Burr Trail Road, Utah. May & September 2006. Part One
ON THE BURR TRAIL ROAD IN SOUTHWEST UTAH. MAY & SEPTEMBER 2006
At the southeast edge of Boulder, a small Ranch Country town in southwest Utah. We’re at the north end of the Burr Trail Road, which at one time was a cattle trail.
The top sign says, DIRT ROAD. 75 MILES
Bottom signs says, TRAVEL AT YOUR OWN RISK
This photo was taken in 2001, when Maggie and I first drove The Burr Trail Road. Four or five years later, 40 miles of the road were paved, but the signs have not been changed. At one of the steeper downgrades, I think the paving material was simply poured right over the large slabs of granite that had been the original roadbed.
With two exceptions, our approach to the Burr Trail has been from the eastern side of the Colorado, via Blanding, Utah. The two exceptions were from the western end, at Boulder. The following three photos were taken in April 2008, as we headed for the ferry crossing at Hall’s Landing. We were in Steer Pasture Canyon on state highway 276, on the eastern side of the Colorado River. These cows and calves belong to the Irish Green Cow Camp, part of the Ty Cattle Ranch. The corrals are a half mile behind us, and the line camp buildings are just off the highway another mile or two further east, away from the direction of the river. The nearest town is Blanding, 40 miles of spectacularly scenic driving “behind” us. In the photos, we're 15 or 20 miles from the ferry crossing. The delay caused us to miss the 10 a.m. crossing. Had to wait an hour for the ferry to return from the other side, but that was okay.
Three cowboys were moving the cattle to a nearby dirt road that leads to the corrals. The “parade” was brought to a standstill for a few minutes while this calf had an early lunch.
