May 2026-7. Miles & Miles of Dirt Roads, Part 2: Burr Trail Rd & Switchbacks, Notom-Bullfrog Rd, Torrey

May 21-22, 2026

    After our trek along Hell's Backbone Rd and breakfast in Escalante the next morning, we drove back toward Boulder on Utah's scenic Hwy 12. We wanted to explore the Burr Trail Rd again—we'd driven and boondocked along it last year.

Burr Trail Road

Burr Trail Rd runs in & out of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument & Capitol Reef National Park.

   Grand Staircase-Escalante is home to the Hopi, Diné (Navajo), Southern Paiute, Ute, and many Pueblo Tribes, who continue the cultural practices of their ancestors. The national monument also draws scientists from around the world due to its incredible variety of resources, natural, prehistoric, cultural, historic, and more.

Burr Trail Rd & area (Base map courtesy NPS).

Burr Trail Rd is paved for the first 31 miles.

    Burr Trail is named for John Atlantic Burr, who built it in the 1880s to move cattle. It was paved in the 1940s to serve the extraction of oil, coal, and uranium. 

Awe-inspiring vistas along Burr Trail.

The pavement ends 31 miles in at the Capitol Reef National Park boundary.

Numerous roads & trails lead off Burr Trail Rd. Where the pavement ended, we drove in a short distance & parked among piñon pine & juniper.

View east out the back of the van.

    A while later, a young man in a van joined us. In the commotion of family and multiple vehicles, he'd left his backpack somewhere, with his work laptop in it. He'd driven back 3 hours from his group's current location. Unfortunately, our search turned up no backpack, but we did learn from him that the Burr Trail Switchbacks are quite doable—in any vehicle. It was a no-brainer: we'd do the switchbacks the next morning.

    Note: Doug wanted to do the Burr Trail Switchbacks last year but the roads were wet, so we drove back to Boulder. He promised he would return later and do the switchbacks in his VW Bus. Imagine how happy he now was knowing he was off on his quest in the trusty van. 

Burr Trail Switchbacks & Notom-Bullfrog Rd

Leaving camp the next morning for the dirt road & the infamous switchbacks...

...& views of the Waterpocket Fold & Henry Mountains beyond.

Waterpocket Fold.

    The Waterpocket Fold is a 100-mile long "wrinkle" in the earth's surface. Millions of years ago, sandstone was uplifted then carved by water. Burr Trail Rd crosses the Waterpocket Fold and Notom-Bullfrog Rd parallels it on the east side.

5 minutes after leaving our campsite we were at the top of the Burr Trail Switchbacks—no turning back now!

Burr Trail Switchbacks: 1.8 miles. Elevation change: 754 feet (5,709'-4960'). Average grade: 7.8%. Steepest grade: 11.3%. (Note: Dark area is mountain shadow, not water.)

1-lane, dirt, steep, sharp switchbacks.

Yikes! A car pulling a trailer was coming up as we were going down.

We just pulled over & watched as they slowly climbed the road. The trailer was only about 15' long but appeared to be stressing the pickup that was pulling it.

Looking down the switchbacks....

...& down...

...& down...

...& at the bottom. 1.8 miles, 6 switchbacks, 10 minutes. Time for a brake check & a big stretch. 

    We're definitely glad we did the drive. The van handled it well, and the views were grand. 

Sign for folks going up the switchbacks—rather an understatement!

   

A few minutes later, we turned north on Notom-Bullfrog Rd.

    Had we turned right at the intersection with Notom-Bullfrog Rd, we would have arrived in 33 miles at Bullfrog on the Colorado River. In the past the area was part of Lake Powell, but with the drought there is no lake.  Maybe we will take that way next time???

Only 35 miles of dirt to go, or so we thought.

We continued to be surrounded by amazing & colorful formations.

The road varied from severe washboard...

...to rutted...

...to a bit deep & tricky just plain dirt.

Tunes for the drive.

More amazing formations...

...more dirt...

...& wait, what??? Pavement?!? It turned out we'd had only 25 miles of dirt!

And the almost unimaginable—Doug happy to be on pavement again!

The last 10 miles of the road are pavement. It was so quiet after the rough washboard. 

We passed ranches...

...& the site of the Mormon-founded town of Notom.

    Along the Fremont River, in an area known to Native Americans for over 8,000 years, in the late 1800s, Mormon settlers began to settle and establish farms. Originally called Pleasant Creek, Notom was one such town. Today it's an area of ranches, trails, and back country access.

Notom Rd & Hwy 24.

Torrey

After a quick break at the Capitol Reef rest area, we turned west toward Torrey.

    In Torrey, we paid for Marilyn to get at shower at Sand Creek Campground, where we'd stayed last year. It being the Memorial Day weekend, the campground was full but at least Marilyn left clean. 

Boondocking near Torrey.

    At the campground owner's suggestion, we checked out the boondocking area at the intersection of Hwys 12 and 24. There were lots of campers and lots of space. We found a great spot near the end of one side road, sheltered by a small hill.

View from the hill next to our campsite.

Among the amazing rock formations—shark attack?

The next day we drove back west through Torrey then north on Hwy 89, working our way to ward Craters of the Moon in Idaho.

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Hooptedoodle

    Knowing the Bullfrog-Halls Crossing ferry is not running, Marilyn wondered how you get to the other side of Lake Powell from Notom-Bullfrog Rd (should you wish).  The ferry hasn't operated since 2024 due to low water levels, partially drought-caused. Before that it last operated in 2021. Well, there are roads:

• Bullfrog to Halls Crossing: 149 miles (Hwy 276, 95, 27)

• Bullfrog-Hite Crossing Bridge (Intersection Hwy 276 & 95): 88 miles

    Hwy 95 is a main road to destinations in any direction. We've driven it many times, earlier on this trip when we drove up the Moki Dugway, 3 wonderful miles of 2 lanes of dirt, steep climbs, switchbacks.

Our route: 1) Burr Trail Rd. 2) Boondock site. 3) Burr Trail Switchbacks. 4) Notom. 5) Torrey. Other places on this trip: 6) Boulder. 7) Escalante. 8) Hell's Backbone Rd. 9) Hanksville. 10) Green River. National areas: 11) Capitol Reef National Park. 12) Natural Bridges National Monument. 13) Canyonlands National Park. 14) Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Bullfrog-Halls Crossing, etc, roads: 15) Bullfrog. 16) Halls Crossing. 17) Lake Powell. 18) Ticaboo. 19) Hites Crossing Bridge. 20) Moki Dugway. Rivers: 21) Colorado River. 22) Green River. 23) Dirty Devil River.

* * * * *

    Wherever the road may take you, enjoy.

It doesn't get much better! Be sure to stay protected from sun & bugs.

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Next up: The beginning of the end, sort of.