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Home
Trips
and Travels
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Cisco
is an interesting little town. It is just south of I-70, about
20 miles West of the Colorado/Utah border. There are 2 exits
you can take to get to Cisco and they are Exit 212 if you're
coming from the East or Exit 202 if you're coming from the
West. A road connects between these 2 exits, which used to
be the main road before the interstate came through. Cisco
is on this old road, nearer the East end. Cisco was built
by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad and was the shipping
center for cattle and sheep ranchers in the area. In the 1950's,
uranium and vanadium mining drew thousands of prospectors
to the area. But the mines played out, and with the completion
of I-70, which bypasses the town to the north, Cisco became
a ghost town, a curiosity to traveler's going to and from
Moab on the 128 Scenic Bypass (see below).
There
are a set of railroad tracks which run through Cisco, but
of all the years I've gone through Cisco, I've never seen
a train on these tracks. However, it seems maintenance is
being done on the rails almost every time I go through. Not
sure what this means, just an observation.
According
to an internet search I ran, the current population of Cisco
is 15 residents. The remnants of the old buildings, post office
and the gas station can still be seen. |
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The
East exit. Manti La Sal mountain range in the background.
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The
old gas station. |
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Pepsi,
beer and Old Glory... life is good. |
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The
old Post Office. |
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Highway
128 Scenic Byway
Between Cisco, Utah and Moab, Utah |
Highway
128 is a beautiful drive between Cisco and Moab. The highway
is approximately 45 miles long and follows the Colorado River
through narrow canyons and across open desert. It is one of
my favorite byways.
Colorado
River panorama near Dewey - click to enlarge
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Manti
La Sal mountain range in the background. |
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North
of Moab about 10 miles |
The
area below is easily accesible by any stock 4-wheel drive
with average clearance. Some of the main attractions are the
Gemini Bridges, which is a double arch (I didn't go there
this trip, therefore have no pictures of it), Bull Canyon
(which brings you below the Gemini Bridges and a nice view
looking up), and the Day Canyon Overlook. And of course, there's
the Gooney Bird, ever overlooking from his post.
Panorama
looking along Hwy 191 - click to enlarge
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Manti
La Sals in the background and Moab down the road around
the bend. |
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The
Gooney Bird. |
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Gooney
Bird from the other side. |
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Looking
down into Day Canyon. |
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Gooney
Bird middle left background. |
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hike into Day Canyon is a side adventure that is well worth
the hike. Just north of Moab and on the North side of the Colorado
River, is Road 279, or more commonly known as Potash Road. The
road parallels the Colorado River and is about 16 miles long
and dead ends at a Potash processing facility. It is a pretty
drive as the road follows the river and winds through the canyon.
The canyon walls are popular with rock climbers. At mile marker
4 (12 miles from Highway 191) there is a semi-hidden canyon
opening on the right hand side of the road. We just park on
the left side of the highway, cross the railroad tracks, and
hike the canyon. The first 1/2 mile or so of the hike is on
the drywash bottom through a heavy growth of Willow trees. The
trail then emerges out of the Willows and resumes on the right
side of the canyon and follows the remains of a 4-wheel drive
road that has been long abandoned and closed to vehicle travel.
After about another mile hiking, there is a smaller canyon offshooting
to the right (below left) from the main canyon and a short 1/4
mile hike brings you to a small spring fed watering hole (bottom
right). In the picture set above, the one second up from the
bottom right (labeled "Looking down into Day canyon")
is the veiw of this side canyon from above. |
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20 miles North of Moab is the turnoff to Klondike Bluffs off
to the East. The bluffs are sandstone spires that have taken
their shape due to erosion. The tops of the spires are made
of a harder white rock then the softer red sandstone on the
lower part of the spire. Because the tops are harder, they erode
slower and create interesting rounded tops to them. The drive
in is a relatively easy 4-wheel drive trail with about half
on dirt road and the other half across slickrock expanse. There
is 1 crack that needs to be negotiated, but with a spotter and
picking your line across the shallow part, the crossing was
no problem. I have a stock Pathfinder and made it no problem.
