Riding the "Rim" into Blanding.

...Brushy Basin Rim (CR 277) that is. This San Juan County road has beautiful overlooks; ATV and 4 wheel drive trails; campsites; or just drive into Blanding and decide where to go from there.

Alright then, lets me start from the beginning, or where we began, I should say.  State Highway 95, 5.1 miles heading west, is where you'll find CR 277.  We were only on it for 2/10ths of a mile when the road split down to the left, or upwards to the right. We'd seen this road from 95 many times, and already knew that we were heading on up.  Where the trail to the left went?  Well now, sure it's easy to look it up on a map to see, but what fun is that!?!  Just going to have to come back, drive it and see for ourselves.

Up, up and around we went; taking time to get shots of the overall scenery.

We'd only driven 1.1 miles before we came to another split; CR 2561 (for another day) continued off to the right; but we took the left hand trail going up, up, up once again.

5/10s of a mile brought us to campsites overlooking South Cottonwood Road.  It finally dawned on me, that standing on ledges, and edges of cliffs, has become simply a natural thing to do.  Lady Gaga can have her "edge of glory"; I've got the entire county lying below me wherever I go!

Occasionally you'll get an awesome viewing of the Abajo Mountains in the distance.  CR 288 is 8.9 miles along; full of ATV trails, this county road will bring you right back down to State Highway 95.

At 9.3 miles, CR 254 only goes on for 4/10s of a mile before it dead ends; this poor little county road looks more like a dumping site with garbage strewn on both sides...yes, that is the insides of a washing machine lying there!







Mile mark 9.8 seemed to be a semi-interesting area; huge boulders with "rock art"; lets say the "rock art" is more of the modern rock era, than that of the ancient Native cultures.

The road began a down and around descent into a canyon area, before heading up, up and around...this was so fun!

At mile mark 10.7 a sign informed us that we were now on CR 277/OHV 25; other signs along the way informed us that the road was patrolled, and no dumping was allowed.  Too bad this area seems to be frequented by those who cannot read, and obviously not patrolled; piles of debris littered most open areas, including a sofa and broken btables.  We entered the streets of Blanding at mile mark 12.8, onto 550 North; turned around and headed back the way we'd just driven.  First, to do that canyon run once again, but also to check out the other county roads we'd seen along the way.  The day was still young, and we were full of wondrous energy.

Mary Cokenour

CR 288 and CR 291; Two Roads off State Highway 95.

After exploring the various San Juan County roads off of Routes 191 and 491; it was simply a given that we would begin exploring the roads off of State Highway 95. It's the "wanderlust" thing; the "where does this road go" thing; and we are addicted to those things. By the way, if you happen to be an ATV enthusiast, you will love these roads I'm writing about.


Lets me start off with Warren Allen Road (CR 288); it's only 6.5 miles itself and ends on CR 277 which I'll write about at a later date.  Basically lined with shrub trees and bushes, an occasional glimpse of a canyon, and pretty boring for the most part when it comes to sight seeing.  About 2.4 miles up, you'll come to a split to CR 2571 which will take you back to State Highway 95, or continue on to CR 277.  It's the dirt trails leading off to the left and right of these county roads that ATVers will enjoy.

Dry River Bed

The next road was a lot more scenic, and we got some get views of Cottonwood Canyon; West Water Oil Well Road (CR 291).  Sorry folks, no mileage reading for this road; we were having too much of a good time to pay attention to an odometer.  There was plenty of evidence though that ATVers love this area.

Cottonwood Canyon

Standing at the edge of the cliff, taking photos, when suddenly we heard two ravens calling to each other.  We turned just in time to watch them take flight over the canyon; it was so silent out there, that the flapping of their wings was the only sound we heard.  A slight breeze touched my face, and I wonder if it came from their wings.  We didn't move, I didn't take one photo of them; I didn't want to ruin the moment with the click of the camera shutter.  Sometimes you just have to enjoy a scene with your senses, and keep it in your memory.

Mary Cokenour