#utah 128

Oasis

Hwy 128 Colorado River Scenic Byway, UT (No. 12)

Traveling 34 miles (55 km) west of Dinosaur, Colorado, the Dinosaur Diamond encounters the small city of Vernal, Utah. Vernal borders the western end of the Dinosaur National Monument; other notable attractions nearby include Steinaker State Park, Red Fleet State Park, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, and the Ashley National Forest.

Continuing along the Dinosaur Diamond, US 40 and US 191 converge within Vernal, heading west for 30 miles (48 km) to the city of Roosevelt. Roosevelt is located on the edge of the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation. Heading 29 miles (47 km) to the west is the county seat of Duchesne, located within the reservation. Nearby Duchesne are Starvation State Park and Kings Peak (the highest point in Utah), which is part of the Uinta Mountain range. The Uinta Mountains are one of the few mountain ranges in the contiguous United States which run east–west, and are the highest range to do so.

Within Duchesne, US 40 and US 191 diverge, and the DD continues 55 miles (89 km) south along US 191 over an unnamed mountain pass, through the small town of Helper, and into the larger city of Price. The numerous attractions surrounding Price include College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum, Manti-La Sal National Forest, Huntington Lake State Park, Scofield State Park, and Ninemile Canyon which features numerous petroglyphs. Also nearby is the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, a prehistoric mud trap which claims to be the densest concentration of Jurassic dinosaur fossils in the world.

Traveling 63 miles (101 km) southeast along US 191, the DD encounters the city of Green River. Notable features surrounding Green River include the San Rafael Swell, Green River State Park, and Goblin Valley State Park. Also nearby is Crystal Geyser, a rare (but man-made) cold water geyser caused by the expansion of carbonized "soda pop" water within. Within Green River, US 191 converges with I-70 for a short while and diverges again, south towards the city of Moab, 55 miles (89 km) from Green River.

Just south of the junction of US 191 and SR-128, the city of Moab features a number of nearby attractions. Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park, and the Newspaper Rock and Potash Road petroglyphs.

Leaving Moab, the DD continues north along SR-128 to its terminus with I-70 in Cisco. Traveling east along I-70, before completing the "diamond" back in Grand Junction, Colorado.

On the Road

Hwy 128 Colorado River Scenic Byway, UT (No. 3)

The gorge widens where the highway passes by Castle Valley and Professor Valley, which have been the shooting locations for many western films (including Wagon Master and Rio Grande) and television commercials. Near the east end of the valley the highway crosses Onion Creek, a stream sourced by springs that contain naturally occurring minerals that produce a strong odor in the water. At the east end of the valley the highway has a view of the Fisher Towers, a set of dark red spires. After leaving the valley, the road winds farther up the river gorge until arriving at the Dewey Bridge, named for Dewey, a nearby ghost town.

After the bridge, the road follows the northern bank of the river for a few miles then exits the Colorado River gorge. At this point the highway proceeds across desert towards the Book Cliffs to terminate at Interstate 70 (I-70) near Cisco. Cisco is a ghost town along the main line of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, founded as a water re-filling station for steam locomotives. The last 3 miles (4.8 km) of the road parallel the railroad and is an old routing of US-6/US-50, in use before the construction of I-70.

Hwy 128 Colorado River Scenic Byway, UT (No. 8)

Fisher Towers are a series of towers made of Cutler sandstone capped with Moenkopi sandstone and caked with a stucco of red mud located near Moab, Utah (38.7240°N 109.3083°W). The Towers are named for a miner who lived near them in the 1880s. The Towers are world-renowned as a subject for photography and for its classic rock climbing routes.

The nearest town is Moab, Utah about 16 miles (26 km) to the southwest. The area is generally accessed from Fisher Towers Road off of Route 128 which runs along the Colorado River between I-70 and Route 191. Castleton Tower is visible approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) to the southwest from different parts of the Fisher Tower's area.

The Towers lie just south of a larger mesa which they are emerging from on a geological time scale. 1,000 feet (300 m) north of the main formation there is a tower which has only partway emerged from the mesa. The Towers are composed of three major fins of rock that run from the northeast closer to the mesa out to the southwest and into a desert valley. The fins are between 1,000 and 2,000 feet (300 and 610 m) long and separated from each other by about 1,000 feet (300 m). Each fin contains multiple towers, a number of which have been named.

Hwy 128 Colorado River Scenic Byway, UT (No. 6)

An agreement was reached in 1984 between the Grand County Commission and the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) to balance the conflicting public demands to retire and preserve the aging bridge. As part of this agreement, UDOT would commission a new bridge and once finished, transfer ownership of the original bridge back to Grand County. Grand County agreed to petition to have the bridge be included in the National Register of Historic Places, assume maintenance and guarantee the bridge would be preserved. The nomination was approved and the bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 12, 1984. In 1988, the replacement bridge was completed, and the title deed to the Dewey Bridge was handed over to the county in 1989. Grand County completed a restoration project in 2000.

After being replaced for automobile use, the Dewey Bridge was used by the Kokopelli trail, a bicycle trail, and a pedestrian trail. The east approach to the bridge features an abandoned gas station and the ghost town of Dewey. The west approach has been converted to a rest area and park.

On April 6, 2008, a seven-year-old boy accidentally started a fire in a nearby campground while playing with matches. The fire moved up the riverbank and destroyed the bridge's wooden deck and rails. The county funded a study to determine the feasibility and cost of reconstructing the bridge. The engineers determined that the steel cables and towers most likely did not suffer structural damage and could be reused. The study estimated reconstruction costs at $850,000. The engineers determined the original blueprints, preserved in a museum, were of sufficient quality that only minimal engineering work would be required. The county agreed to direct the effort, but will not fund it with taxpayer money, and no progress has occurred. As replicas do not qualify for historical status, historians are debating if using the original towers and cable is enough for the structure to qualify as historical.

Though the Colorado River runs for over 400 miles (640 km) in Utah, there are only three sites with bridges to cross it. One is the Dewey Bridge site where SR-128 traverses the waterway; the other two are an unnamed bridge that carries US-191 (built in 1911, replaced in 1955 and again in 2010) and the Hite Crossing Bridge (built in 1966) used by SR-95.

Hwy 128 Colorado River Scenic Byway, UT (No. 4)

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.