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Home , Arches National Park, Green River State Park, Huntington State Park, Interstate 70, San Rafael River

A Guide to I-70 Through Southeastern – discovermoab.com - 6/22/07 Page 1

and increase to Milepost 227 near the border. Mileage marker posts 2W - Thompson Springs A Guide to I-70 Through (or Mileposts) and Exit numbers Welcome Center Southeastern Utah correspond, and both are used in the Milepost 189 descriptive text which follows. This rest area welcomes westbound Although the scenery is spectacular as visitors with free brochures and maps. viewed from the highway, you are The center, operated by the State of Utah, encouraged to stop at the sites described is open all year. From Memorial Day Moab Area Travel Council below to see even more. Other nearby through Labor Day, personnel are on duty Internet Brochure Series points of interest accessible from 1-70 are from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to answer your Available from: briefly noted and located on the map. questions. The rest of the year the center More detailed information on these sights is operated from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Indoor discovermoab.com can be obtained by contacting the rest rooms, water, picnic shelters, and a appropriate agencies listed in this public phone are available at all times. brochure. INTRODUCTION Food and fuel are available at Thompson 1W - Harley Dome View Area Springs (Exit 187), which provides access Interstate 70 (1-70) through southeastern Milepost 228 to a panel of Native American rock art in Utah is a journey through fascinating Sego . To visit this site, follow the landscapes. The route reveals vast deserts, The Harley Dome View Area is located signs from the north side of town. Be sure deep , sheer cliffs, and unique on a rise along the route of the freeway. not to touch or alter these fragile remnants rock formations. This guide covers 175 From the parking area, a short walk up to of North America's heritage. miles of Interstate 70 from the Colorado a sheltered viewing platform offers views state line to Salina. From east to west, the of the Book Cliffs mountain range to the Exit 182 to Highway 191 serves as a highway travels through the Cisco Desert, north. To the south, hidden from view, is gateway to Moab and many of the scenic the San Rafael Desert and the San Rafael the and its narrow, black wonders in southeastern Utah. and Swell. In these regions, most of the land is gorge through , a Canyonlands National Parks, Dead Horse managed by the Bureau of Land whitewater rafting area for expert boaters. Point State Park, the Manti-La Sal Management and the Utah Division of National Forest, and Canyon Rims State Lands and Forestry. The highway The major landforms observed while Recreation Area are just a few of the then passes through the higher elevations traveling this stretch of 1-70 are the Book fascinating areas in this region. Food and of the . No Cliffs to the north and the relatively flat fuel are available at Exit 182. services are available on 1-70 between the Cisco Desert through which the freeway cities of Green River (Milepost 158) and travels. Although the Book Cliffs look 3E - Crescent Junction Salina (Milepost 53), a distance of 105 stark from the highway, they have Rest Area miles. abundant meadows and forested areas at Milepost 181 the higher elevations, and they harbor The guide is keyed to a series of visitor black bear and mountain lion. Portions of This rest area gives the eastbound visitor a centers, rest areas, and view areas that are the Book Cliffs are being considered for bird's eye view of the Cisco Desert, the located and numbered on the map. All of wilderness designation. red rocks and mesas of the canyon the rest areas have either modern rest country to the south, and the Book Cliffs rooms or vault toilets and several have At the turn of the century, the Cisco to the north. Indoor rest rooms, water, and picnic tables, shelters, and water. Not all Desert was used extensively as a grazing picnic shelters are available year-round. of the rest areas are accessible for both area for sheep. The town site of Cisco was eastbound and westbound traffic. For a major sheep shearing center. In those 4 - City of Green River example, a site listed as "1W" is days, more than 100,000 sheep were Mileposts 160 and 164 accessible only to westbound traffic. The driven here to be shorn and shipped to highway exit numbers are based upon the market every spring. While grazing At this town, 1-70 crosses the Green mileage marker posts. The mileage continues at reduced levels, the Cisco River. The Green is the largest tributary markers begin at the junction with I-15 Desert is now valuable for oil and gas. of the Colorado River system and the last The field is unusual in that most of the gas major river to be explored in the United wells are quite shallow (1,000 to 1,400 John Wesley Powell River History States. In 1869, Major John Wesley Museum & Visitor Information feet deep). Powell and a party of nine men made an 885 E Main, Green River, UT 84525 historic voyage of exploration from Green 435-564-3427 (Museum Fee) The Cisco exit (Exit 204) provides access River, to near the settlement of to Highway 128, a Utah Scenic Byway Las Vegas, . The John Wesley Moab Information Center that follows the Colorado River to the Powell River History Museum, located on Main & Center, Moab, UT 84532 City of Moab. No services are available at the bank of the Green River, 435-259-6622 800-635-6622 the town site of Cisco. commemorates his explorations with A Guide to I-70 Through Southeastern Utah – discovermoab.com - 6/22/07 Page 2 exhibits, slide shows, and artifacts from of rock 40 to 60 million years ago. (restored in 1996 as Emery County's