I've been quizzing people who have seen fall foliage in both Vermont and northern Utah. 80%
say Utah is better. Fall in Utah tops Vermont several ways. First, there is the setting. Vermont's
hills can't hold a candle to the peaks of the Wasatch Range, where fall centers on 11,970-foot Mt
Timpanogos and 12,002-foot Mt Nebo, great craggy mountains where rock and glaciers and
evergreen forests provide the setting for fall colors.
Second, fall is off-season in Utah but high season in Vermont. Room prices are at their
lowest. We drove more than 20,000 miles seeing Utah's fall over six years, never made an advanced
room reservation, and never needed one. Highways are free of traffic, except on the weekends when
Salt Lake City goes to see fall, but even then, there is no comparison to grid locked VT Rt. 100
(except UT Rt 92). Restaurant prices also drop, with a flood of 2-for-1 coupons in the Park City
Record. Rental car prices at the airport are also at their lowest.
Fall lasts 6-8 weeks, including the late colors in Zion Canyon, Utah's fall runs from late August to
mid-November. Vermont is good for about a week, 10 days at the most. There are four seasons in
Utah's fall. First, the preliminaries, a few red bushes and trees that only hint at what is to come.
Second, in early September, come the spectacular red wild mountain maples, fully the peers of
Vermont's famed Sugar Maple.
Third, in late September to mid-October, the glorious golden Aspens
arrive, followed by pastel season, when the lower mountain slopes take on the colors of the palate
of an Impressionist artist at the end of long day, mottled mountainsides of muted oranges, purples,
and brown, unlike anything we have seen anywhere else.
It's hard to say whether the maples or Aspens are the stars of the show, but there are a lot
more Aspens. The maples are most concentrated in the foothills west of Heber City. Prime viewing
is from UT Rt. 92, and Wasatch Mtn. State Park Golf Course, where a September round on the
Lake Course is surrounded by blazing red trees beneath the high mountain tops, sometimes capped with snow.
Aspens are everywhere. Top viewing from UT Rt. 224 traveling south from I-80, and UT
Rts. 92, 150, 35, 39, or any mountain road north of Zion National Park and west of Capitol Reef
National Park. Utah's Rt 12 between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks, one of the most
scenic drives on Earth, is at its best when the golden Aspens ring vast Boulder Mountain.
Do not miss riding the lift at Deer Valley if the Aspens change while the summer lift still
operates.
US40 east of Heber City climbs 2,500 feet up a canyon whose walls display every possible
color and the canyon floor is bedecked with cottonwoods along the stream bank. Stop at the visitor's
center at Strawberry Reservoir to see the salmon spawning (late August to October), surrounded by Aspen groves.
More or less in order, scenic fall day trips (if -- I should say, when-- you encounter a herd of cattle
or a flock of sheep ambling down the road, go very slowly, but try not to stop. You have to bluff
them out. If you stop, they will surround you and trap you, and they are (except as noted) paved roads.
(1) UT Rt 92 ($3 day use fee), with a stop at Robert Redford's Sundance Resort for lunch, ride up
the lift, and a stroll around the grounds. We have driven scenic highways all over North America and
Europe, and parts of South America and Africa, and our vote for the most scenic drive goes to UT
Rt. 92 in the fall. Be sure to go both directions and take all the side roads. When you come to the
dam along the side road to Granite Flats Campground, stop for the view downstream from the middle
of the dam.
(2) Follow Midway's Main St. onto UT 224. Turn left at the sign for the Inn on the Creek. Turn
left at the end of the road, and bear right at the fork in the road. The Y-intersection offers a choice.
Bear right up and over Guardsman Pass (rough dirt road) to either Park City (aspens) or Brighton
(Big Cottonwood Canyon) (maples and aspens). Bear left, then right at the Visitor's Center to drive
up Snake Creek Canyon.
(3) I-80 east to WY/UT 150 to either UT 32 or UT 214. The Mirror Lake highway, a National
Forest Scenic Byway. On Rt. 150 ($3 fee) south from Evanston, do not miss the short side trip to
the incomparable Mirror Lake (near mile marker 32) with a pretty but flat trail circling the 9,000 ft.
high lake, and a stop at Provo Falls, a series of 10 cascades and waterfalls, near mile marker 24.
(4) Mt. Nebo Scenic Loop, another National Forest scenic Byway. Take US 189 toward Provo to
I-15 south, exit at Payson and ask directions. The Scenic Loop ends at Rt. 132. For a fast return,
go right on Rt. 132 to I-15. The scenic return is to retrace your way back to the Santaquin Canyon
road and take it to I-15. Restaurants in Payson and in Nephi.
(5) I-80 east to I-84 west to UT 161 to east-bound UT 35. When you descend from the mountains
on UT 35, there are choices. If your timing is right, fall in Grand Teton National Park, about three
hours north via UT 16 and WY 89, which is a gem. Yellowstone is next door, and while Yellowstone is no
great shakes for fall foliage, it isn't very crowded in the fall. Stay overnight in Jackson Hole or
Yellowstone. Return by US 189 and I-80 via Hoback Canyon, a good place to see mountain sheep
and Aspens.
Or go north on UT 16, then east on US 39 & 89 through Logan Canyon. From Logan, return either
by reversing the itinerary or by continuing to I-15. Although longer, the reversed itinerary is far
prettier, and the views going this direction are quite different than what you saw on the way.
Or head south on UT 16/WY 89 to Evanston and pick up either WY 150 (slow) or I-18 (fast) back
to your hotel.
Or turn around and go back the way you came. The scenery is quite different driving this direction,
with no sense of doing what you have already done.
(6) Rt 224 from Kimble Jct to Park City. Follow the signs for Deer Valley. Just after the road
becomes divided, turn right on Royal St. to Silver Lake Lodge and ride the lift through the Aspens
to the great views from the top of Bald Mtn. Start back the way you came, but take the first left and
follow the dirt road back to Heber Valley.
(7) Take UT 32 toward Kamas, but go straight at the four way stop in Francis on to UT 35 [great
fall Aspens]. There is a beaver dam, pond, and lodge in the stream on the right near milepost 32, just
across from the higher of two stretches of fake rock lining the cliff. Cliffs along the highways that
are especially prone to falling rock are covered with concrete for stabilization, and then the concrete
is colored to look like rock [also along US 189 on both sides of the tunnel near Rt 92]. Turn right
on US 40 to Muir's Smokehouse in Fruitland where the menu tops for fine smoked meats and homemade pies, but if you never had one, opt for the bargain priced Buffalo Burger. We lunched at Muir's
once while showing a visitor from a big eastern city around. During lunch, we fell into conversation
with a cowboy taking a break from the round up who came by Muir's for lunch-- half a peach pie.
Citified dudes are surprised to run into real cowboys on real roundups, but it happens here. The
cowboy didn't arrive on horseback. It was his day to use the Jeep.
Continue toward Heber on US 40 to Strawberry Reservoir Visitor's Center where you can see a
salmon run late August-October. The roads circling the reservoir have good Aspen views. There
is also a beaver lodge along the side of the road between Fruitland and the summit, but it is impossible
to spot from the highway going this direction. Go to the top of the hill and turn around, watching
the ditch, which is really a little stream, along the side of the road for the dam.
(8) US 189 to Provo, I-15 to US 6 east to UT 96 to UT 264, turn left on UT 31 to Huntington. At
Huntington, turn around and take UT 31 to US 89 back to US 6. Mostly Aspen. Great mountain
scenery.