Touring Utah

[JayBros]

My touring partner and I elected to skip the 2020 St. George ride-in because of the pandemic but are considering making a longer trip to UT this year to do some riding in the state before the ride-in with it being the last venue before we head home. I have a new Butler G1 map of the state but am uncertain of the "best" routes we should ride. I also have in my cage driving the unfortunate experience of having to drive over Vail Pass on I-70 twice during early September snowstorms, something I would not like to get caught in on a Spyder. As such it looks like it might be wiser to use part of I-80 on our westbound leg as much as I dislike superslabbing. I would appreciate any suggestions/recommendations for an ingress route from the east as well as roads/sites we should see/ride as we head south to St. George. We will leave St. George heading ESE toward Gallup and Albuquerque. Thanks much.

 

[RICZ]

Definitely ride Highway 12.

 

[cptjam]

PM sent

 

[ARtraveler]

Virtually the whole state of Utah is worth driving through. It has National Parks all over the place.
Above mention of Hwy 12 is right on.

 

[JayBros]

Thank you. I see on the Butler map that Hwy 12 has some interesting places.

 

[Possible]

Yeah, the trip over the Hogback is very interesting. Made me real nervous the first time.

Wow, I just watched a video of a trip over the Hogback, and they've civilized it. The first time I went over it was
about 35 years ago, and there was no shoulder, no pull offs, and the very narrow road edge was crumbling into
nothingness. My sphincter was clenched for a lot of it. Now it just looks scenic. Ah well, win some lose some.

 

[Snoking1127]

Zion to Bryce via the tunnels in the park would be cool on the trike. We towed a smaller 5th wheel on the route. Highway 6 in the fall from 89 to 191 has great fall leaf colors. Lots of great secondary road in Utah. If you pass through Grand Junction be sure to do the Colorado Monument Rim road. Chris

 

[pegasus1300]

If you come in from the North leave I80 where US 191 intersects and ride it south to Vernal around Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Follow US 40 to Duchesne and there and there pick up US 191 again and go South thru Indian Canyon to Helper and US 6. Ride thru Helper, a fascinating mining and railroad town. Eat lunch at the Balance Rock Cafe. Ride north on US 6 to intersection of UT 96 thru the old coal mining town of Scofield,sight of one of the largest coal mine disasters in US history. In Clear Creek pick up UT 264 to the summit and Pick up UT 31 to Fairview. You can Follow US 89 South to the parks. There are good motels in Mt.Pleasant, Ephraim, Richfield. Das Cafe is good eats in Spring City a National Historic City and art community. Continuing South on US 89 is some good riding. At Sigurd leave US89 to pick up UT 24 to Torry. Good Hotels here and many good places to eat. You pick up UT 12 here to Bryce thru Boulder, The Hogsback ( don't believe the videos you see), Calf Creek Falls, Escalante, Bryce Canyon, Red Canyon and on down to Zion's. Other rides, in the North US 40 in to Helper then down US 89A to Provo. In the South, Panguitch (Cowboy Kitchen or the C Store Pizza), Parowan and the Parowan Gap, Beaver and Stop at Beaver Tacos(not made from Beaver meat), then the Creamery for Ice Cream. Hurricane or Cedar City for Lonny Boys BBQ. Also Shakespeare Theater in Cedar City. Kolob Canyon to see the back side of Zion. Kolob Reservoir to see a part of Zion not usually seen and 5 mph curves. North Rim of the GC. Leave thru Kanab,(eat at Nedra's). And that's just a little. There's still Alpine Loop, Nebo Loop, Trappers Loop Bear Lake and the Oregon Trail,Capital Reef, Canyonlands,etc,etc.,etc.Have fun and enjoy Life Elevated.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

If you make the trip in June, July, or August weather won't be a problem except maybe rain at times. There are several E-W routes through Colorado. Hwy 40 in the northern part is very scenic, but then I-70 is pretty good too. Much better than I-80 through Wyoming. If you do go on I-70 skip Eisenhower tunnel and go over the hill on Loveland Pass Road. It's a great ride.

 

[JayBros]

...If you pass through Grand Junction be sure to do the Colorado Monument Rim road. Chris

We did that on our '19 tour, spent the whole tour in CO, had a ball. I have bicycled a lot of CO and it was fun to let the right hand and foot do most of the work.

 

[JayBros]

Thank you, Paul and IMS, that's the kind of information I find very valuable.

 

[billythekidd]

I would recommend the Mokee Dugway ride... very cool... Did on my Goldwing 2 up and on my 2014 Spyder... Also the Lake Powell Ferry from Bullfrog to Hall's Crossing is a nice little side trip... As was stated.. All of Utah is great riding.

https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/783-mokee-dugway-usa.html

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Hey JayBros, if you haven't done so, one thing I've done that has helped a lot in deciding on a route is use Google Maps or Google Earth. Use Street View mode in Maps to preview segments of the route. Gives you a really clear idea of what a particular section of road is like. Google Earth will let you 'fly' down the road to get a moving view of it.

 

[JayBros]

That's exactly what I do. When I am creating a route in BaseCamp I also have Google Maps open and I use the satellite view to to be certain I am not running the route onto unpaved roads. Garmin is always behind Google Maps on the backroads in my experience; roads BC reports as paved are often unpaved. If I'm still in doubt I then switch to Google Earth.

 

[ARtraveler]

One thing I have read recently about Zion is that most of the park is now closed to cars. If you want to tour it, you have to take the bus. Those RV's going through the tunnels have kind of put the Kibosh on the park open to all, all the time. Cannot think of the name of the town (EDIT: Springdale), but it has now become the parking lot for all the Zion travelers awaiting their bus. They also did that in AK at Denali park. You can drive in 15 miles and then it's the all day bus tour. I did that once, and my back said...no more.

We considered Springdale Utah as a possible retirement area, and are glad that we chose AR instead. We have family now in Hurricane UT so will be visiting there later this year, (Covid permitting).

 

[JayBros]

One thing I have read recently about Zion is that most of the park is now closed to cars....We considered that place as a possible retirement area, and are glad that we chose AR instead.

Will have to check that regarding Zion. They did that to cars in '19 during the construction of the Pikes Peak visitor's center. They let a small number of early morning cages go all the way to the top but, there was virtually no parking so most cars had to park at a couple of lots and take shuttle buses to the summit. Bicycles (gluttons for punishment) and motorcycles were allowed all the way up but, again, all we could do was a circle at the top because of the construction.

We went through AR both ways on our '19 CO tour and really enjoyed the roads we were on, particularly the Pig Trail. I plan to maybe do our '22 tour there.

 

[Possible]

The last time I was there was in the 90's and you could only drive in so far and then it was buses the rest of the way. One
of the issues of being too popular, and too few roads.

 

[canamjhb]

Paul (Pegasus1300) has it nailed. One other thing to keep in mind is some of the smaller towns in Utah pretty much close down on Sundays. Plan ahead for that. I got caught short of supplies (rum and coke) one year in Loa, Utah on a Sunday...... Utah, overall, is one of the best motorcycle touring states. Friendly people and pretty good drivers. Enjoy..... Jim

 

[jaherbst]

Definitely ride Highway 12.

Bryce Canyon to Torrey on Hwy#12 is by far the best in Utah Jay. Give me a shout when you do this and I might join you. It has been a while. How are things in Charlotte

Jack

P.S. Just got my Covid Shot

 

[JayBros]

Hi Jack! Will do on the Bryce - Torrey ride. Things are pretty much the same as lots of other places, Covid cases going up like crazy. I too got my first shot and am scheduled for second in three weeks. Stay safe.