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).
BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN 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
Panguitch( below and left top) was settled in 1864, and parts of town still have an Old West feel. The landscape along U. S. 89 features a variety of colors. Left bottom: A sweeper on SR-14.
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
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