Utah State Route 12

State Route 12 marker

State Route 12
A Journey Through Time Scenic Byway
Route information
Defined by Utah Code §72-4-107
Maintained by UDOT
Length: 122.863 mi[1] (197.729 km)
Existed: 1914 as a state highway; 1920s as SR-12 – present
Tourist
routes:		 Utah's Scenic Byway 12 - A Journey Through Time
Major junctions
West end: US-89 near Panguitch
  SR-63 near Bryce Canyon
Hole in the Rock Rd. near Escalante
East end: SR-24 near Torrey
Highway system
  • State highways in Utah
← SR-10SR-13 →

State Route 12 or Scenic Byway 12 (SR-12), also known as "Highway 12 — A Journey Through Time Scenic Byway", is a state highway designated an All-American Road located in Garfield County and Wayne County, Utah, United States.

Route description

SR-12, as seen from the Head of the Rocks overlook

Proceeding west to east for 122 miles (nearly 200 km), the highway starts south of Panguitch at an intersection with US-89, crosses part of Dixie National Forest and Bryce Canyon National Park, continues through the small towns of Tropic, Cannonville, and Henrieville. It crosses various parts of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GS-ENM), continues northeast through Escalante and over the Escalante River, then north through more of GS-ENM, Boulder, the Aquarius Plateau, Grover, ending in Torrey at an intersection with SR-24, five miles (8 km) west of Capitol Reef National Park. The 30-mile (48 km) long portion of the highway that ascends and descends Boulder Mountain on the Aquarius Plateau is known as Boulder Mountain Highway.

Traffic volume

The Average Daily Traffic (AADT) on SR-12 is at its greatest at its western junction with US-89, where the count for 2005 was 2,430. At its other end, at the junction with SR-24, the traffic bottoms out at 435.[2]

History

Red Canyon, Dixie National Forest

The road from Bryce Canyon Junction to Tropic was added to the state highway system in 1914, and in 1923 a branch from Tropic Junction to Bryce Canyon was built as a forest road.[3] The State Road Commission numbered the route to Bryce Canyon SR-12 in the 1920s,[4] and in 1927 the state legislature assigned it to both branches, to Bryce Canyon and Tropic,[5] but split off the branch to Tropic as State Route 54 in 1931. That same year, a new State Route 120 was created, continuing the road from Tropic to Henrieville,[6] and in 1935 it became part of SR-54.[7] Another road was also added to the state highway system in 1914, connecting SR-22 at Widtsoe with Escalante,[8] and it was numbered State Route 23 in 1927.[9] An extension took SR-23 northeast to Boulder in 1941,[10] and in 1947 SR-54 absorbed SR-23, with the Widtsoe-Escalante road dropped in favor of Henrieville-Escalante.[11] State Route 117, running southeast from SR-24 near Teasdale to Grover, became a state highway in 1931,[12] and was extended south to Boulder in 1957, becoming part of SR-54 in 1966.[13] In 1969, SR-54 became part of SR-12, but most of former SR-117 was dropped, leaving SR-12 to stretch from Bryce Canyon Junction to the north limit of Boulder (at the Dixie National Forest boundary), with a short spur to Bryce Canyon. This spur became a new SR-63 in 1975, and in 1985 the route was extended back north from Boulder to SR-24, using a different route than old SR-117 north of Grover.[3]

Major intersections

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
GarfieldBryce Canyon Junction0.0000.000 US-89 – Panguitch, Kanab, Zion National Park
​10.71317.241East Fork of the Sevier Scenic Backway
Tropic Junction13.59821.884 SR-63 / John's Valley Road – Bryce Canyon, AntimonyFormer SR-22
Cannonville25.65741.291Cottonwood Canyon Scenic Backway – Kodachrome Basin State Park
​54.64387.939Main Canyon RoadFormer SR-23
Escalante58.96894.900Smokey Mountain Scenic Backway
59.83096.287Posey Lake Scenic Backway
​64.392103.629Hole-in-the-Rock Scenic Backway
​83.270134.010Hell's Backbone Road
Boulder86.352138.970Burr Trail Scenic Backway
Wayne​118.179190.191TeasdaleFormer SR-117
​122.863197.729 SR-24 – Loa, Hanksville
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Reference Information: SR-12, updated 2008-05-01. Retrieved July 2008.
  2. ↑ UDOT Traffic Counts, page 6
  3. 1 2 Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Resolutions: "Route 12". (9.72 MB), updated September 2007, accessed May 2008
  4. ↑ State Road Commission, Utah State Trunk Lines, 1923
  5. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1927). Chapter 21: Designation of State Roads. Session Laws of Utah. 12. From Hillsdale, about 7 miles south of Panguitch, southeasterly via Tropic Junction; to Bryce Canyon; also from Tropic Junction to Tropic.
  6. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1931). Chapter 55: Designation of State Roads. Session Laws of Utah. (54) From Tropic junction on route 12 to Tropic." "(120) From Tropic southerly via Cannonville to Henrieville.
  7. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1935). Chapter 37: Designation of State Roads. Session Laws of Utah.
  8. ↑ Utah Department of Transportation, State Route History. Retrieved July 2007.
  9. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1927). Chapter 21: Designation of State Roads. Session Laws of Utah. 23. From Widtsoe easterly to Escalante.
  10. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1941). Chapter 34. Session Laws of Utah.
  11. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1947). Chapter 49. Session Laws of Utah. Route 54. From Tropic Junction on route 12 via Tropic, Cannonville, Henrieville, and Escalante to Boulder.
  12. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1931). Chapter 55: Designation of State Roads. Session Laws of Utah. (117) From junction with route 24 east of Bicknell, southerly via Teasdale to Grover.
  13. ↑ Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Resolutions: "Route 117". (1.56 MB), updated November 2007, accessed May 2008

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