Highway 95 by motorcycle
The empty road across southeast Utah. State Route 95, the Bicentennial Highway, runs from Hanksville to US-191 south of Blanding, crossing the Colorado River at Hite and passing the only road into Natural Bridges National Monument (Wikipedia SR-95). It was paved and named in 1976 (Wikipedia SR-95), and it joins our Capitol Reef and Monument Valley guides into one big loop.
The route at a glance
- Start: UT-24 in Hanksville. End: US-191 a few miles south of Blanding (Wikipedia SR-95).
- Length: about 121 miles by the mileposts (Wikipedia SR-95). Visit Utah counts 133 miles, likely into Blanding itself (Visit Utah).
- No towns in between. The road serves no cities at all (Wikipedia SR-95).
- Time: half a day with few stops, a full day with Natural Bridges and the ruins (Visit Utah).
Fuel: read this first
Hanksville is the last reliable fuel before Blanding (Visit Utah). The old station at Fry Canyon has closed, and the only other fuel is a seasonal summer station at Hite (Wikipedia SR-95). That is over 120 miles with no fuel you can count on. Fill up in Hanksville, know your tank range, and carry water: summers here are very hot (Visit Utah).
Hanksville to Blanding
Hanksville and the Henry Mountains. Turn south onto 95 at the east edge of Hanksville, signed for Hite and Glen Canyon. Mount Ellen and Mount Pennell of the Henry Mountains rise to the west (Visit Utah).
The Lake Powell fork (milepost 26). SR-276 branches right to Ticaboo and Bullfrog. Keep left on 95 for Hite (Wikipedia SR-95; Visit Utah).
Hog Springs rest area (milepost 33). Toilets and shaded picnic tables, no water (Wikipedia SR-95; Visit Utah).
Hite Overlook (milepost 41). Visit Utah calls it the best viewpoint of Glen Canyon: stop here for photos (Wikipedia SR-95; Visit Utah).
Hite Crossing and the Dirty Devil. The road crosses the Colorado on Hite Crossing Bridge and the Dirty Devil River about two miles later (Wikipedia SR-95). The turn for Hite Outpost (campground, store and, in season, fuel) is just after the second bridge; the marina is often closed by low water (Visit Utah).
Natural Bridges (milepost 91). SR-275 leads about 4 miles to the visitor center (Wikipedia SR-95; Visit Utah). Bridge View Drive is a 9-mile paved one-way loop, and the easiest walk is the half-mile trail to Owachomo Bridge. The visitor center is the only drinking water in the monument (Visit Utah). The entrance fee was set at $15 per motorcycle in 2022 (NPS Natural Bridges, 2022); check the current fee at the gate.
UT-261 junction (milepost 93). The road south over Cedar Mesa to the Moki Dugway and Mexican Hat (Wikipedia SR-95). The Dugway is steep unpaved switchbacks with no guardrail (Visit Utah): on a road bike, read our Moab to Monument Valley guide first.
Mule Canyon and Butler Wash. About 10 miles past the Natural Bridges turn, an Ancestral Puebloan kiva, tower and room block sit about 100 yards from the road. Butler Wash, 10 miles further east, has an easy 1-mile trail to an overlook of cliff dwellings. Signs can be missing, so bring a map (Visit Utah).
Blanding. Fuel, food and a visitor center (Visit Utah).
Before you ride
- Boat trailers: trucks towing boats to Lake Powell are common, especially on weekends (Visit Utah).
- Heat: start early in summer and carry more water than you think you need.
- Dirt side roads: the Bull Creek Pass and Abajo Loop backways need high clearance (Visit Utah). Stay on the pavement on a road bike.
- Rules for visiting riders (helmets, eye protection, lane filtering): Riding in Utah.
Make it a loop
- From Capitol Reef: ride Highway 24 east to Hanksville, then 95. Capitol Reef by motorcycle.
- To Monument Valley: take UT-261 or ride on to US-191 south through Bluff. Moab to Monument Valley.
- Back to Moab: US-191 north from Blanding through Monticello. Or start in Moab and ride the loop the other way, out over Highway 24 as in Moab to Bryce.
Rent a bike
Booking opens soon. Until then, use the ride guides to plan your trip.