Story & photos by Paul Dail
I have lived in southern Utah for almost 20 years, of which the past eight have been in Cedar City. It’s a great area for riding. Both Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks are within an hour and a half. Tack on one more hour and you can make it to Great Basin and Capitol Reef national parks.
Although I’ve lived in Utah for decades, I’ve only been on short sections of the southern part of U.S. Route 89, the only other major route besides Interstate 15 that travels the entire north-to-south span of the state. The stars aligned when I got the keys to a Honda Gold Wing Tour DCT and spent a few days on the road at the same time an old college buddy would be visiting Sundance just outside of Provo.
For this trip, I started in the familiar direction of my favorite ride, taking State Route 14 up Cedar Canyon. Even though I’ve been up this road numerous times, I still love it. It’s a relatively narrow canyon with some nice sweepers and tight turns. About 7 miles up, the canyon tightens farther, with granite cliffs rising up and boxing in the road as you wind higher. About 11 miles up, you get a sampling of the red spires that Cedar Breaks is known for. Just after a tight S-curve, there’s a pullout on the right side where you can get a better view. The road continues to climb, offering expansive views to the south, and on a clear day, you can see all the way to Zion National Park.
As the route ascended and the curves tightened, I experimented with letting the Gold Wing’s Dual Clutch Transmission do the work and was pleasantly surprised. When I first threw my leg over the bike in Southern California, it took me some time to stop reaching for the clutch lever or flexing my left foot at stops to find the gear shifter, but by this point, I was used to it. Maybe too used to it. Although I was familiar with the road, I enjoyed not having to think about shifting and just being in the moment of each passing mile.
When I wanted a little more excitement, I put the bike into Sport mode and relished the increased responsiveness charging up the mountains to the plateau. The flat-Six in this bike is a beast. When you start it up, it sounds like a tractor, and it definitely pulls. When we put a 2018 GL1800 on the dyno, the peak rear-wheel torque was 106 lb-ft at 4,500 rpm, and more than 100 lb-ft was available between 2,000 and 5,000 rpm.
Even though I was riding in one of the normally hottest months of the year, it had been an unseasonably cool summer, and when SR-14 leveled off and the scenery opened up just before the turnoff for SR-148, which leads up to Cedar Breaks, the ambient temperature was a brisk 58 degrees. I was glad I had donned the extra layer that morning.
Dixie National Forest spans a total of 2 million acres of very diverse southern Utah landscape, and the part I was riding through is green most of the year as a result of the higher elevation and regular summer thunderstorms. Long sweepers cut through alternating expanses of grassy meadows and stands of aspen, pine, spruce, and fir trees. It was cloudy the day I passed through, but on a clear day, you’d swear you’ve never seen skies so blue.
Continuing on SR-14 into Kane County takes you deeper into the trees and past several great spots for outdoor and powersport enthusiasts. You pass Navajo Lake first, a small reservoir that has fishing, boating, and lodging, and about 7 miles later you come to the unincorporated community of Duck Creek Village. Comprising of essentially one main road that parallels SR-14 for about a mile and offers any amenities you might need for a quick stop or overnighter, Duck Creek is a popular area for anglers, ATV riders, and snowmobilers.
Just outside of Duck Creek, you can take a side jaunt to Mammoth Cave, one of the largest lava tubes in Utah, with over 2,200 feet of passages and five entrances. The largest cavern is closed seasonally to protect hibernating bats, but the closure also coincides with the time of year when the road, which is at a little over 8,000 feet, might be blocked by snow anyway.
Along this part of SR-14, the same lava that created Mammoth Cave a couple thousand years ago still shows through the trees in crumbling fields of jagged lichen-covered boulders, forming a stark black and gray contrast to the dense, vivid green foliage growing between it and the blue skies above.
About 11 miles past Duck Creek, SR-14 ends at U.S. Route 89. If you head south, you can connect with State Route 9 heading west into Zion National Park or keep going south to the Kane County seat of Kanab, which is a great small town with big history. Known as “Little Hollywood,” Kanab has deep roots in Old West film history.
