In June 2024, Debra and I took a road trip from northern Arizona through central Utah - from our home in Show Low to Salt Lake City. Why Salt Lake City? To renew our wedding vows in our Golden Anniversary year! We did a bit of sightseeing, too. Click HERE to read an intro to our trip.
Our ceremony was perfect and the sights we saw were amazing!
This story, the second in a series, is about the second leg of our trip - from Moab to Salt Lake City that included a drive along a national scenic byway and across a mountain pass.
Our ceremony was perfect and the sights we saw were amazing!
This story, the second in a series, is about the second leg of our trip - from Moab to Salt Lake City that included a drive along a national scenic byway and across a mountain pass.
Salt Lake City, Utah (June 14, 2024) Debra and I were in no rush to leave Moab, where we stayed overnight en route to Salt Lake City. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at Best Western Canyonlands Inn—it was a nice spread for a three-star hotel!—before we hit the road midmorning.
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The temperature was in the mid-70s, the sky was mostly sunny, and there was a slight breeze from the south. In other words, the weather was picture perfect. We made the (mostly) scenic drive, about 230 miles, in just under four hours.
There were two areas of interest on the route we followed. |
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The first were the sections of road from Moab to Helper (U.S. Route 191, Interstate 70, and U.S. Route 6), which were the southwestern leg of Dinosaur Diamond National Scenic Byway—a 486-mile loop through eastern Utah and western Colorado that encompassed an area rich in fossils and bones of prehistoric reptiles, AKA dinosaurs.
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Today, dinosaur enthusiasts, both amateur and professional, and rock art enthusiasts, come from all over the world to the DD to look in awe at what has been. As if this were not enough, the DD is surrounded by world-class geologic, recreational, and scenic resources only in part captured within two national parks, two national monuments, and one national recreation area.
~ dinosaurdiamondbyway.com
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This map (click to enlarge) displays 28 points of interest along the byway, including Mill Canyon Dinosaur Trail near Moab and Jurassic National Monument near Price. The latter “contains the densest concentration of Jurassic-aged dinosaur bones ever found”—more than 12,000 and counting.
If I had known…, I thought.
Unfortunately, there was no time in our schedule to stop at any of the sites along our route—Dinosaur Museum, Potash Road Petroglyphs, Dinosaur Stomping Grounds, and others—so I added this scenic byway to my bucket list of must-see attractions and destinations.
The second was the section of U.S. Route 6 that began north of Helper and ended south of Spanish Fork—a stretch of almost 60 miles that ran, with twists and turns, through the Wasatch Mountains. Route 6 climbed nearly 1,700 feet to the summit, known as Soldier Pass—it was 7,500 feet above sea level—before the road gradually dropped to 3,500 feet.
Unfortunately, there was no time in our schedule to stop at any of the sites along our route—Dinosaur Museum, Potash Road Petroglyphs, Dinosaur Stomping Grounds, and others—so I added this scenic byway to my bucket list of must-see attractions and destinations.
The second was the section of U.S. Route 6 that began north of Helper and ended south of Spanish Fork—a stretch of almost 60 miles that ran, with twists and turns, through the Wasatch Mountains. Route 6 climbed nearly 1,700 feet to the summit, known as Soldier Pass—it was 7,500 feet above sea level—before the road gradually dropped to 3,500 feet.
It wasn’t the change in elevation, though, that made this stretch of road noteworthy. Rather, it was the deep-green forest that covered the mountains—Ponderosa pine, Gambel oak, and other coniferous and deciduous trees—the opposite, if you will, of the high desert scrubland we traveled through on our way from Moab.
“This reminds me of home,” Debra said.
She was right, of course, as our home in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona was 6,500 feet above sea level and surrounded by a forest of Ponderosa pine, spruce, aspen, and Gambel oak.
“Deb, look at the mountain ahead of us. Do you see the snow?”
She was right, of course, as our home in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona was 6,500 feet above sea level and surrounded by a forest of Ponderosa pine, spruce, aspen, and Gambel oak.
“Deb, look at the mountain ahead of us. Do you see the snow?”
She did, and then for a while, we played ‘spot the snow-capped peak,’ as we saw several more in the higher elevations.
Later—after we reached Salt Lake City—I Googled Soldier Pass, and learned it was named for a group of soldiers who, on their way to join the Confederate Army in July 1861, were caught in an unexpected snowstorm here. Some died and were buried on the summit.
Discovery has been, and will continue to be, part and parcel to my travels, as discovering something new—new to me, that is—shapes and reshapes my understanding of the world around me. And this was why I was glad, at day’s end, to have discovered Dinosaur Diamond National Scenic Highway and Soldier Pass—two pieces of the American landscape that I now knew a bit about.
We reached the outskirts of Salt Lake City about half past one, and our hotel 30 minutes later. Stay tuned for my next story—our first day in Salt Lake City.
Later—after we reached Salt Lake City—I Googled Soldier Pass, and learned it was named for a group of soldiers who, on their way to join the Confederate Army in July 1861, were caught in an unexpected snowstorm here. Some died and were buried on the summit.
Discovery has been, and will continue to be, part and parcel to my travels, as discovering something new—new to me, that is—shapes and reshapes my understanding of the world around me. And this was why I was glad, at day’s end, to have discovered Dinosaur Diamond National Scenic Highway and Soldier Pass—two pieces of the American landscape that I now knew a bit about.
We reached the outskirts of Salt Lake City about half past one, and our hotel 30 minutes later. Stay tuned for my next story—our first day in Salt Lake City.