Utah Scenic byway 12, Burr Trail and Capital Reef


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North America » United States » Utah
November 16th 2008
Published: November 16th 2008
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Nov 1, 2008

Utah's byway 12 is a stretch of scenic road between Bryce Canyon and Capital Reef national park. It is considered one of the most scenic byways in USA.

After leaving Bryce, I continued the drive on byway 12. The rock landscape around me continued to change. The weather was nice and there was very little traffic on the road. There must have been a stretch of about 15 minutes or so during which I did not encounter a single vehicle on that road! I saw a turn for Kodachrome state park but did not take the turn. Not much time for any side trips. Later I saw a sign for Burr trail. I had read about this road in tripadvisor.com forums and had heard that it is gorgeous. I was willing to take this side trip.

Burr trail starts from byway 12 and cuts through Capital Reef park. It is paved for the first 30 miles. Beyond that it becomes a 4WD only road. It is surrounded by beautiful, colorful and towering rocks on both sides. There was virtually nobody on this road. I encountered a cowboy operation on the way. A big Semi truck had blocked the road. I stopped. I saw a cowboy on his horse. The cowboy's son who must have been about 12 yrs old was also riding a horse. The truck had about 20 to 30 cows. They were being offloaded for grazing on the fields nearby. One after the other, the cows ran out of the truck and into the open. The cowboy and his son were guarding one side. As soon as a cow tried running in their direction, the cowboy father would run his horse and force the cow to remain in the group. Interesting to watch. It took about 20 min. Once all the cows were out of the trailer, the road was cleared for me. As soon as I began driving, all these cows came in my way. Sometimes running on the side of the car, sometimes ahead of it. Finally, I managed to get past them and continue on the scenic drive.

I drove on this road for a couple of hours. I had to get back on byway 12 and head towards Capital Reef. I wish I had more time. This road was certainly a surprise of the trip since I had not planned on driving it and it turned out to be spectacular.

I reached Capital Reef about 90 min before sunset. There was not enough time to explore the park. I had not planned on seeing something specific in Capital Reef. I had no idea what to see in a little over an hour. I saw a sign for a scenic 10 mile drive and I went for it. This road was leading to Capital Gorge. The rocks of Capital Reef have their own charm. They looked beautiful in the fading light. The paved road had turned into a dirt road. I had to turn back as it was getting dark. Besides my camera's memory card was full.

Even though I had been seeing these rocks for a week, I had not developed any red rock fatigue! I felt that I needed another week to explore all the magnificent sites that southern Utah has to offer. Even though I knew that his area has nothing but rocks and desert wilderness to offer, there was little doubt in my mind that I would be seeing one of the most beautiful desert landscape in the world. It just turned out to be so!



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