Utah early river days. The museum also houses Erosion left the canyons and cliffs that Centennial Project). At the north end of the Green River Visitor Center, which have been barriers to travel by man. Buckhorn Draw is the turn-off to the provides brochures and information about Wedge Overlook where there is a the area. Also in the City of Green River The is called a monocline panoramic view of the 's is , with its by geologists, and such structures are Little . South of Price is the campground, golf course, and launch area known to be good places to seek mineral Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry and for float trips through Labyrinth Canyon. deposits. Several valuable deposits of Visitor Center (open seasonally; contact uranium have been located along the the Bureau of Land Management in Price) The 100-mile San Rafael Desert Loop length of the San Rafael Reef. Joe from which more than 18,000 bones, Auto Tour heads south from the City of Swasey, an early-day rancher, once mined mostly Allosaurus, have been taken. The Green River and can be used to access the uranium from Temple Mountain near the route from 1-70 to the Wedge Overlook Horseshoe Canyon section of middle of the Reef and used the ore as an and the town of Castle Dale has been Canyonlands . Stop at the ingredient in pottery glaze. Uranium from designated a Utah Backcountry Byway. Green River Visitor Center to pick up a Temple Mountain was later used to make brochure and to check road conditions for one of the first atomic bombs. The area to the south of Exit 131 provides this backcountry loop drive. the traveler with many opportunities. The 6W & 6E-Black Dragon and historic mining areas of Temple The area between the Green River and the Spotted Wolf View Areas Mountain, Tomsich Butte, and Hidden San Rafael Reef is known as the San Milepost 142 Splendor are accessible from here, as is Rafael Desert. Early travelers of the Old Swasey's Cabin, used historically by the Spanish Trail considered this one of the 1-70 slices through the Reef via Spotted Swasey family as part of their livestock most desolate portions of the 1,200-mile Wolf Canyon. From the Spotted Wolf operation. trading route between Santa Fe and Los Canyon View Area (6E), you can walk Angeles. After crossing the Green River out to a point which overlooks 1-70 as it 7W & 7E-Ghost Rock just north of the present day City of Green descends through the Reef. Several of the Rest Areas River, the Old Spanish Trail skirted the major rock formations of the Reef are Milepost 123 north side of the and readily apparent here with the upturned then swung south to rejoin the path of Navajo, Kayenta, and Wingate sandstone An early-day rancher gave this rock present-day 1-70 near Fremont junction formations exposed to view. The area to formation the name "Ghost Rock" one day (Exit 91). the south of this view area is part of the when fog obscured the base and gave the San Rafael Reef Wilderness Study Area. crown the appearance of a ghost floating Highway 6 (Exit 158) heads north in the air. Because it often stood out in between the Book Cliffs and the San Native Americans of the bad weather, the Ghost Rock was an Rafael Swell to the town of Price and on inhabited the Swell between 700 and 1250 important landmark for stockmen. to 1-15. Price area attractions include the A.D. They left considerable evidence of College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric their Occupation, including campsites, The landscape seen to the east of these Museum, Native American rock art in stone granaries, and artwork painted rest areas is known as "Sinbad Country." Nine Mile Canyon, and the Helper Mining (pictographs) or carved () on Although there is no documentation as to and Railroad Museum. canyon walls. Black Dragon Canyon, just how this name came about, it seems north of Spotted Wolf Canyon, is named reasonable to assume that the name was Exit 149 is the northern terminus of for one such pictograph which resembles given because the rock formations Highway 24, which heads south parallel a large winged reptile or pterodactyl. reminded someone of scenes described in to the San Rafael Reef and can be used to The Arabian Nights. reach Temple Mountain, Goblin Valley Exit 131 provides access to the central State Park, Canyonlands National Park's portion of the San Rafael Swell. The area The canyon-cut tableland north of 1-70, Maze District, Hanksville, the Henry to the northeast of Exit 131 is known as viewable from the westbound Ghost Rock Mountains, and the Grand Jackass Benches, home to both wild rest area, is known as Secret Mesa Staircase-Escalante National Monument. horses and burros. These hardy animals (eastbound travelers can see this area are protected under the Wild Free- from the truck parking lot). The maze of 5W & 5E - San Rafael Reef Roaming Horse and Burro Management canyons, rock monuments, and wooded Rest Areas Act of 1971, Twenty miles north of the tablelands here made it an excellent Milepost 146 freeway on a maintained gravel road is a hiding place for those "on the dodge" small Bureau of Land Management from the law. Dominating the landscape with its campground at the San Rafael River (no sawtooth ridge of giant flatirons is the San drinking water available). Most individuals who came here for that Rafael Reef. The San Rafael Reef is the reason simply were avoiding the dramatic eastern boundary of the San North of the campground, the road passes authorities after some minor infraction, Rafael Swell, a large, kidney-shaped through precipitous Buckhorn Draw with but others have become famous in outlaw topographic feature that began as an uplift its pictograph and panels history. In 1897 Butch Cassidy and Elza A Guide to I-70 Through Southeastern Utah – discovermoab.com - 6/22/07 Page 3

