A Traveler's Experience

Flaming Gorge-Uintas National Scenic Byway (UT)

It had been quite a while since I'd visited the Flaming Gorge. The last time I was there I was a spry and cocky teenager determined to show the rest of my family why I considered myself the "Supreme Freshwater Fisherman of the Nothern Hemisphere". I recall limiting out on monster trout, even if my little brother had caught two that were bigger than my biggest.

This time, my trip was simply to re-explore a road a road and country that I remembered was spectacular. Happily, I found, my memory was was still quite intact. This Byway is fantastic.

Starting in Green River, Wyoming and proceding south on WYO 530 takes a traveller through the high mesa and bluff country of SW Wyoming that parallels the Green River. The views of the Uintah Mountains to the south are incredible. The rocks are red and this is short grass country, but there's plenty of wildlife AND wild horses to be seen along this route.

Taking a left (turning east) in Manila, Utah sends you into some of the more spectactular portions of the Byway. Red rock mountains and cliffs, streams in canyons, all surrounded by pine forests -- this is so worth the detour off of I-80. Flaming Gorge Dam is dramatic in its own right.

But the part of the Byway I didn't remember so well was how utterly outstanding the views are on the east side of the gorge along US 191 heading north out of Dutch John, Utah to Rock Springs, Wyoming. I mean, the vistas are so huge you think your lungs are going to bust trying to take it all in. There simply isn't anything like that stretch of road anywhere else in the nation, let alone the Hemisphere I ruled at fishing.

Taking the Flaming Gorge Scenic Byway was a trip I'm happy I took again. In fact, I was so impressed this time, that I'm coming back again when I can and bringing my family. The recreational opportunities and all of natural beauty just to be out in is well worth the trip.