Lost Highways

A sampling of road claims around the West.

—Photos: Donald Austin, Mark Boslough, Tom Budlong, Mike Dolan, Jay Krienitz, Kurt Kunkle (Colorado Environmental Coalition), Daniel R. Patterson, Gordon Swenson, Liz Thomas/SUWA, Bill Wolverton
Sat June 30, 2007 12:00 AM PST

A sampling of road claims around the West:

North Escalante Canyons, Utah
To get to this narrow, water-filled gulch, listed as a "road" on Garfield County maps, you would have to drive over a waterfall and then somehow get a vehicle through curving sandstone walls that stand just five feet apart.

Garfield County

Barking Dog Trail

Barking Dog Trail, Colorado
This trickle of a stream is less than a foot wide in places. The Mile-Hi Jeep Club has formed a Barking Dog Shovel Brigade to widen what it says is an RS 2477 road and has torn down Private Property signs because they "harm trees."


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Surprise Canyon, California
This trail in Death Valley National Park is so steep jeepers used to drill holes in the rock and winch their rigs up seven waterfalls to get to the top. It's been off-limits to vehicles since 2001, but off-road groups have filed an RS 2477 claim to get it reopened.

Surprise Canyon
Surprise Canyon

Route to Trail Hollow, Utah
Gravity is your worst enemy at "Harveys Fear," shown as part of a road on Kane County maps. The Wilderness Society calls this plateau, home to a forest of 1,000-year-old junipers, "one of the least accessible areas in the country."



More RS2477 road claims around the West:



Garfield County

Muddy Creek, San Rafael Swell, Utah

This popular swift-moving creek is called a highway, and it is: for summer kayakers. The Muddy Creek highway flows up to 500 cubic feet per second and provides habitat to wild horses and mountain lions.



Barking Dog Trail

Yampa River Canyon, Colorado
RS 2477 advocates argue that this gently flowing canyon river, a habitat for threatened bald eagles and peregrine falcons, was "built by Indians" in the 1800s. Apparently, Native Americans used the frozen river as a cattle trail in winters, which spells r-o-a-d for some.



Surprise Canyon

Arch Canyon, Utah
This popular hiking area near the Abajo Mountains is defined by its magnificent arches, fins, and spires, as well as its abundant Anasazi ruins and rock art. Off-road vehicle users motor through delicate riparian zones leading the Navajo and Hopi tribes to ask the BLM to assess and preserve the area's unique heritage. The RS 2477 trail crosses one stream 60 times in 8.5 miles.



Surprise Canyon

Dry Blue Road, Gila National Forest, New Mexico

The Dry Blue Road was completely destroyed by a 1983 flooding of the Dry Blue Creek that runs along it. The following year, the road was closed by the Forest Service to protect the creek, a rare habitat for the native loach minnow. Catron County is trying to reopen the road to provide emergency vehicle access to a 48-acre subdivision, despite the fact that all the homeowners said they use a faster, more reliable road for emergency access and enjoy the peace and solitude.



Surprise Canyon

Last Chance Canyon, Death Valley National Park, California

Despite the temperatures, which can reach 130 degrees, RS2477 advocates want this "road" expanded into a two-lane highway up the nearly vertical wall of Last Chance Canyon. By Inyo County's own admission, the road historically was used as a horse and foot-path. The Canyon was declared "roadless" in 1979.



Surprise Canyon

Greenwater Canyon, Death Valley National Park, California

Greenwater Canyon is unique because of 200-some petroglyphs left by Native Americans. Off-roaders cite the ancient drawings as evidence that the region was an Indian trail to support RS 2477 claims. The petroglyphs are now about 10-feet above the sandy canyon floor due to both water and vehicle erosion.


Got some other examples? Add to the list in the comments section below.


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Jen Phillips is the assistant editor at Mother Jones. For more of her stories, click here.
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Comments
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Alaska has nearly one thousand miles of RS 2477 road/trails which Interior want denied, the classic fight against big government. If a trail or waterway served as a road before President Carter, they are still effectively roads. Interior forgets that they are here to serve.

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Re: North Escalante Canyon; if it's 5 feet wide I'm sure some ATVs will have no trouble at all "navigating" it. Where are all the normal people, the folks who pick up litter, raise their kids to respect others, etc.?

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I hate the fact that the elite few who can afford these giant expensive 4x4 vehicles are ruining for ordinary folks. I want my government to protect these primitive trails, not turn them over to the privileged.

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Bush land = oil land. He's got to go.

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I cannot figure out how we allowed these people in through the front door. Yeah, they have brought their own beer and their own entertainment and their own toys -- essentially they worship anything into which one can pour gasoline. But since they arrived, they have done little more than make a mess and upset and anger the neighbors. And when they grow tired of their mischief and go back to that little Texas village to build their "liberry" -- a modest project, for certain, since it will contain two copies of "My Pet Goat" and everything else will be shredded for reasons of "national security" -- I have a very good notion of who will be cleaning up the carnage after they leave...

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I don't like all these roads that my car can't travel. That's discrimination against all people who don't own tanks - since our gas taxes pay for their maintenance.

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Let's just doze it and pave it all.

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