#sr-128

Hwy 128 Colorado River Scenic Byway, UT (No. 10)

This spectacular route along the Colorado River gorge begins at the Colorado River Bridge on the north end of Moab. Spending a day exploring this section of the river gorge will provide you with jaw dropping scenery and take you to the sixth-longest natural rock span in the United States, world famous movie locations, beautiful picnic and bouldering areas, a Film Heritage Museum, a large variety of hiking trails including one that goes to the breathtaking Fisher Towers, historical points of interest, guided horseback riding opportunities, outdoor dining, a brand new mercantile (opening in 2020) and a ghost town.

Utah State Route 128 (U-128) is a 44.6-mile-long (71.7 km) state highway north of Moab. The entire length of the highway has been designated the Upper Colorado River Scenic Byway, as part of the Utah Scenic Byways program. This road also forms part of the Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway, a National Scenic Byway. Residents of Moab frequently refer to SR-128 as “the river road”, after the Colorado River, which the highway follows.

The highway was originally constructed to connect rural cities in eastern Utah with Grand Junction, Colorado, the largest city in the region. Part of the highway was merged into the Utah state highway system in 1931; the rest was taken over by the state and assigned route number 128 in 1933. Today, the highway is used as a scenic drive for visitors to the area.

The highway crosses the Colorado River at the site of the Dewey Bridge, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This bridge was the longest suspension bridge in Utah until April 2008 when it was destroyed by a fire.

Hwy 128 Colorado River Scenic Byway, UT (No. 1)

State Route 128 (SR-128) is a 44.564-mile-long (71.719 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Utah. The entire length of the highway has been designated the Upper Colorado River Scenic Byway, as part of the Utah Scenic Byways program. This road also forms part of the Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway, a National Scenic Byway. Residents of Moab frequently refer to SR-128 as "the river road", after the Colorado River, which the highway follows.

The highway was originally constructed to connect rural cities in eastern Utah with Grand Junction, Colorado, the largest city in the region. Part of the highway was merged into the Utah state highway system in 1931; the rest was taken over by the state and assigned route number 128 in 1933. Today, the highway is used as a scenic drive for visitors to the area.

The highway crosses the Colorado River at the site of the Dewey Bridge, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This bridge was the longest suspension bridge in Utah until April 2008 when it was destroyed by a fire started by a child playing with matches.

Hwy 128 Colorado River Scenic Byway, UT (No. 14)

The first route through this portion of Utah was the Old Spanish Trail, a trade route between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Los Angeles, California. The trail was in common use before the Mexican–American War in 1848. Although the trail serves a different route than I-70, they were both intended to connect southern California with points further east. I-70 generally parallels the route of the Old Spanish Trail west of Crescent Junction.

The Utah State Road Commission took over US 40 from Kimball Junction to Colorado in 1910 and 1911, and assigned the SR-6 designation to this route by the mid-1920s.[26] In late 1926, the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) assigned the designation of US 40 to this cross-state route, consisting of most of SR-4 and all of SR-6. (The SR-6 designation remained until the 1977 renumbering; SR-4 became SR-2 in 1962 and was eliminated in favor of I-80 in 1977.)

The road connecting Colton on SR-8 (US 50, now US 6) with SR-6 (US 40) in Duchesne became a state highway in 1910. The southwest end was moved from Colton to Castle Gate in 1912, and in 1927 it was numbered State Route 33. Few changes were made to the roadway, and in 1981 it became part of US 191.

Access between Moab and Castle Valley was originally via a pack trail called the Heavenly Stairway. This trail, named for a dramatic descent of over 1,000 feet (300 m), was described as beautiful, but difficult to navigate. Isolated from Utah's population centers, this area depended on Grand Junction and other cities in Colorado for both everyday supplies and a market for agricultural products. Moab residents pushed for a road to be built along the riverbank. By 1902, the trail was replaced with a toll road, called King's Toll Road, after Samuel King. King was an early settler who also operated the toll ferry used prior to the construction of the Dewey Bridge. Rocks inscribed with "Kings Toll Road" can still be found along the roadway. While the road did improve travel, it was not built high enough above the river level and was often flooded.

Hwy 128 Colorado River Scenic Byway, UT (No. 11)

The Dinosaur Diamond is a 486-mile (782 km) scenic and historic byway loop through the dinosaur fossil laden Uinta Basin of the U.S. states of Utah and Colorado.[2] The byway comprises the following two National Scenic Byways:

The 328-mile (528 km) Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway in Carbon, Duchesne, Emery, and Grand counties, Utah; and

The 134-mile (216 km) Dinosaur Diamond National Scenic Byway in Garfield, Mesa, Moffat, and Rio Blanco counties, Colorado.

The highway forms a diamond-shaped loop with vertices at Moab, Helper, Vernal and Grand Junction.

Notable features along the Dinosaur Diamond include Dinosaur National Monument, the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park, Natural Bridges National Monument, Colorado National Monument, and several national forests.

The path of Interstate 70 (I‑70) in Colorado is derived from two previous highways, U.S. Highway 6 (US 6) and US 40. US 40 was an original piece of the U.S. Highway system commissioned in 1926. The portion now numbered US 6 came about in 1937 when the route over Vail Pass was paved. The first route through the path of I-70 in Utah was the Old Spanish Trail, a trade route between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Los Angeles, California. The trail was in common use before the Mexican–American War in 1848.