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All the United States Utah Garfield County Burr Trail Switchbacks

Burr Trail Switchbacks

Once a menacing challenge for trailblazers, this trail is now the most scenic drive in Utah.

Garfield County, Utah

Added By
zackofalltrades
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Looking down the Burr Trail Switchbacks   zackofalltrades / Atlas Obscura User
Looking down the Burr Trail Switchbacks   zackofalltrades / Atlas Obscura User
Along the Burr Trail   zackofalltrades / Atlas Obscura User
Looking down the Burr Trail Switchbacks   zackofalltrades / Atlas Obscura User
Looking down the Burr Trail Switchbacks   zackofalltrades / Atlas Obscura User
along the Burr Trail, nearer to Boulder, UT   zackofalltrades / Atlas Obscura User
looking back up at the Burr Trail Switchbacks   zackofalltrades / Atlas Obscura User
looking south towards Bullfrog, near the base of the Burr Trail Switchbacks   zackofalltrades / Atlas Obscura User
looking north towards Notem, near the base of the Burr Trail Switchbacks   zackofalltrades / Atlas Obscura User
View from the top of the switchbacks.   WhiskeyBristles / Atlas Obscura User
You have been warned…   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Another view of the switchbacks from the top.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
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About

The Burr Trail Switchbacks are one of the few passages across the Grand Staircase, a geological formation which greatly vexed early stagecoach travelers crossing the plains.

At this tectonic boundary (known as a monocline) the western plate juts sharply above the eastern plate, presenting a largely unbroken wall-like barrier nearly 100 miles long. This generally insurmountable wall of rock is positioned within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Capitol Reef National Park, and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which encompasses the largest land area of all U.S. National Monuments, slightly larger in area than the the State of Delaware.

John Atlantic Burr was born while crossing the Atlantic in 1846, and lived with his family in Salt Lake City before moving south to establish the town of Burrville, Utah, in 1876. He established the Burr Trail across extremely rugged territory, including Waterpocket Fold, Burr Canyon, and Muley Twist Canyon as a way of moving cattle between lower winter grazing ranges on the east side of Waterpocket Fold and higher summer grazing ranges on the west.

The section of the Burr Trail within Capitol Reef National Park is still unpaved and is in a scenic but isolated section of an already remote National Park along Utah Scenic Highway 12, generally free of the overcrowding of Zion and Bryce National Parks, halfway from Zion and Bryce to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, and near the exceptional and even less populated Blue Valley.

Related Tags

Natural Wonders Geology Wild West National Parks Nature

Know Before You Go

between Boulder, UT and Bullfrog, UT

Community Contributors

Added By

zackofalltrades

Edited By

Rachel, WhiskeyBristles, slgwv

  • Rachel
  • WhiskeyBristles
  • slgwv

Published

January 13, 2016

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Sources
  • http://www.scenicbyway12.com/the-byway/scenic-backways/burr-trail-scenic-backway/
  • http://www.nps.gov/glca/planyourvisit/driving-the-burr-trail.htm
  • http://www.backroadswest.com/trips/2011/09/burr-trail-utah/
  • http://www.nps.gov/care/learn/nature/geology.htm
Burr Trail Switchbacks
Garfield County, Utah
United States
37.84893, -111.026471

Nearby Places

Factory Butte

Torrey, Utah

miles away

Hell's Backbone Scenic Road

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miles away

Gregory Natural Bridge

Lake Powell, Utah

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Utah

Utah

United States

Places 155
Stories 29

Nearby Places

Factory Butte

Torrey, Utah

miles away

Hell's Backbone Scenic Road

Escalante, Utah

miles away

Gregory Natural Bridge

Lake Powell, Utah

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Utah

Utah

United States

Places 155
Stories 29

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