An Amazing Road Trip -

All-American Road, Utah's State Route 12

A few years back, in the month of May while traveling from the West Coast back east to home, we decided to take our time and see some more of our great country. We had never explored Utah so we came up with a plan. I found a trip that sounded amazing. Utah's State Route 12 - or Scenic Byway 12 - or All-American Road. It is 124 miles long and passes through Red Canyon, Dixie National Forest, Bryce Canyon area (need to take a turnoff to get to the entrance), the towns of Tropic, Cannonville, Henrieville, Escalante, Escalante Canyons area, Hogback, Boulder, Grover and Torrey.

The western end of the road starts at the junction with U.S. 89 between Panguitch and Hatch. It ends on the eastern end at Torrey and the junction with UT-24.

We took the trip in our pickup truck with a truck bed tent. 

The plan was to stop and camp along the way, preferably at BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land or some other primitive sites. We made our way to the western end of Route 12 and started out, stopping at a few places for photos and views. 

Red Canyon Visitor's Center

I

In and out of the Red Canyon Arch

After driving for a few hours, we pulled off onto a dirt road past Escalante. We were looking for a good camping spot and we found a great one. We followed Hole-in the-Rock Trail and found an area that was set a little way back from the road that had stunning views and fun rock climbs. Very primitive camping, no one around. We got there early in the day and so had time to set up and explore. This was by far my best camping trip ever. We had a campfire that night and enjoyed the full moon.

An overview of our campsite

I am one of those crazy people who could take a million pictures of rock formations. There were so many unique ones on this road, I couldn't help myself. The video below gives a glimpse of what it was like to drive along this amazing road.

This is a worthwhile trip to take and it can be as long or as quick as you like. Just drive the road and stop occasionally for a shorter trip (timewise). Or stop and camp like we did, pull off and hike on one of the trails and even go off the road into the parks if you have more time. Any way you choose to do it, you will be rewarded with natural beauty that is hard to beat.