Transportation
Hell's Backbone Road is a historic thirty-eight-mile gravel route in southern Utah connecting Boulder and Escalante through high country above Scenic Byway 12. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, it survives as an unpaved alternative to the modern highway and is valued more for scenery and history than speed. The road climbs above 9,000 feet, is generally open from late spring to autumn, and is known for its narrow, winding, exposed character. Its most striking feature is Hell's Backbone Bridge, a short, narrow span over a knife-edge section with steep drops on both sides and sweeping views toward the Box-Death Hollow Wilderness.
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Boulder, Utah · United States
