matter how long this page is, there is no rule that says we have to save space, and it absolutely doesn't matter in any way how long this trip takes. We have no itinerary, there are always hotel rooms available for us, gas stations are conveniently located where we need them and of course money is not a factor. There is no doubt about it. We are enjoying this virtual trip.
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