Postcard from Utah – Long Canyon on the Burr Trail

After breaking camp on Calf Creek, I continued east on Highway 12, first climbing up above Calf Creek Canyon, then descending into the farming and sandstone country surrounding Boulder Utah. As you head into the small town, Highway 12 takes a sharp left…but I chose to go straight ahead, onto the beginning of the Burr Trail.

Don’t let the name fool you, today’s Burr Trail is a partially paved 75-mile long road that goes south and east. It traverses some of Utah’s most beautiful country that is always changing. It eventually winds up at the southern end of Capital Reef National Park. The trail was originally used by Mormon pioneers to move their sheep from the Boulder high country down to lower pastures.

On this trip, I had no intention of travelling the entire Burr Trail, but rather the first 20-30 miles of it that leads from Boulder, through the petrified dunes of Navajo sandstone, through the Deer Creek Area, and eventually into the seven mile canyon area known appropriately as Long Canyon.

The Burr Trail road (all paved at this point) approaches Long Canyon from above, giving you a magnificent view of the first part of the canyon…then drops you into the canyon where the rock formations defy description. I could not take enough pictures. Every turn in the road brought new wonders into view.

I came into the canyon right as a rain storm was ending, so the air was crystal clean and I was able to get some beautiful cloud formations into many of my pictures. At one point, I stopped to photograph a scene, and after finishing, I looked up, there was an arch above me high on the canyon walls.

I continued on slowly, stopping many times and taking in all I could. Fortunately, I had perfect light at the best time of day so I have many fantastic pictures of Long Canyon, far too many to show here.

After seven miles, you emerge from Long Canyon at a perfect viewpoint to see the west side of Waterpocket Fold, the Circle Cliffs and the Henry Mountains. After enjoying this view, I headed back west into Long Canyon to see what I had missed when I was traveling east. This was as far as I had intended to go on the Burr Trail as my main objective was still to travel the length of Highway 12.

After returning to Boulder, I headed east on 12 to see more of Utah’s most scenic highway. Stay tuned.