Heritage Highway 89
One of Utah's newest attractions is far from new. Heritage Highway 89 is Utah's first tourist route dedicated solely to offering guests a quality Western heritage experience served up Utah-style. The antique shops, gift stores, bed and breakfast inns, historic sites, traditional celebrations, local foods and heritage tours along the Highway are sure to excite the traveler interested in local history and culture.
While the more traveled interstate rushes visitors between Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, U.S Highway 89 offers a much more leisurely traveling experience. Visitors will find countryside still deeply rooted in the farming and ranching lifestyle of Mormon pioneers. Not far below the surface, traces of famous outlaws, Native American cultures, mining barons, Spanish priests and rugged trappers are waiting to be discovered. The Utah Heritage Highway runs parallel to Interstate 15 from Fairview, just south of Provo, to Kanab on the Arizona border along U.S. Highway 89.
The Highway is divided into five main regions:
Little Denmark - This area received its name because of the influence of Scandinavian pioneers sent by Brigham Young to settle the surrounding valleys.
Sevier Valley Area - Heritage here is tied to the rich landscape where farmers and ranchers follow the ancient Native American tradition of living off the land.
The Headwaters Area - Communities in the Headwaters heritage area are diverse, but are tied together by their common dependence on the Sevier River and its river tributaries, which make the land in southern Utah blossom. Communities here include Marysvale, Junction, Kingston, Circleville, Panguitch, Panguitch Lake and Hatch.
Boulder Loop - While not actually located on the Utah Heritage Highway, the Boulder Mountain Loop begins and ends on U.S. 89. Along the way it provides access to Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon national parks. Communities in this area include Loa, Fremont, Bicknell, Torrey, Fruita, Teasdale, Grover, Boulder, Escalante, Cannonville, Tropic and Bryce.
Under the Rim - The Under The Rim heritage area is named for its location beneath the redrock rims of the Colorado plateau. Hollywood fell in love with this area and filmed Westerns like "Gunsmoke" here for decades. Communities here include Mt. Carmel, Kanab, Pipe Springs, Big Water, Duck Creek, Glendale, Alton and Orderville.