Utah State Route 95

State Route 95 or Bicentennial Highway is a state highway located in the southeast of the U.S. state of Utah. The highway is an access road for tourism in the Lake Powell and Cedar Mesa areas, notably bisecting Bears Ears National Monument and providing the only access to Natural Bridges National Monument. The highway does not serve any cities, except for the small town of Hanksville at its western terminus. Although the highway has existed since the 1930s as a primitive dirt road, it received its name at its dedication as a paved state highway coincident with the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976. The highway forms part of the Trail of the Ancients National Scenic Byway.

Hite Crossing Bridge and Colorado River

State Route 95
Bicentennial Highway
Route information
Defined by Utah Code §72-4-115
Maintained by UDOT
Length	121.351 mi[1] (195.296 km)
Existed	1935–present
Major junctions
West end	SR-24 in Hanksville
	SR-276 twice near Lake Powell SR-275 near Natural Bridges National Monument SR-261 near Abajo Mountains
East end	US-191 south of Blanding
Highway system
State highways in Utah Interstate U.S. State Minor Scenic ← SR-94 → SR-96

Route description

SR-95 approaching SR-276

It runs 121 miles (195 km) west from the junction of U.S. Route 191 (4.3 miles south of the town of Blanding), to the junction of SR-24 in the town of Hanksville. It crosses Cottonwood Wash just west of the US-191 junction; follows and crosses White Canyon; and crosses the Colorado River and the northeast end of Lake Powell at Hite Crossing Bridge, near the confluence of the Dirty Devil River, which it crosses just two miles (3 km) later.

29 miles (47 km) west of the US-191 junction it meets State Route 261 on Cedar Mesa, 2 miles (3.2 km) west of there State Route 275 spurs off to the northwest to Natural Bridges National Monument, and it intersects with State Route 276 twice, on either side of Lake Powell.

It passes by the now closed Fry Canyon Lodge in Fry Canyon, which opened in 1955 and closed in 2007. Fry's Canyon (also referred to as Fry's Gulch) contained the only gas station between Hanksville and Blanding, but it has since closed and there are no services on the route itself. A seasonal gas station is in operation at the Hite Marina area during the summer months.

History

Vista along SR-95

SR-95 was added to the state highway system in 1935 as a spur connecting SR-47 (now US-191) near Blanding with Natural Bridges National Monument.[2] It was extended in 1949, crossing the Colorado River at Hite and continuing to SR-24 at Hanksville.[3] Except for a short piece near Blanding, the road remained unpaved through the 1960s.[4] The first major realignment was approved in 1962 and completed in 1966,[5] bypassing the old crossing at Hite, which is now flooded by Lake Powell, in favor of the new Hite Crossing Bridge.[6] The highway was improved and paved in time for the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, and has since been known as the Bicentennial Highway.[7]

The Hite Crossing Bridge spanning the Colorado River

Major intersections

County	Location[8]	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Wayne	Hanksville	0	0.0	SR-24 – Green River, Torrey
Garfield	​	26.076	41.965	SR-276 – Lake Powell
	​	33.3231	53.6283	Hog Springs Rest Area
	Glen Canyon National Recreation Area	41.176	66.266	Hite Overlook View Area
		43.179	69.490	Information Area
		43.823	70.526	Campgrounds
San Juan		52.907	85.146	Lake Powell
	​	56.714	91.272	View Area
	​	83.517	134.408	SR-276 – Lake Powell–Bullfrog Marina
	​	91.137	146.671	SR-275 – Natural Bridges National Monument
	​	92.931	149.558	SR-261 – Mexican Hat, Bluff, Cedar Mesa, Moki Dugway
	​	96.995	156.098	Salvation Knoll View Area
	​	101.425	163.228	Indian Ruins
	​	107.170	172.473	Arch Canyon Campgrounds
	​	110.768	178.264	Indian Ruins
	​	115.001	185.076	Manti-La Sal National Forest Access
	​	121.351	195.296	US-191 – Blanding, Bluff
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

1. "Highway Descriptions - Route 0095". Utah Department of Transportation.
2. Utah State Legislature (1935). "Chapter 37: Designation of State Roads". Session Laws of Utah. Route 95. From Blanding westerly to Natural Bridges National Monument.
3. Utah State Legislature (1949). "Chapter 48: Designation of State Roads". Session Laws of Utah. Route 95. From Blanding on route 47 westerly via Natural Bridges National Monument to Hite; thence northerly to route 24 at Hanksville.
4. H.M. Gousha Company, Road Atlas, 1967
5. Jack Goodman, New York Times, Unnatural Arches; Utah to Dedicate 3 Man-Made Spans In Natural Bridges Area on Friday, May 29, 1966, p. XX17
6. Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Resolutions: "Route 95". (6.99 MB), updated November 2007, accessed May 2008
7. "Bicentennial Highway". U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
8. Utah Road and Recreation Atlas (Map). 1:170000. Benchmark Maps. 2002. p. 88–91. ISBN 0-929591-74-7.

External links

• Utah Highways by Dan Stober