A Short Story
The Hogsback on Route 12 in Utah
Last summer we spent a couple of weeks checking off items on our bucket list in the National Parks of Utah. We rented a car in Salt Lake City, toured the parks and dropped off the car in Los Vegas.
After leaving Capital Reef National Park one afternoon we were headed for our next hotel in the town of Panguitch near Bryce Canyon National Park to the southwest. We came out of Capital Reef on Route 24 and soon hit an intersection with Route 12. At the intersection Rt. 24 headed to the north, which is the way we had been told to go but Rt. 12 went south. Just looking at the map it seemed like 12 was a much shorter route to take.
At this point I need to confess that the older I get the more nervous I am about heights. Already on this trip I had driven a couple of roads that had given me reason to pause. I’m not sure where this fear of heights has come from but when I was much younger I was fearless. lately I find it hard to believe that decades ago that young man that hung one handed off high catwalks and jumped out of helicopters was actually me. At this point I am much more nervous than my wife.
Anyway at that junction we made a snap decision and headed south on Utah Route 12. Some distance along this two lane road, near Boulder Mountain we came across the Anasazi State Park and archaeological site. This was a lucky find and well worth the stop. It was built around the excavation of an ancient Anasazi village and included a nice museum.
Back on the road we headed southwest again and soon came up on one of the scariest bit of road I can remember. Its called the Hogsback (or Hog Back) and it’s a narrow two lane road with, at times, barley any shoulder on either side. It rides along a ridge for about 
four miles with often sheer drops of over a hundred feet on one side or the other and sometimes both sides at once. Few guard rails and almost no room to pull off. The speed limit was between 25 and 35 mph and with my fear kicking in that seemed way too fast.
The good news was there was almost no traffic and the one car ahead of us seemed really terrified. He crept along at 15 to 20 mph and that was just fine with me. Not only did I feel safer but he gave me an excuse when eventually another car caught up to us.
Watch this YouTube video of a drive along the Hogsback.
intend2travel.info 
Okay that road is so cool. Have you ever driven the road up Mount Washington? Definitely had me a bit freaked out.
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Wow, that road looks amazing! I watched the video – I would love to travel on that road but not as the driver. I wouldn’t be nervous of the height but I would perhaps be nervous of driving it, as the scenery is too amazing and would distract me. But I see there are several pull-outs, which is good 🙂
When we visited Utah decades ago I know we went to Anasazi but I don’t recall any roads quite like this one. Is it possible we could have visited Anasazi without driving the Hogs Back?
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The Hogsback is only 15 to 20 miles from Anasazi park heading SW so if you are heading toward Bryce you would have to take route 12. Most people avoid this stretch of 12 by going north from Capital Reef and circling around. There are a number of Anasazi sites in Utah and that one is pretty out of the way so perhaps that isn’t the one you visited? Thanks for visiting…
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