UT 313 and Dead Horse Point State Park came up on the current blog series I'm working on. 313 is actually a fairly mellow road considering where it ends up at above the Colorado River:
https://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2018/11/2016-fall-mountain-trip-part-15-dead.html
313 is a fascinating drive because all you see from it is the rolling hills you're on. You don't realize you're on a plateau thousands of feet above the Green and/or Colorado Rivers. The elevation comes as a surprise as well: the flattest portions of the route are the highest, above 6000 feet.
If you were driving and you were seeing this landscape (https://goo.gl/maps/sQfeNWtA5JR2), would you expect those panoramic red-rock cliffs of Dead Horse and Canyonlands to be just a few miles away? I know I wouldn't.
Quote from: US 89 on November 29, 2018, 03:48:23 PM
313 is a fascinating drive because all you see from it is the rolling hills you're on. You don't realize you're on a plateau thousands of feet above the Green and/or Colorado Rivers. The elevation comes as a surprise as well: the flattest portions of the route are the highest, above 6000 feet.
If you were driving and you were seeing this landscape (https://goo.gl/maps/sQfeNWtA5JR2), would you expect those panoramic red-rock cliffs of Dead Horse and Canyonlands to be just a few miles away? I know I wouldn't.
Really it makes sense that the UT 279/278 project was abandoned given the gentle terrain that became UT 313. Literally "Island of the Sky" probably is the best descriptive term that can be used for said plateau, it really just hangs almost vertically above the Green and Colorado River. I went up there up in the dark to get a good sunrise view over the La Sals, I felt totally comfortable it wouldn't be an issue with the ease of the road grade.
Shafer Canyon Road at Dead Horse Point looks like a great drive. We didn't get a chance the one time we were there.
Quote from: kurumi on November 30, 2018, 01:11:30 AM
Shafer Canyon Road at Dead Horse Point looks like a great drive. We didn't get a chance the one time we were there.
Apparently renting Jeeps for said purpose in Moab is a thing. The White Rim Road is a pretty popular connecting road.