Another interesting feature of the drive in are some dynasaur
tracks that can be seen in the slickrock. The tracks have been
circled with smaller stones, so if you watch for them on the
slickrock expanses, you can easily spot them. The end of the
road stops about 1/4 mile short of the bluffs. A short hike
will bring you to areas to overlook the bluffs. |
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Dynasaur
track. |
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The
Crack. |
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Willows
Road, just North of Highway 313 (which heads to Canyonlands
National Park) is a cross country road heading East across
the desert and enters Arches National Park roughly midway
into the park at Balanced Rock. While I wouldn't classify
Willows Road as a 4-wheel drive road, I also wouldn't bring
the family sedan on this road. Most of the road is easy dirt,
but there are a couple spots where the clearance of an SUV
is needed to cross some slickrock and a couple of drywashes.
Once
in the park, we then took a left and went down the hill to
the parking area for the 1-1/2 mile hike to Delicate Arch.
Delicate Arch is no doubt the most famous arch in Utah and
around the world. The hike isn't too strenuous, but there
is one uphill slickrock expanse that will get your heart pumping.
I've made this hike many times and is still a favorite hike
to make any time I am in the area. |
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Balanced
Rock middle left. |
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Delicate
Arch. |
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The
wind was howling this day. |
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Delicate
Arch panorama - click to enlarge
Arches
National Park
Wolfe Ranch |
| Wolfe
Ranch is on the hike to Delicate Arch, just as you leave the
parking lot. There are a couple old mud and wooden buildings
from days gone by. |
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Arches
National Park
The Windows |
| Near
Balanced Rock is a turnoff to the South called The Windows.
The road goes back 1/2 mile or so and ends in a parking area.
There are several arches back in this area and several hiking
trails that wind around the arches. The hiking is shorter and
easier then the one to Delicate Arch and the trails all interconnect
with each other. |
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Arches
National Park
Park Avenue |
| Near
the entrance to the park is a hiking trail called Park Avenue.
There are parking lots at both ends. We parked at the lower
end and hiked up the trail to the upper parking lot and back
down the trail again. The hike is about 1/4 - 1/2 mile one way
and the trail alternates between dirt and slickrock. The first
2 pictures below are of Fallen Arch which was taken from the
parking lot at the lower end of Park Avenue. |
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Tusher
Tunnel and the Corral |
North
of the intersection of Highway 191 and Highway 313 is a turnoff
to the West called Mill Canyon. There are dozens and dozens
of miles of off-road trails back in this area and is another
favorite area of mine to explore. One of these is Tusher Tunnel
which is a short triangular shaped tunnel with a flat dirt
floor. The tunnel is less then 100 yards long and can be walked
through without the aid of a flashlight. The 2 pictures below
are of both ends of the tunnel.
Not
far from Tusher Tunnel is an old corral that I have driven
by for many years. I don't know the story of the corral, but
it is fun to walk around and explore all the different artifacts
scattered about. |
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This
is one of my favorite camping spots, an area we call The Country
Club. It is South of Mill Canyon near 7 Mile Rim. It has excellent
views to the East looking into Arches National Park. In the
evenings, the airport beacon can be seen to the North. There
is a small slickrock pad which makes a great porch.
In
the picture below, the Klondike Bluffs can be seen in the
background (see trip description above). |
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| Being
early spring, the flowers were in full bloom. I don't know the
names of these flowers, but they were everywhere throughout
the desert. |
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drive back to Denver was a surprise. As I was leaving Utah,
it started to rain, but that turned to snow shortly after entering
Colorado. Coming up over Vail Pass was a real mess. Up through
the tunnel wasn't too bad, and by the time I hit Georgetown,
the skies were clearing and the roads were dry. |
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Vail
Pass. |
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Eisenhower
Tunnel. |
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