Skip to main content

2016 Summer Mountain Trip Part 17; US Route 191 over Flaming Gorge Dam

By
The morning following visiting Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park I left Jackson headed south on US 26/89/189/191.  At Hoback Junction I made a turn away from the Snake River and followed US 189/191 southward towards I-80, my next destination was in northeast Utah.


This blog serves as Part 17 of the Summer Mountain Trip Series, Part 16 can be found here:

2016 Summer Mountain Trip Part 16; Grand Teton National Park and the nebulous gap in the US Routes

In Daniel US 189 splits away from US 191 towards the Salt Lake City area.  I followed US 191 southward through Sweetwater County to approach I-80.  While in Sweetwater County I stopped in Eden just south of the junction with WY 28.  Eden apparently boasts a population of about 300 spread out over about 13 miles but the core of the community essentially was a husk of mid-20th century vehicles and buildings.







US 191 meets I-80 in Rock Springs and multiplexes it westward.  I followed the short multiplex of I-80 and continued towards the Utah State Line on US 191.  US 191 ascends high above the terrain which offers several vistas of the the Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Green River.


The Flaming Gorge Reservoir impounds a 91 mile stretch of the Green River in Sweetwater County Wyoming and Daggett County Utah.  Flaming Gorge was discovered in 1869 and was named after the red sandstone that lines the canyon face.  Flaming Gorge has been the source of a reservoir since Flaming Gorge Dam was completed in Dagget County Utah in 1964.  Flaming Gorge Dam is a 502 foot tall arch concrete dam which is the center piece of the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.  US 191 crosses over the Green River via the Flaming Gorge Dam which can be seen from a vista above the reservoir.



The first highway over Flaming Gorge Dam was Utah State Route 260 which was legislatively approved in 1957.  Initially UT 260 did go to the Wyoming State Line over the former route of UT 220 but the road was cut back to the Antelope Flat Campground when the waters of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir began to rise.  By 1981 a new route extending the highway to the Wyoming State Line and I-80 in Wyoming was built.  By 1982 this became part of an extension of US Route 191 which moved the south terminus from Idaho Falls, ID to Chambers, AZ.  On the 1950 Utah State Highway Map below the route of UT 220 out of Linwood (now flooded over by the Flaming Gorge Reservoir) can be seen jutting east from UT 43.  The USends stub below details the history of endpoints on US Route 191.

1950 Utah State Highway Map

USends on US Route 191 endpoints

From Flaming Gorge Dam I followed US 191 south to US 40 in Vernal.  I turned east on US 40 towards Colorado and Dinosaur National Monument.

Part 18 of the 2016 Summer Mountain Trip can be found below:

2016 Summer Mountain Trip Part 18; Harper's Corner Drive to Dinosaur National Monument
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

By
After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...
4 comments
Read more

Finding the Pre-Emption Road of New York State

By
  The Pre-Emption Road (or rather a series of roads named Pre-Emption Road) follows a survey line called the Pre-Emption Line, drawn in the early days of the United States. The story begins with Massachusetts and New York having competing land claims to modern day Western New York State that have their roots in colonial charters granted by the British. After the Revolutionary War ended, this land became the frontier of the nation and its settlement became a priority for the new American government. During this era, there were a lot of competing land claims that needed to be settled. It was no different with the land claims between New York State and Massachusetts. On November 30, 1786, Massachusetts and New York sent representatives to Hartford, Connecticut to resolve their competing land claims. In less than three weeks, the representatives had reached a compromise. Massachusetts would receive pre-emption rights, meaning the right to sell the land after the Indian title ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

By
  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...
Post a Comment
Read more