A Short Story
Utah’s Hogsback on Route 12
Recently 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 Las 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 Route 12 was a much shorter trip.
At this point I need to add 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. The entrance road up into Arches National Park was a bit scary to me. 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 I hung one handed off high catwalks and jumped out of hovering helicopters into the water. I confess that now I am much more nervous about heights than my wife is.
The Anasazi State Park and Anasazi excavations
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 visit. It was built around the excavation of an ancient Anasazi village and included an interesting 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. There were 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.
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The Intentional Travelers 
I drove that stretch of Utah 12 over 14 years ago in late December. It was the scariest road I’d ever driven! There were no guardrails as it wound higher and higher along that ridge. Remember, this was December, and the road was icy in spots. At one point the road crested a hill, and I could not see the road going down the backside. The sensation was almost as if the road ended there with a drop-off coming. My passenger husband quietly remarked, “I’m sure glad you’re the one driving!” Thank you for confirming my evaluation of that incredible drive!
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