Highway 12 is Utah’s only All-American Road — and it earns that title in the first mile

It’s Utah’s only All-American Road

Highway 12 runs 123 miles across south-central Utah from Panguitch to Torrey, and the Federal Highway Administration gave it a designation in 2002 that only a handful of roads in the country hold.

An All-American Road means the drive itself is the destination. You’ll cross two national parks, a national monument, a national forest, and three state parks.

Elevations swing from 4,000 feet to over 9,000. The road earns every mile of that title, and the best stretches are the ones you don’t see coming.

Mail came by mule until 1985

The original paths through this country belonged to Native Americans and early pioneers on foot.

In 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps blasted the road into existence with dynamite and heavy equipment, and people called it the “Million Dollar Highway” because of what it cost.

The town of Boulder sat so far from everything that mule trains carried the mail.

You’d think a road this remote would have been paved right away, but the entire length of Highway 12 didn’t get a full coat of asphalt until 1985.

Drive through tunnels carved into red rock fins

Red Canyon sits inside Dixie National Forest and marks the western entrance to Highway 12. Bright red sandstone hoodoos stand right next to green ponderosa pines, and the color contrast hits you immediately.

The highway passes through two tunnels cut straight into red rock fins. Because it’s national forest and not a national park, you won’t pay an entrance fee.

A solid trail system runs through the area, including the short Pink Ledges Trail and the longer Golden Wall Trail.

Walk down among thousands of hoodoos at Bryce Canyon

A short spur on State Route 63 takes you to Bryce Canyon, the first of two national parks along Highway 12. The park holds thousands of tall, thin rock columns called hoodoos, shaped over time by frost and erosion.

Sunrise Point and Sunset Point along the rim give you the wide view.

But the trails that drop down into the canyon put you right among the formations, close enough to touch them, and the scale changes completely when you’re looking up instead of down.

Pioneer towns still hold their quiet, rural feel

East of Bryce Canyon, the highway threads through Tropic, Cannonville, and Henrieville. Mormon pioneers settled these towns in the 1870s and 1880s, and they still carry that same quiet pace.

Cannonville sits about seven miles north of Kodachrome Basin State Park, making it the jump-off point for that side trip.

Stop at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Visitor Center in Cannonville before you head out. They have maps and trail info for the backcountry.

67 stone spires and zero light pollution

Kodachrome Basin holds 67 towering sedimentary pipes, some reaching 170 feet tall.

A National Geographic Society expedition named it in 1948 after Kodak’s color film because of the vivid reds, oranges, and whites packed into 2,240 acres.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument wraps around three sides of the park. The Panorama Trail takes you past formations like Cool Cave and the Ballerina Slipper.

Come back after dark. Light pollution here is almost nonexistent, and the night sky fills edge to edge.

Petrified logs stretch 15 feet long outside Escalante

Escalante sits between the Aquarius and Kaiparowits Plateaus and serves as the heart of Highway 12.

Two miles west of town, Escalante Petrified Forest State Park holds trails that wind past colorful petrified wood, with some logs stretching 15 feet.

Wide Hollow Reservoir in the park gives you a place to kayak, paddleboard, or fish for rainbow trout and bluegill.

The Escalante Interagency Visitor Center in town covers the national monument, the national forest, and all the surrounding public land.

Spot an ancient grain house tucked into the cliff

About 10 miles east of Escalante, Head of the Rocks Overlook opens up a panoramic view across miles of slickrock canyons in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Pull over and look.

Near mile markers 51 and 52, a small stone structure built by Ancient Puebloans sits tucked into the cliff face above the road. They used it to store corn and grain.

You can find it with the spotting scopes at the pull-out, and once you see it, you’ll wonder how many you’ve driven past without knowing.

A 126-foot waterfall hides in the desert canyon

Lower Calf Creek Falls drops 126 feet into a pool ringed by green vegetation in the middle of dry canyon country.

The hike to reach it runs six miles round trip on a sandy, mostly flat trail inside Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Along the way, you can spot Fremont granaries and pictographs high on the canyon walls, dating to roughly AD 1200. The swimming hole at the base stays cold year-round, so brace yourself.

Plan three to four hours for the full hike, and pay the day-use parking fee at the trailhead.

The Hogback drops hundreds of feet on both sides

Between Escalante and Boulder, Highway 12 climbs onto a narrow rock ridge called the Hogback. The drop-offs fall several hundred feet on both sides, and there are no guardrails.

At some points, the ridge is barely wider than the road itself. Pull-outs along the stretch let passengers take in the view while the driver keeps eyes forward.

Despite the reputation, the road is well-paved and standard highway width. Your hands might grip the wheel a little tighter, but the pavement is solid under you.

A 100-room ancient village sits in tiny Boulder

Boulder is a small, remote town with Boulder Mountain on one side and the canyons of the Escalante on the other.

Anasazi State Park Museum preserves the Coombs Village Site here, one of the largest Ancestral Puebloan communities west of the Colorado River.

The village held about 100 rooms and people lived in it from roughly AD 1050 to 1200. You can walk through a life-sized, six-room replica of an ancient dwelling and see artifacts in the museum.

The park opens daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a day-use fee.

See 100 miles from the top of Boulder Mountain

After Boulder, Highway 12 climbs through Dixie National Forest and over Boulder Mountain, topping out above 9,000 feet. The landscape shifts fast, from red desert to thick stands of aspen and pine.

On a clear day, views from the summit stretch more than 100 miles. You can see Capitol Reef National Park, the Henry Mountains, and the Circle Cliffs all at once.

The road then drops through the forest to Torrey, about five miles west of Capitol Reef, where Highway 12 meets State Route 24 and the drive ends.

Drive Highway 12 Scenic Byway in Utah

You can start this drive from either end. Highway 12 runs through Garfield and Wayne Counties in south-central Utah, and the road is open year-round with no toll.

Individual parks and attractions charge their own entrance fees, but an America the Beautiful Pass covers the national park and BLM sites along the way.

Spring and fall give you the most comfortable temperatures for hiking and stopping.

The Escalante Interagency Visitor Center and the Red Canyon Visitor Center are both solid places to plan your stops before you hit the road.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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