Shoulder season (spring or fall) may be the best time to ply the 1,700 miles (2,735 kilometers) of Route 89 from border to border. The crowds thin, the weather cooperates—mostly—and the American West is just a trailhead away.
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Mile 174: Best Watering Hole
Mermaids, tropical drinks, and a swimming pool—the Sip-N-Dip Tiki Lounge may be the country's greatest roadside bar.
Mile 397: Super Soak
Once a stopover for grungy miners, Chico Hot Springs now hosts a rustic spa for the road-weary ($89; www.chicohotsprings.com).
Mile 402: Best View
Stop at the Old Saloon for pub grub and a seat beside a taxidermied deer butt.
Mile 540
Jackson, Wyoming, to Bryce Canyon National Park
Before you, framed by the 250-mile-long (402-kilometer-long), 12,000-foot-high (3,658-meter-high) Wasatch Range to the east and desert flats to the west, stretch 540 miles (869 kilometers) of two-lane blacktop. It's a harsh, arid landscape tamed by Mormon settlers a century and a half ago. Though the Wasatch are a veritable playground of outdoor activities, heed your inner road warrior, hit the accelerator, and enjoy the ride.
Mile 550
Babb, Montana, to Jackson, Wyoming
Everything's bigger up here: the glacier-carved valleys, Yellowstone's megafauna, and—as advertised—the Montana sky. Route 89 cuts through it all, from the northernmost reaches of the Rockies and frontier towns turned adventure havens to valleys with names like Paradise.
Hike: Drive as far as you can on Glacier National Park's Going-to-the-Sun Road (plowing begins April 1), then ditch the car and hike the famous thoroughfare ($15 toll until May 1, $25 after; www.nps.gov/glac).
Mosey: Though it has grown in popularity (particularly among writers and artists), Livingston remains true to its rowdy rail-town roots. Bed down at the Murray Hotel ($82; www.murrayhotel.com).
Bike: In April, pedal west from Yellowstone's Mammoth Hot Springs—the road is closed to cars—and commune with the bull elk and bison ($25 entrance fee; www.nps.gov/yell).
Gawk: Come spring the male sage grouse puts on a strutting, squawking display that upstages the Tetons. Sign up for morning viewings at the Moose Visitor Center ($25; www.nps.gov/grte).
Mile 610
Bryce Canyon National Park to Nogales, Arizona
Zion Canyon, red-rock vortexes, the Grand Canyon's temples—religion and landscape are intertwined on the southern stretch of Route 89. Catch a sunrise over Bryce Canyon and you'll understand.
Gawk: Wake up early in Bryce Canyon National Park to view sunup at Sunrise Point; then see the best of Bryce (hoodoos, slots, canyons) on the six-mile (ten-kilometer) Peek-A-Boo Loop Trail ($25; www.nps.gov/brca).
Hike: For an experience that's equally transcendent and terrifying, hike to Angels Landing, a six-foot-wide (two-meter-wide) promontory jutting 1,500 feet (457 meters) above the valley floor in Zion National Park ($25; www.nps.gov/zion).
Camp: The Grand Canyon's North Rim ($25 entrance fee; $15 for a campsite; www.nps.gov/grca) opens in May with better views—and fewer crowds—than the South Rim. Drive south on State Route 67 and camp at one of 80 sites.
Discover: Old West (prospectors) and New West (crystal worshippers) meet in Jerome, Arizona. Stop at the Haunted Hamburger for lunch and stay at the 12-room, 109-year-old Connor Hotel ($90; www.connorhotel.com).
Miles 693-734: Scenic Stretch
This 41-mile (66 kilometer) span of Route 89 passes 19 fossil-packed trails and the fishing-friendly Logan River.
Mile 733: The Throwback
Travel back to 1914 at the Bluebird, where you can dine at the eatery's original marble soda fountain.
Mile 783: Adventure Town
Stop for the night in Ogden, Utah's new outdoor capital, and you may end up staying for good.
Mile 1,003: Travertine Tubs
Relax in the mineral waters, catch a live rock show, then bed down in a tepee at Mystic Hot Springs ($15; www.mystichotsprings.com).
Mile 1,333: Spur Road
A hidden gem (and perfect picnic spot), Fry Canyon is found on unpaved Forest Road 535 off Oak Creek Canyon.
Mile 1,405: Culture Club
Raven Café is an all-in-one art gallery, music venue, radio station, restaurant, and bar.
More on Route 89:
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