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US-89 Utah Scenic Highway

Utah scenic highway 89 is also called U.S. Route-89 as the Utah state highway running north to south across 500 miles to connect Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon National Park of Northern Arizona as well as Utah Monuments Grand Staircase and Cedar Breaks. There is a lot of history in the small towns and communities along US-89 including Glendale, Orderville, Mount Carmel, Mount Carmel Junction and Alton to makeup Long Valley. Beyond Long Valley located 17 miles from Mount Carmel Junction is Kanab as the largest city of Southern Utah other than the major cities of Cedar City, Utah and Washington County cities. Kanab is big enough to have its own school system but kids of Long Valley and Cedar Mountain and Coral Pink Sand Dunes ride a school bus to Valley Elementary and Valley High School in Orderville to begin high school in the 7th grade. Children living toward Bryce Canyon, in and near Hatch are bussed to Panguitch a few miles past the turn off to Bryce and Red Canyon of Dixie National Forest. Along US-89 are old buildings maintained as historic landmarks restored and saved for generations. One of the worlds best slot canyons is hidden deep in BLM land adjacent Utah's Mount Carmel Junction and Mount Carmel with local property about it but not blocking BLM access via rugged deep sandy four-wheel driven path well used now for over 88 years to allow grandfathering-passway unable to be blocked by as it is granted by any current U.S. President as public land meant to be used by all and never blocked by cow, horse, man or anyone wanting profit, control, power over all that is can. Furthermore, Mount Carmel Junction is lone set as Utah land.

Mt. Carmel Scenic Byway

Mount Carmel Scenic Byway travels 60 miles in Southern Utah along US-89 from Kanab to Mount Carmel Junction of Long Valley to US-89 and SR-12 junction near Panguitch, Utah. This road leads to spectacular parks and monuments of Southern Utah winding a path atop geologically defined steps of the Grand Staircase National Monument and grand staircase geology amid sandstone mountains carved over billions of years of Earth time. Zion National Park edges the only containment at US-89 of the geology to then begin its own as it broke stone magnificently 88 billion years ago to begin Zion Canyon, East Zion and all that follows that as Kolob Canyons and Kolob Terrace as newer stone versus rock. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument encases over two million acres and most of it is vast wilderness with a few arches, slot canyons and water flow within. What is near Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park are among the trails and avenues seen on this site. North Rim of the Grand Canyon can be thought of as the basement to the grand staircase geology and travel to it from Zion National Park allows an upward via downward travel of sandstone, rock, stone and Mojave stone makeup seen nowhere else on Earth. Moenkopi as the original name prior Zion means sandstone to the people of long ago.

Directions to Zion National Park From the North: Travel I-15 south, past Beaver. exit on Hwy 20. Follow US-89 to Mount Carmel Junction. Take SR-9 to Zion's east entrance. From Arizona: Travel US-89A through Fredonia, Arizona and Kanab Utah. Follow US-89 to Mount Carmel Junction. Take SR-9 to the east park entrance. From the South: Travel I-15 north. Take exit 16 and travel through Hurricane to La Verkin. Continue on SR-9 to the south entrance of the park. SR-9 through Zion National Park is always open and is also called the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway. See restrictions for RV's.			Photo: Red Cave is a slot canyon as upper Red Cave versus Lower Red Cave accessed via deep sand hiking or good four-wheel drive. Excellent canyoneering and wilderness skill plus equipment required
	Lodging and services are available on the gorgeous east side of Zion National Park, where guests are close to Zion National Park - 12 miles, Bryce Canyon National Park - 60 miles, Cedar Breaks National Monument - 45 miles, Coral Pink Sand Dunes - 12 miles, North Rim Grand Canyon National Park - 85 miles. It's where city traffic is absent and skies, water, air are still bright and clean.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is accessed from US-89 in Utah

If you ever wanted to explore a wilderness area, the Grand Staircase is the place to do it if your travel takes you to Southern Utah. There are excellent slot canyons in the Grand Staircase on the pathway between Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park including Lick Wash, Willis Creek and Bull Valley Gorge. To get to the Grand Staircase travel US-89 from Mount Carmel Junction to Glendale. then take 300 North, Bench Road across the highway from Grand Staircase picnic area. The access is dirt and not usable if unmelted snow or melting snow is present or rain imminent.

Consider the America the Beautiful Park pass during your travel along US-89 as it will get you into Cedar Breaks National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Grand Canyon National Park and all the US Federal Lands on your want to see list and can be purchase at the gate of any of the parks to help out your favorite park as the majority of the funds then stay there. It does not cover the fee for a state park like Coral Pink Sand Dunes.

East Zion