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Show Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance Supports Tour Groups From Las Vegas BRYCE CANYON - Kanab resident Bud Barnes has some big dreams for his community and the other cities and towns along U.S. Highway 89, the Heritage Highway. His dreams involve supporting support-ing and developing seven magnet mag-net sites along the highway and bringing in groups from Las Vegas on a daily basis to tour the historic route. The tours would run from May through October beginning in 2004. "I'm convinced that we can develop a 'product' that people would be willing to fly half way around the world to see," says Barnes, 76, who runs the Utah Trails Resort in Kanab. It will introduce people to the rich culture and heritage of this area, and bring in jobs and opportunities. Barnes isn't the only person who is intrigued and enthused by the idea of daily tours along the highway. The Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance is encouraging this type of private-sector involvement, involve-ment, says Monte Bona, an alliance member, and member of the Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council. We are continuing to move forward on legislation to create a National Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area along the highway, high-way, and we want entrepreneurs and others to come up with creative cre-ative ways to get more people out along the highway to help build awareness. Barnes plans to focus his efforts on bringing in groups from Las Vegas. More than 25 million people fly into Las Vegas. "We only need to draw one bus full of visitors a day to make this thing viable," he says. The tours would begin on the Utah border at Jacob's Lake, where visitors would see the Grand Canyon, stay in cabins and learn about the history of the area. "The whole eight days will be filled with history," Barnes says. Every magnet location will contribute con-tribute to providing history and cultural lessons. From Jacob's Lake, the group will head to Kanab to the Utah Trail Resort, which includes an Indian village consisting con-sisting of Native American teepees and a sweat lodge. "We'll be building some cabins as well to accommodate more guests," says Barnes, who also plans to develop a Trader's Alley at his resort. The attraction will feature artists and artisans making and displaying their wares for visitors. visi-tors. "It will be set up as both shops and factories, so people can actually see the artist making mak-ing the product they will purchase," pur-chase," he says. From that location, the tour will visit Lake Powell and Rainbow Bridge. The group will then head to Ruby's Inn at the mouth of Bryce Canyon, and be treated to a nightly rodeo at the popular inn and restaurant, in addition to touring the canyon. From there, the tour will head to Mt. Pleasant, where participants par-ticipants will experience how a Mormon community evolved over time, including a trip down historic Main Street. Guests will stay at the Horseshoe Mt. Lodge and there are also plans to build a replica of the fort that Mormon settlers built in Mt. Pleasant in 1859. The tour bus will then turn around and head south to the Windwalker Guest ranch in Spring City where visitors will experience an old-fashioned dude ranch, complete with horseback riding, and night elk and deer watching. From there, they will travel to Richfield, which will serve as the home base for a visit to the Fremont Indian State Park. The park is home to artifacts and replicas of the pit houses that were once occupied by the Native Indians. Tour goers will also visit Big Rock Candy Mountain and take a river raft trip. The last stop on the tour will be at the 104-acre Sunset Ridge Retreat in Glendale. "The group will stay right on the pink cliffs near the canyons, it is just spectacular," spec-tacular," Barnes says. There they will take horseback rides, visit exotic animals and go ATV riding, in addition to visiting Zions National Park. "Many of these magnets sites are already well-established and set up to provide all of the experiences expe-riences for our visitors," Barnes says. "We will work very hard over the next 16 months to get all of the other magnet sites developed." He added that once word of the tour spreads, he believes that other tourists will use the itinerary as their guide of what to see and do along the highway. "I am convinced that this tour will be a big success," Barnes says. "I would love to leave that legacy behind and I'll do everything every-thing I can to make this thing succeed." |