Dangerous Roads

Highway 12 Utah is the 122 mile scenic road which links many highlights in southern Utah including Red Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Boulder Mountain, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Capitol Reef National Park. State Route 12 or Scenic Byway 12 (SR-12), also known as "Highway 12 — A Journey Through Time Scenic Byway", is a state highway designated an All-American Road located in Garfield County and Wayne County, Utah, USA.
Proceeding west to east for 122 miles (nearly 200 km), the highway starts south of Panguitch at an intersection withUS-89, crosses part of Dixie National Forest and Bryce Canyon National Park, continues through the small towns ofTropic, 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 north through more of GS-ENM,Boulder, the Aquarius Plateau, 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 road from Bryce Canyon Junction to Tropic was added to the state highway system in 1914, and in 1923 a branch from Tropic Junction to Bryce Canyonwas built as a forest road. The State Road Commission numbered the route to Bryce Canyon SR-12 in the 1920s, and in 1927 the state legislature assigned it to both branches, to Bryce Canyon and Tropic, but split off the branch to Tropic as State Route 54 in 1931. That same year, a new State Route 120 was created, continuing the road from Tropic to Henrieville, and in 1935 it became part of SR-54 Another road was also added to the state highway system in 1914, connecting SR-22 at Widtsoe with Escalante, and it was numbered State Route 23 in 1927. An extension took SR-23 northeast toBoulder in 1941, and in 1947 SR-54 absorbed SR-23, with the Widtsoe-Escalante road dropped in favor of Henrieville-Escalante. State Route 117, running southeast from SR-24 near Teasdale to Grover, became a state highway in 1931, and was extended south to Boulder in 1957, becoming part of SR-54 in 1966. In 1969, SR-54 became part of SR-12, but most of former SR-117 was dropped, leaving SR-12 to stretch from Bryce Canyon Junction to the north limit of Boulder (at the Dixie National Forest boundary), with a short spur to Bryce Canyon. This spur became a new SR-63 in 1975, and in 1985 the route was extended back north from Boulder to SR-24, using a different route than old SR-117 north of Grover.



Utah's Highway-12 showcases colorful sandstone sculpted into a wide variety of amazing canyons and formations. The 124-mile route starts at US-89, a few miles west of Bryce Canyon National Park, then runs east, finishing at Utah-24, a few miles west of Capitol Reef National Park. Along the way the highway passes through a diversity of scenic areas: Red Canyon Recreation Area, Bryce Canyon National Park, Kodachrome Basin State Park, and Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. These places feature whimsical formations like hoodoos, chimneys, spires, as well as petrified wood.
Between the remote towns of Escalante and Boulder, the scenery becomes surreal. The highway passes the drainage of the Escalante River with its fantastic "sandstone ocean", as seen from the Head of the Rocks vista point . The road then crosses the Escalante River on a one-lane bridge. Beyond the river, Calf Creek Recreation Area features a hike to one of the most beautiful waterfalls found in any desert, Lower Calf Creek Falls.



Highway-12 then climbs the Hogback, a ridge with sheer dropoffs on either side, offering amazing views, before reaching the town of Boulder. North of Boulder, the route climbs and crosses the Aquarius Plateau, high-elevation, wooded mountain country offering a respite from the summer heat, and good camping in the Dixie National Forest.



Highway-12 also passes along the edge of the huge Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Secondary routes leaving the main highway offer remote adventure. These include the famous Burr Trail and the historic Hole-in-the-Rock Road which offers access to the remote and compelling narrow canyons of the lower Escalante River. More excitement can be found on the aptly named Hell's Backbone Road. The monument is an outstanding opportunity for the adventurous.