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From the Moab high desert
you can see in the distance the La Sal
Mountains with 6 peaks reaching heights
over 12,000 feet.
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If you travel the La Sal
Mountain Loop in spring, be sure to keep
an
eye out for the Narrow Leaf Yucca, a marvelous
Utah specialty
that grows in the area.
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Red
rock sandstone carved by erosive forces
create the pinnacles and buttes of Castle
Valley on the La Sal Mountains Scenic Loop
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Castle Valley offers some wonderful sight-seeing SUV side trips
during your tour of the La Sal Mountains.
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The
La Sal Mountains Scenic Loop can be driven
most all year except for the heaviest snow
periods.
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| Mountain
road trips are often daunting adventures, but the La Sal
Mountains, in eastern Utah, can be explored in an easy
daylong ride along the La Sal Mountain Scenic Loop out
of Moab - and all you need is an SUV. Del
Albright says fall is the season to do it, when the
brush fields glow red alongside the stands of gold quaking
aspens. |
Fall in central Utah is about as pretty as it
gets. With red rock canyon walls looming high overhead and
the Colorado River cutting a swath through the landscape,
muddy and wide, the region offers magical road trips no matter
where you travel. But a special place, full of wonderful sights,
smells and sounds, is the La Sal Mountains just east of the
recreational Mecca known as Moab, near the Colorado border.
The second-highest mountain range in Utah, the
La Sals have a dozen peaks that soar over 12,000 feet; the
highest is Mount Peale, which reaches 12,721 feet at its summit.
Meaning "Salt Mountains" in Spanish, the La Sals
were named by the missionary explorers of the Dominguez-Escalante
expedition in 1776, in reference to the unusual salty springs
around their base. More impressive to me is the sheer beauty
of the area, which is now part of the Manti-La Sal National
Forest. I've rambled through these mountains many times, during
several seasons, and the aspen groves and mountain lakes always
take my breath away.
The La Sals form a compact mountain range, just
15 miles long and about six miles wide, and there are plenty
of ways to explore them. You can hike high country trails,
ride a mountain bike, saddle up a horse or, if you come in
winter, you can do some cross-country skiing or snowmobiling.
But one of the best ways to become acquainted with these mountains
is to take a road trip by SUV along the La Sal Mountain Scenic
Loop.
Start your adventure in Moab with a morning breakfast,
then ride the curves east along state Highway 128, the windy
river road, to Castle Valley Road, which is about 18 miles
out of Moab. The La Sal Loop is not as well marked as it is
advertised in brochures, and the name changes along the route,
but some road signs do point the way. The Forest Service calls
the loop road FR (Forest Road) 062; keep your eye out for
those signs and you won't get lost.
Turning south onto Castle Valley Road, you immediately
enter a surreal kingdom of red castles and tall pinnacles
of sandstone, the signature geological formations of this
part of the Colorado Plateau. Once you start to climb the
La Sals, the geology changes and you will notice different
colored rocks. The mountains are composed of granite rocks
and quartzes, remnants of an upwelling of magma some 25 million
years ago. The first time I started my ascent up the La Sals
out of Castle Valley, I marveled at how quickly the brush
fields turned to tree stands and then to granite peaks, all
the while gawking at the red monoliths, buttes and spires
in my rearview mirror. The transition from low- to high-elevation
ecosystems occurs quickly and makes for some marvelous picture
taking.
As you make your way along the loop, you will
encounter brush fields, grasslands, groves of quaking aspen,
stands of ponderosa pine, and long, cool stretches of spruce
and fir forests. Be sure to take a lunch basket as you'll
find no end to wonderful pull-outs and side trails for a pleasant
stop -- or maybe one of those wonderful, high mountain meadow
naps. One of my favorite side trips is down FR 065, the dirt
road leading to Miner's Basin. You'll intersect this side
road at the 7,800-foot elevation range and it's well marked.
There are some mining relics, including several abandoned
cabins, and a small lake at the end of this road.
The La Sal Mountain Scenic Loop will take you
over the top (nearly) of the La Sals, then back down to the
high desert where you'll come out about six miles south of
Moab on Highway 191. It makes a wonderful day trip that can
be done any time of year except in the heaviest snow conditions.
Personally, I love this road trip best in the
fall, when the brush fields turn red and the aspens burn gold
on the hillsides. I like to perch myself on a rock outcropping
near the edge of a high meadow to watch the evening light
transform the aspen leaves to a new hue of gold. If you do
this, bring along your camera and binoculars. This time of
year, turkey and deer are out feeding fat for winter, giving
visitors an occasional glimpse of nature at its best.
Unless you hit snow or get too far off the beaten
path, you probably won't need your four-wheel drive. But don't
be afraid to grab a little dirt road here and there to see
where it might lead you. For safety sake, travel with another
vehicle if you can.
For some Internet resources, try these Web sites:
www.cpluhna.nau.edu/Places/lasalmts.htm
www.go-utah.com/utah/la-sal-mountains/La-Sal.html
www.atvutah.com/southern/La_Sal.htm
Del
Albright
9/9/07
