Show access roads to open up scenic southeast utah wonderland the march 25 edition oi of the new york times contained an authoritative article on the proposed access road construction in the uranium district of octh eastern utah written by jack goodman its correspondent the story was illustrated by a map of the area wiach is reproduced herewith the dotted lines on the map show the roads which are to be improved or con strutted ted the new york times article is given below because uranium deposits and fascinating scenic spots lie close together in southeastern utah the spectacular but isolated natural bridges and prehistoric cliff dwellings of the states last frontier are soon to become in more re to cross country tourists tourists A million dollar mile road building program primarily intended to expedite the trucking of uranium ore from j the plateau region of the colo rado and san juan rivers to distant railroads has been approved by the united states road commission work on the vital project is getting under way so speedily that by summer it is expect expected ted motorists will be able to venture into the wilderness country with muan less danger of broken springs and chewed up tire treads than in previous seasons As a result of the highway improvements three scenic a areas are to be opened up T they hey are the seldom visited nat natural ural bridges national monument map of southeastern utah show ing location of proposed high ay leay ray improvements to be finan 15 ed by atomic energy commission strategic location of mon west of blanding the hoven weep national Moncine Monc ment nt on the utah colorado border and the capital reef national monument west ot of hanksville Hanks ville gravel surfaces while no pavements of the superhighway type are to be laid tourists are promised adequate surfacing sun sur acing Lacing and gravel topping on the routes which will give access to these monuments the constant hazard of flash floods in the dry washes along the way will also be reduced by ditching grading and tion of the road projects motor oridge building after comple prig ng in this area will still have 4 difficulties but to the hardy sightseer the scenery would be well worth the trouble it takes to get to it te 3 nv highway drogt arr ami can be divided into three pro geots 1 the construction reconstruction and re routing of the present eighty mile mountain and desert track be between the trading post of blanding and the C colorado river ferry outpost of hite 2 nine miles of the new road thirty four miles of improvement and considerable sid erable bridox building on the fifty four mile stretch of state route 47 south and west from blanding to mexican hat hal and 3 about aboul miles of im 1 provement pro on the route beginning l ri riv southwest from green v er through hanoville Han kville to the hen ry mountains the first of these projects will open the way to natural bridge N national at jai monument motorists kotoris ts on on U US 13 50 the well paved denver salt lake city highway which salt parallels the rio grande railroad can can already reach bland blanding ing with little difficulty by bv turning south at crescent junction and follow following ing sections of US and stale fa fau ir s 47 41 passing thru moab ru route 0 t and monticello 0 cello on the way road boad to hite llo however wever the route from blan din west to hite which leads to the natural bridges and is designated state route 95 on the deserves to be hardly r maps t termed n eal ened as a road about is being spent here tor for an all weather highway in the lee bear ears pass of 09 road it will be forty seven gile mile drive from blanding to the lie monument head headquarters which is just A sew hundred yards from owa ova chomo the first of the three great natural bridges in the reserve bathed in desert sunshine the foot long Owa chomo hoino bridge P which rises nearly feet over the canyon provides a striking entrance gate to the region regio lUp trail about three miles a n not 0 na too difficult hike is kachina bridge rising feet above the canyon floor midway in its foot span sipapu bridge another three miles along the trail is still more awesome its span being feet long and the arch feet high 0 travelers familiar with virginias more amily reached natural bridge can gain some idea of the utah by comparing the dimensions the rock span in virginia is feet high but only 90 feet long sipapu is so large that a new york city block covered with fifteen story buildings could be placed under it with space to spare to navajo country work on route 47 between blanding and me caon hat wi will U benefit tourists in two ways it will improve the existing entrance to monument valley the most scenic portion of the navajo indian reservation on the utah arizona border it will also so make it easier easie r to reach ho ven weep monument motorists driving south over 1 greear isizar PC 00 awn roads A 41 ms nl K T TI X secondary dary rood 40 JuriC unc bOn on 0 milea 3 moab ceneville coneville Co neville 0 V a 0 PIE at hr NATIONAL improvements bp d ACO y monticello Mont cello 0 PLC U T A 47 9 B ancin 1 10 impat frimel ad F S tO ML ONU 4 barp sep 4 1 WYO aluf nT nylons lONS SAL mexican CITY mob UTAH r 19 f P fanlo 9 0 ty 0 I 1 A R P I 1 Z 0 NA N A ficello and blanding bla in the uran I lum him belt is shown new mew york 1 times map courtesy of moab times independent rebuilt rebuilt 47 will still have to traverse twenty four miles of prin prim live road which runs east to the he monument but the trek out of blanding will be considerably less time consuming the ho preserve contains 4 groups of prehistoric ruins that prove as interesting to the average sightseer as to the arch ae tucked away in ruin cajon keely and hackberry canyons these include the ho house square tower stronghold house horseshoe house cool spring house and hackberry castel each of these structures rates in interest with he better known ruins of mesa verde erde national park the third highway project stretching over south from the green river will provide a new route to the capitol reef national monument section of the foot aquarius plateau an area of great interest to geologists j capitol reef reached from Janks t janesville ville over state route 24 casts erosion formations more spectacular than those in zion jr bryce national park containing 9 petrified trees prehistory ic ruins ruins gorges 1200 feet depp deep monoliths and pinnacles the monument ment has everything but tourists hazards of the region although the new an all weather highways are going to make traveling easier in southeastern utah prospective visitors should be forewarned that not all the daners and discomforts dis comforts have been eliminated at any time of the year motorist heading south from US 50 would do well to carry spare water and gasoline extra food bedrolls bed rolls and continued on page 6 access roads continued continued from page 1 even a shovel for unexpected rough spots local residents always warn the unwary to get out of dry washes gullies to the easterner at the first sign of rain and they are in an dead earnest the de sert is cloudburst co bo pra tk in late summer and torrential floods can descend suddenly out of a seemingly arid and landscape the plateaus and passes are likewise snows in early spring subject to occasional heavy As for the dis comforts visitors should remember that the three national monuments described here are undeveloped insofar as overnight eions are concerned however lodgings are to be found within easy driving distance monticello and blanding try trading posts on oa the eastern edge of the new road projects have decent motel eions as do loa to the west and moab and green river to the north moab in facts fact boasts several handsome lodges which are frequently T patronized by holly wood film units out to shoot background scenes of the picturesque zane grey co |