I had taken that stretch of U.S. 89 before – both to Kanab and into the east side of Zion, which is the less visited side of the park and amazing on two wheels – but this would be the first time I’d taken the northern route. I rode north toward the Garfield County seat of Panguitch. The horizon widened again, and not long past the junction, the mountains to the east changed from tree covered and dark green to exposed red rock cliff faces that give the first hints of what you would see in Bryce Canyon National Park about 5 miles in that direction as the crow flies (about 30 miles by road).
By the time I hit Panguitch, the temperatures had risen enough that I shed a couple layers on my stop for coffee at Kenny Rays (has since closed). After some brief but pleasant moments of reflection on the past 20 years of my life in southern Utah, I set my sights on an unknown future, anxious to see what U.S. 89 would show me as I continued north.
It didn’t disappoint. The road isn’t particularly technical, offering more sweepers than tight curves, but the views are spectacular, with the valley alternately widening and constricting, providing intermittent views of the Sevier River. About 25 miles north of Panguitch, you can stop and check out Butch Cassidy’s childhood home, a small log cabin and farmstead where the young Robert Parker lived until he was 18. Cassidy was considered one of the most well-liked outlaws of the Old West, so much so that “Butch Cassidy Days” is part of the annual Piute County Fair, which takes place about 10 miles north in Junction.
Also just north of the homestead is Circleville, a town that was actually settled twice. Latter-day Saints pioneers first arrived in 1864 but abandoned the settlement during the Black Hawk War, returning 10 years later. For ADV riders, Circleville is also the first access coming north on U.S. 89 to the Paiute Trail system, with a main loop of 245 miles and more than 2,000 miles of additional side roads and trails. If any of those miles are anything like what I saw on the highway, it’s probably an amazing adventure. (Note: As of January 2023, Utah changed some of the requirements for off-highway vehicles on public land, roads, and trails. Check the resources at the end of this article for more information.)
About 15 miles north of Junction, I passed through the small town of Marysville, which is the gateway to Marysville Canyon, a beautiful 8-mile winding stretch of highway that follows immediately adjacent to the Sevier River. The colors of the canyon seem to change from one mile to the next, with pale green fields of sage stretching to the base of rocky slopes that shift from gray to hints of purple and pink. But the real treat was rounding the corner and seeing the Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort – and yes, it is the mountain that Harry McClintock was referring to in his 1928 song. The mountainside behind the resort is a brilliant colorful mix of gold, orange, red, and white.
The resort offers ATV rentals, as well as tubes and rafts for floating the Sevier River, which seemed surprisingly high for mid-August. The resort also has a variety of lodging choices, but a unique option is to stay in one of 12 train cars in their “Caboose Village.”
Speaking of places with unique accommodations, you’ll find another one about 16 miles northeast in Monroe, but you have to get off U.S. 89 to get there. In fact, just outside of Marysville Canyon at the town of Sevier, the highway becomes part of Interstate 70, but since I wanted to make my northbound trip entirely sans interstate, I mapped out a series of alternate highways and state routes that parallel the interstate for about 35 miles to Salina where you can rejoin U.S. 89. My only deviation from this route was a dogleg east from the small town of Joseph to Monroe to check out Mystic Hot Springs.
The springs were originally used by Native Americans and later became a stopping point for settlers traveling along the Old Spanish Trail. These days, you can visit the hot springs and stay in a camping or RV site, but if you want to try something different, you can reserve one of seven fancifully decorated – inside and out – “hippie” school buses, including “Ben,” the double-decker bus that the owner, Mystic Mike, toured in when he was following the Grateful Dead. He told me that he drove the bus from his home in Denver to the Dead’s last show in Las Vegas in 1995, had some mechanical issues on the way home, and ended up at Mystic Hot Springs.
“I landed there on a Tuesday, and by Friday, I had a deal on the place.”
In addition to soaking in the hot springs – some of which feed into old porcelain tubs – you can also check out about 15 pioneer cabins from the mid- to late-1800s that Mike has relocated to the property over the years from various locations in the Sevier Valley and is in the process of restoring. There are also three different stages with bands playing at various times throughout the year. Needless to say, my future to-do list was getting rather lengthy by this point in the trip.
North of Monroe, the road was mellow but the scenery was still great. I enabled cruise control and enjoyed the ride – and the sound system. With the electric windscreen raised all the way, I felt like I was cheating a little bit. There was very little wind movement, and I had no problem hearing my music through speakers both in front of and behind me. I’ve joked that the Gold Wing is like riding a big couch down the highway.
