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I-70 in southeastern Utah is a gorgeous stretch of highway that passes several cliffs, rock formations, and canyons.
Introduction to Scenic I-70
If you’re traveling on I-70 through Utah, there are 14 scenic rest areas — seven heading eastbound and seven heading westbound — where you can stop and enjoy the scenery.
Because of our late start leaving Great Basin National Park due to an unexpected flat tire, we weren’t able to enjoy the scenery heading eastbound during our drive to Arches National Park. I had hoped to include many of these rest areas the post, but unfortunately we could only make one stop before sunset — Sand Bench. My apologies for the incompleteness, but I’ve added a map at the end of the post pointing out the other rest areas.
Sand Bench Rest Area
Sand Bench Rest Area is located at milepost 104. There’s one rest area each for eastbound and westbound traffic. To the south, you can see the Henry Mountains. Looking west, you can see the forests of the Wasatch Plateau and Fishlake National Forest.
The rest area overlooks Castle Valley — the last place Brigham Young sent Mormons to settle. The settlers arrived in the 1870s to find new grazing lands for their livestock. Instead, they found a barren landscape with very little water. Only the toughest cowboys and outlaws survived, and very few were able to eke out a living.
Other Scenic Rest Areas
Rest areas heading eastbound include Ivie Creek (milepost 86); Devil’s Canyon (milepost 115); Ghost Rock (milepost 123); Spotted Wolf (milepost 142); San Rafael Reef (milepost 146); and Crescent Junction (milepost 181).
Rest areas heading westbound include the Harley Dome View Area (milepost 227); Thompson Springs Welcome Center (milepost 228); San Rafael Reef (milepost 146); Black Dragon (milepost 142); Ghost Rock (milepost 123); Eagle Canyon (milepost 116); Sand Bench (milepost 106); and Ivie Creek (milepost 86).