Lay stole the mine payroll at Castle Gate, 10W-Sand Bench Rest Area Loa, where it connects with Highway 24. Utah (north of Price), making off with Milepost 106 From there, the towns of Bicknell, $10,000 in loot. They eluded two sheriff's Teasdale, Torrey, Hanksville, Boulder, posses in the canyons of the Swell. The overlook at this rest area features a and Escalante can be reached. view of the gentle slopes of the western Recreational attractions south of 1-70 8 - Eagle Canyon Rest edge of the San Rafael Swell. Geologists include Capitol Reef National Park, Area/Moore Exit call the Swell an asymmetrical National Forest, and the Grand Staircase- Milepost 116 because its strata have been folded Escalante National Monument. unevenly The eastern fold tipped the This rest area provides an excellent strata almost vertical, forming the San 1-70 continues west into Fishlake overlook of Eagle Canyon and the Sids Rafael Reef, while the other margins are National Forest over Emigrant Pass to Mountain Wilderness Study Area. The tilted much less severely. Salina, a distance of 33 miles. This Canyon was named by the Swaseys, who highway follows the approximate route of said it was so deep that an eagle could not 10E-Sand Bench Rest Area the Old Spanish Trail. fly out of it. The bridges built for the 1-70 Milepost 104 crossing of the canyon (Milepost 120) are ADDITIONAL INFORMATION almost 300 feet above the rock-strewn, This rest area provides the traveler with sandy bottom. interesting studies in color, particularly in Moab Area Travel Council the spring and fall. The white sandstone 84 North 100 East The Copper Globe Road (4-wheel drive on top caps off red siltstone, which, in Moab, UT 84532 435-259-8825 or 800-635-6622 vehicle required) at Exit 116 is named for turn, contrasts with the bright green

vegetation along South Salt Wash. To the an abandoned mine. The mine was Castle Country Travel Council discovered prior to 1900 and eventually south, the distant Henry Mountains serve CEU Prehistoric Museum became the property of US Commissioner as the backdrop for Hebes Mountain and 155 E. Main * Price, UT 84501 Edward Pike. Although several shipments Cedar Mountain, and, to the west, the 435-637-5060 of copper ore were pulled from the mine desert colors blend into the dark, forested during World Wars I and 11, the mine's areas of the and the Bureau of Land Management remote location and skimpy ore supply Fishlake National Forest. Moab Field Office hampered serious development. 82 E. Dogwood * Moab, UT 84532 435-259-6111 The road heading north from Exit 99

parallels Muddy Creek for several miles The maintained gravel road going north Bureau of Land Management from 1-70 is called the Moore Road and before entering Miller Canyon and Price Field Office intersects Highway 10 near the tiny connecting with Highway 10 at the town 125 South 600 West * Price, UT 84501 settlement of Moore, between the towns of Emery. The dirt road south from Exit 435-637-3600 of Emery and Ferron. The road was built 99 provides another access route to in 1902 to connect the Copper Globe Mussentuchit Sand Dunes. BLM Internet Information: Mine with Moore. Miner Pike paid $3,000 www.blm.gov/utah/ for the road, which was built by local 11 - Ivie Creek Rest Area residents with work horses and scrapers. Milepost 86 P.O. Box 907

Gypsum is now mined in the area. North Hwy. 191 * Moab, UT 84532 Located within Fishlake National Forest, 435-259-8161 9E - Devils Canyon Rest Area this wooded rest area provides the traveler Milepost 115 with rest rooms, water, picnic shelters, Canyonlands National Park and a short hiking trail. 2282 SE Resource Blvd. This rest area overlooks Devils Canyon, Moab, UT 84532 another wilderness study area, to the Highways 10 and 72 intersect 1-70 at 435-719-2313 south. A short, unmarked trail leads to a Fremont Junction (89). Highway 10 heads Capitol Reef National Park viewpoint at the edge of the canyon (there northeast to the towns of Emery, Ferron, Torrey, UT 84720 Castle Dale, Huntington, and Price. Many are no railings or barriers, so use caution 435-425-3791 in approaching the point). The small cliffs recreational areas and points of interest seen to the northwest across 1-70 are the are accessible along the way including: Red Ledges. , the Manti-LaSal P.O. Box 1507 * Page, AZ 80040 National Forest, , 520-645-6404 South Salt Wash Exit 108 provides four- the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, the wheel drive access to the Copper Globe Emery County Museum, and the CEU Manti La Sal National Forest Road and to Mussentuchit Sand Dunes, a Prehistoric Museum. 599 Price River Dr. * Price, UT 84501 435-637-2817 small area of dunes that offer off-highway Highway 72 goes south from 1-70, climbs vehicle enthusiasts some interesting Fishlake National Forest riding. into the Fishlake National Forest, then 115 E. 900 N. * Richfield, UT 84701 drops down into the towns of Fremont and 435-896-9233 A Guide to I-70 Through Southeastern Utah – Moab Area Travel Council - 6/22/07 Page 4