ABANDONMENT
The Ephemeral Nature of Human Endeavors
OLD HIGHWAY 24
A Former Major Highway Bypassed by Interstate 70
May 9, 2003
State Highway 24 has for many years been the main road from Green River to
Hanksville in southeastern Utah. Its story is similar to that of many others.
Until the early 1970's, State Highway 24 was one of only two highways to cross
the center of the state. The other was U.S. Highway 6/50. The rough terrain
of the San Rafael Swell had largely prevented settlement and road building.
From east to west, Highway 24 began at Green River, passed through Hanksville,
Capitol Reef, Torrey, Bicknell, Loa, and Sigurd. It ended at U.S. Highway 89
in central Utah and was certainly a major route across the state.
Today, Highway 24 still exists and it mostly follows the same route. However,
now, its eastern end is on Interstate 70 some distance west of Green River and
the old section, while it is still open to the public, has seen little use and
practically no maintenance since Interstate 70 opened. It is also now cut off
from its original eastern end at U.S. 6/50 (now U.S. 6/191) by the freeway,
which was built on top of it. Instead, it is routed onto the vast network of
dirt roads in the area.
Interstate 70 is now the most direct route across the center of the state, and
certainly much traffic has been redirected away from Highway 24, but the parts
of the highway which remain in the state highway system continue to get some
traffic, as this road is a major access route to scenic tourist spots such as
Capitol Reef National Park.
The old, disused road certainly has more character than the portion of the
road that is still maintained. The stripes marking the lanes have faded to
nothingness, and numerous weeds grow through cracks in the road. It travels
through a bleak, desolate section of desert and a scenic but dry and forbidding
canyon before merging with the rerouted Highway 24 about 10 miles south of
I-70.
This is my favorite kind of road. It is cracked and overgrown, and there
is no traffic.
My truck seems like it doesn't belong here. I would expect to see old,
rusting hulks left over from when the road was in regular use.
I love dry, desolate canyons like this one. The
stark, forbidding landscapes have always attracted me. Rivers in this part
of the country only run with dust.
Photos taken in March 2000
All contents of this site, unless otherwise noted, Copyright 2002-2008
Heather Harrison. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to accredited
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