Colorado Along Route 491.

As I mentioned in a previous writing on Monticello, Utah; it is the crossroads for Routes 491 and 191. Traveling east on Route 491, it is about 15 minutes before the border line between Utah and Colorado. Entering Utah from Colorado, you'll be greeted with "Welcome to Utah; Life Elevated"; or vice versa, Colorado will greet you with, "Welcome to Colorful Colorado".



Dove Creek, CO

As you pass by High Country Elevator (dried beans and grains), the small town of Dove Creek will come into sight.  The speed limit slows from 65 - 55 - 45 and finally 35 miles/hour quickly; the local sheriff's department maintains vehicles at either end of town to make sure the speed limits are abided by.  At the Weber Industrial Park is the tractor exhibit; Midland Bean Company; Shell and Sinclair (both gas/convenience stores) and various other businesses line the main street. 




Adobe Milling Company
 

Continuing east, sitting on the extreme point of the hill is Adobe Milling Company whose products are available in many of the supermarkets throughout Utah and Colorado; popular sellers are Anasazi Beans and various hot sauces.







Along the way you'll pass a few "blink and you'll miss them" tiny towns; Cahone, Pleasant View and Yellow Jacket (observe the reduced to 50 miles/hour speed limits).  Eventually you will come to the junction of Route 184; turning onto this road will bring you past McPhee Reservoir and the Anasazi Heritage Museum.  At the end of the road is Route 145 either leading to Cortez, or the other way towards Dolores; keep going past Dolores though and say hello to the Rocky Mountains and you're on your way to Telluride.



McPhee Reservoir
 

The landscape along Route 491 encompasses "as far as the eye can see" miles of open range, pastures, fields, canyons, and dried creeks taken over by nature's greenery.  There are many access roads to the San Juan National Forest; on a windy day do not be surprised to see a dust devil or two sweeping along the horizon view line.   The one hour drive between Monticello, Utah and Cortez, Colorado is scenic and calming, if you open your senses up to it all.

Once you reach Cortez though, you can dine at many of the eateries (fast food and casual restaurants); window shop along the main street; there are two full service supermarkets and a WalMart.  That part of Cortez is along Route 160 and if you keep following that route, you'll pass Mancos (an arts and crafts type of town) and eventually see the entrance to Mesa Verde National Park; or keep going up into the mountains towards Durango.  Staying on Route 491 would head you towards New Mexico where you'll see Chimney Rock and Shiprock.

 

Choices, choices...don't keep asking how many miles between this and that; just make a decision on which direction and enjoy the ride.

 

Mary Cokenour

Looping the Abajo Mountains into Desert Landscape.

Telling visitors to Monticello about the road that loops through the Abajo Mountains gets them kind of excited; the idea of traveling up the mountain road into forest area, ATV trails, camping and lakes.  Now once you leave the boundaries of the Manti-La Sal Forest however, the road name turns to Harts Draw Road which leads down to Route 211.  Basically you now enter a whole new dimension of slickrock, shrubland and desert; those with a deep appreciation of nature and its wonderlands can't wait to explore.  Those who enjoy hiking, camping and ATV trails know its just a different way to have fun; instead of dealing with trees, it's sandstone, slickrock and sand...lots of sand.

Little bit of history and geological lesson coming up here now; the Four Corners area (where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet) is part of what is known as the Colorado Plateau.  While the Great Basin did encompass a good deal of Utah's land mass, our area of the state wasn't part of it.  However, it was underwater at sometime during the Earth's ever changing creation; reason why you can still find fossils of aquatic animals in many areas.  Long story short, the Colorado Plateau became a hodge podge of almost every ecosystem currently known to mankind; whether a resident or a visitor, you can't deny the diversified beauty of it all.  Ok, lesson over, lets get to photos, lots of photos.

As I mentioned in another blog post, the Abajo Mountain Loop Road comes to a turning point 10 miles from the Welcome Center and up the mountain road.  There are a couple of parking areas where you can look over the valley; at times all the green of the sagebrush can help you imagine what the area looked like underwater in those prehistoric eras.

 

 

As you head down Harts Draw Road there won't be any actual pull in areas, so park as close off the road as you safely can.  Simply go hiking over the slickrock and have a good workout; watch your footing though so you don't twist or break a foot or leg; step on cow patties (cow dung if you didn't know), or step on top of a Harvester Ant mound.  The ants normally won't attack if left alone, but will sting if provoked.






Or keep on driving until you reach the junction for Route 211; turn left for Newspaper Rock, the Six Shooters, Canyonlands and many other places to visit, or turn right to head back to Route 191.

You can basically pull off anywhere along the road and hike.  A good deal of the land is owned by ranchers, so if there is fencing, no trespassing and/or private property signs; these are big hints to stay off the land.

 

These lands are also open range, so the cattle roam free and will be walking, not just along the road side, but on the road itself.  Drive slowly, you don't want to frighten them into suddenly charging in front of your or someone else's vehicle.  There also may be calves around their mothers, so watch out that you don't injure them.








Now I just have to decide on whether to write about Marie's Place aka Home of Truth which is between Harts Draw Road and Route 191, or head back up Route 211 and tell you about Canyonlands and the Needles District.  Decisions, decisions....

Mary Cokenour