Skip to main content

2016 Fall Mountain Trip Part 10; Utah State Route 8, Snow Canyon State Park, and Utah State Route 34

By
Picking up from the previous blog I pulled off of UT 18 on to Utah State Route 8 on Sunset Boulevard in western St. George to head towards Snow Canyon State Park.


This blog is Part 10 in the 2016 Fall Mountain Trip Series, Part 9 can be found here:

2016 Fall Mountain Trip Part 9; Interstate 15 through the Virgin River Gorge

UT 8 is a small 1.3 mile State Highway running from UT 18 on Sunset Boulevard west to Dixie Downs Road.  UT 8 is part of the former routing of US 91 which continued west as what is now signed as "Old Highway 91" to the Arizona State Line.  In 1973 US 91 was deleted south of Brigham City, UT which removed Sunset Boulevard from the State Highway System.

USends.com on US 91

This 1950 Utah State Highway Maps shows how US 91 entered Utah from Arizona and reached St. George which would include the alignment of UT 8.

1950 State Highway Map

In 1972 UT 300 was commissioned south from UT 18 above the rim of Snow Canyon to the southern State Park Boundary.  UT 300 was likely never signed within Snow Canyon as it is common UDOT practice to maintain small roadways unsigned in State Parks.  In 1991 the Utah Transportation Commission authorized UT 8 to be designated over all of existing UT 300 pending improvements south of Snow Canyon State Park.  Roadways included into UT 8 were routed from UT 18 over Sunset Boulevard, through Santa Clara to 200 East, and Center Street in Ivins to UT 300 at Snow Canyon Drive.  Once the new UT 8 was completed in 1996 it absorbed all of UT 300 north to looping back to UT 18.  Oddly UT 8 was truncated to Dixie Downs Road in 1999 which apparently was requested by the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation.

As stated above I started my approach to Snow Canyon State Park via UT 8 on Sunset Boulevard headed west from UT 18.



I took UT 8 to it's terminus at Dixie Downs Road and headed north to Snow Canyon Parkway.  Really the original alignment of UT 8 through Ivins wasn't exactly the most logical in retrospect.  Soon I found myself at the gate of Snow Canyon State Park on Snow Canyon Drive.






Snow Canyon has been a State Park since 1958 and is sandstone canyon similar to Zion Canyon.  Snow Canyon gets it's name from local settlers Lorenzo and Erastus Snow.  Snow Canyon ranges in elevation from about 3,100 feet at the bottom to a peak elevation of 5,023 feet above sea level on the rim.  Snow Canyon State Park has various hiking trails and even has pink sand dunes which are easily accessed from the rapidly ascending Snow Canyon Drive.




After trying a few trails I made my way north through Snow Canyon Park on Snow Canyon Drive to UT 18.







From UT 18 there is a small dirt access road to Panorama Point which overlooks Snow Canyon from the northern rim.



From Snow Canyon I took UT 18 south to UT 34 in St. George.  UT 34 is a small 2.15 mile State Highway running entirely on East St. George Boulevard from UT 18 east to I-15.  Much like UT 8 all of UT 34 was part of US 91 before it was truncated in 1973.



After completing UT 34 I jumped on I-15 briefly to UT 9 to head east towards Zion National Park.


Part 11 of this blog series can be found here:

2016 Fall Mountain Trip Part 11; Zion National Park and Utah State Route 9/The Mount Carmel Highway

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon

By
Within the Truckee River Canyon in the Sierra Nevada range numerous abandoned portions of US Route 40 can be found alongside modern Interstate 80.   This segment of highway was opened during 1926 as a bypass of the Dog Valley Grade which carried the early North Lincoln Highway and Victory Highway. The corridor of the Truckee River Canyon State Highway would be assigned as US Route 40 when the US Route System was commissioned during November 1926. During 1958 the segment of Interstate 80 between Boca, California and the Nevada state line was complete. When Interstate 80 opened east of Boca numerous obsolete portions of US Route 40 were abandoned. Some of these abandoned segments have been incorporated into the Tahoe-Pyramid Trail.  Part 1; the history of US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon The Truckee River Canyon for centuries has been an established corridor of travel known to native tribes crossing the Sierra Nevada range.  The first documented wagon crossi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former US Route 50 and the South Lincoln Highway from Folsom east to Placerville

By
The corridor of Folsom of Sacramento County east to Placerville of El Dorado County has been a long established corridor of overland travel dating back to the California Gold Rush.  The Folsom-Placerville corridor was once part of the path of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road which became the first California State Highway and later the South Lincoln Highway.  In time the South Lincoln Highway's surface alignment was inherited by US Route 50.  The Folsom-Placerville corridor also includes the communities of; Clarksville, Shingle Springs and El Dorado. Part 1; the history of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road, South Lincoln Highway and US Route 50 through Folsom-Placerville Folsom is located on the American River/Lake Natoma of eastern Sacramento County.  That lands now occupied by the City of Folsom were part of Rancho Rio de los Americanos prior to the finding of gold at Sutter's Mill during 1848.  During the California Gold Rush the lands of Rancho Rio de los Americanos were p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former US Route 50 and the Pioneer Route Lincoln Highway on Johnson's Pass Road

By
Johnson's Pass Road is one of the oldest highway corridors in California.  Johnson's Pass was part of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road as it was completed during 1856 over the Sierra Nevada.  The pass would later be incorporated into the Pioneer Branch of the Lincoln Highway in 1913 and US Route 50 in 1926.  Johnson's Pass Road would be bypassed by a new alignment of US Route 50 over Echo Summit in 1938.  A replacement of the Meyers Grade east of Johnson's Pass would be opened to traffic in 1947.   Johnson's Pass Road remains accessible to traffic and is still signed by the Lincoln Highway Association.  Pictured as the blog cover is the view from the top of Johnson's Pass Road overlooking modern US Route 50 and Lake Tahoe.   Part 1; the history of Johnson's Pass Much of the history of what become the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road is discussed in the  September 1950 California Highways & Public Works  during its Centennial Edition.  The or...
Post a Comment
Read more