Views of Flaming Gorge, Antelope Flats
I had read on the Internet that Highway 191 between Rock Springs, Wyoming and Vernal, Utah was the “scariest highway in the United States”. Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet! The road is really beautiful, and not a bad drive at all.
From Rock Springs you first climb up atop the high plateau, then drop about one thousand feet down to the Flaming Gorge Dam, then climb back up about 2500 feet before dropping sharply into Vernal. Except for the last part of the road, the trip was easy. There are 10 sharp switchbacks with a speed limit of 20 mph and an 8 to 9% grade on the way down. However the road didn’t seem that hard to drive.
We’re glad we came across it, because the road has beautiful views. Until you reach the dam you get expansive views over the Flaming Gorge with its red rock cliffs. The next section of the highway was through a high mountain forest of lodgepole pine and aspen. The aspen were beautiful shades of golden yellow and bright orange-red against the contrasting dark green of the pines. The sky was blue, and though there is a lot of smoke haze that obscured very distant views, the mountain forest was still lovely.
As the highway drops down to Vernal there are several phosphate mining operations. At one of these there was a viewpoint out over the Green River valley below at Vernal, and the mining operation on the mountain cliffs behind.
Green River
We stopped in Vernal at River Runners, a store we’d seen advertised in a pamphlet we picked up at the dam visitor center. They were advertising water shoes, which both Enid and I wanted to buy. We walked out of the store with new shoes each, and as well I got a nice pair of flip-flops. The price was reasonable to begin with, and everything was on sale at 20% off.
From Vernal it’s just a short drive to Dinosaur National Monument. We are camped in the Green River campground, and after we’d set up our trailer, we went for a short stroll along the river. The high rocks of the mountains form a nice backdrop to the river.