Utah’s Scenic Byway 12 is hands-down the most colorful of the nation’s 31 All- American Roads. Recently heralded by Fox News as one of the world’s 10 most beautiful highways, the route spans 124 miles through some of the most diverse and ruggedly scenic landscapes anywhere. It winds past red-rock cliffs and through slickrock canyons, pine and aspen forests, national and state parks, a national monument and a number of quaint rural towns. You won’t need a Jeep to drive it—it’s paved all the way— although it took four decades to build. The byway begins at U.S. Highway 89 about halfway between the towns of Panguitch and Hatch and immediately bisects the dazzling red-rock formations of Dixie National Forest’s Red Canyon. Continuing east, the route rolls across Paunsaugunt Plateau into Bryce Canyon City. This bustling commercial enclave is the gateway to Bryce Canyon National Park and serves as an ideal base of opera- tions for travels in the region. From here the route enters Bryce
Canyon National Park, but to witness the grandeur of its famous chasms you must steer off the byway onto the park’s 18-mile scenic drive with its 14 easy-to- reach overlooks. By all means, do it. Continuing east through Bryce Valley, the byway passes through the rural com- munities of Tropic, Cannonville and Henrieville, where you’ll definitely want to stop for a hike into Kodachrome Basin State Park, originally dubbed Chimney Rock State Park. Best known for its towering sand-pipe formations, the park has a well-deserved reputation as a pho- tographer’s paradise. The name change came about after National Geographic Society photographers, inspired by the colorful landscape, nicknamed the area Kodachrome Basin after Kodak’s icon- ic brand of film. The company wisely responded by giving Utah permission to use the name. Turning abruptly north, the byway traverses a vast expanse of slickrock canyon country encompassing Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument.
Crisscrossed by trails, this area affords some of the most spectacular hiking opportunities in the Southwest. Boulder, the largest and most remote community along the route, appears as a mirage with its stores, restaurants and gas stations. You can fill ’er up here and grab a bite to eat, but don’t overlook the town’s main attraction, Anasazi Indian Village State Park. The site preserves one of the largest Anasazi communities west of the Colorado River, believed to have been occupied from A.D. 1050 to 1200. There are some excavations on view, and a collection of artifacts is displayed in the park’s newly remodeled museum. A small RV campground near the park has a few full-service sites. Scenic Byway 12 continues north past Boulder Mountain to its terminus at Capitol Reef National Park. If your eye- balls can stand it, press on for a look at the majestic monoliths, domes and sandstone spires of Capitol Reef, yet another of Utah’s amazing collection of 17 national park units.
16 COAST TO COAST spring 2014
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