While the engine had no problem cranking up the speed in Tour mode, when I needed a little more immediate response to get around slow-moving vehicles, I popped it into Sport mode in preparation to pass, and then I was Dark Helmet doing “ludicrous speed.”
I rode through several small towns along this stretch of U.S. 89, but the most striking was Manti, which was clean and tidy, with a beautiful tree-lined Main Street. The almost immaculate feel of the town made sense when I reached the north end and spotted the Manti temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one of 25 temples currently operating or under renovation in the state. The Manti temple was the third built in the state and was dedicated in 1877, even before the temple in Salt Lake City. The church has several different architectural designs of its temples, but the Manti temple was cited as the inspiration for the design of the one dedicated in my hometown in 2017. I’m not a member of the church, but I was given a media tour before its dedication, and I can tell you they are pretty amazing inside.
North of Manti, the road keeps a relatively constant distance from the mountains to the east with western mountains appearing and disappearing from view. After about 50 miles, the valley narrows and the highway becomes more exciting for the rest of the ride into Spanish Fork and Mapleton. It was urban riding from there into Provo, at which point I hopped off U.S. 89 and caught U.S. 189, which heads up the beautiful Provo Canyon. About 7 miles up, I turned on State Route 92 toward Sundance to meet up with my friend and his son.
Past Sundance, SR-92 becomes the Alpine Loop Scenic Byway and travels into the Uinta National Forest. I highly recommend the 15-mile ride to Timpanogos Cave National Monument. As the name implies, the narrow road winds and twists through dense alpine forests, and during the moments it breaks out of the trees, you’ll be rewarded with spectacular views. The speed limit isn’t very high, but there are numerous tight corners for two-wheel enjoyment, and I lost track of the number of hairpin curves. At Timpanogos Cave, you can either turn around and do it again or continue another few miles into the city of Highland.
Being in monsoon season and hoping to outrun an incoming thunderstorm, I opted for the interstate heading home, which isn’t as fun, but in Utah, even I-15 offers up some great scenery along the way. Unfortunately, to paraphrase Scottish poet Robert Burns, the best-laid schemes of mice and men go oft awry. I had watched the thunderheads on the horizon for almost 150 miles, sometimes distant, sometimes more ominous, and just 50 miles short of home, I hit a real toad-strangler.
It was one of those desert storms where you feel the first few drops and then see the curtain of rain about to envelop you. I switched the Gold Wing into Rain mode, and when I hit the storm full-on, I was again thankful for the electric windscreen, which had previously been all the way up but suddenly made it so I couldn’t see anything in the downpour. It was awesome being able to lower it with the push of a button as opposed to having to pull over and do it manually in the storm. At that point, I was able to lift my head enough to see over the screen and find the tracks in the road while regularly wiping the faceshield on my Arai.
In Rain mode with the Bridgestone Exedra tires, I was surprised at how comfortable I felt maintaining a reasonable speed. I also knew that these high elevation storms don’t last long. They move fast and hit hard, and once you come out of them – which I did about five minutes later – there’s nothing like the smell of the desert after a good downpour.
Besides the great roads on the northbound portion of my trip, I have several reasons to take this ride again. In addition to the to-do list items I already mentioned, if I had more time, I would’ve liked to have spent a few hours at Legends Motor Co. in Springville just south of Provo. There’s also Spring City, about 18 miles north of Manti and just off U.S. 89, which is the only entire town listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places besides Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. I’d also like to check out the Fremont Indian State Park and Museum in Sevier.
I love living in a state with so much diversity of terrain and so many areas that I like visiting over and over, and on this trip, I discovered several more that I look forward to seeing again – or for the first time – in the future.
• Cedar City, Utah: VisitCedarCity.com
• Kane County Utah Office of Tourism: VisitSouthernUtah.com
• Panguitch City, Utah: VisitSouthernUtah.com
• Piute ATV trail (includes links to new OHV regulations):
VisitUtah.com/things-to-do/motorized-off-road/paiute-atv-trail
• Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort: BigRockCandyMountain.com
• Mystic Hot Springs: MysticHotSprings.com