State Route 12 or Scenic Byway 12 (SR-12), also known as "Highway 12 — A Journey Through Time Scenic Byway", is a 123-mile-long (198km)state highway designated an All-American Road located in Garfield County and Wayne County, Utah, United States.
Route description
SR-12 through Red Canyon Arch tunnelSR-12, as seen from the Head of the Rocks overlook
The Average Daily Traffic (AADT) on SR-12 is at its greatest at its western junction with US-89, where the count for 2005 was 2,430. At its other end, at the junction with SR-24, the traffic bottoms out at 435.[4]
History
Red Canyon, Dixie National Forest
The road from Bryce Canyon Junction to Tropic was added to the state highway system in 1914, and in 1923 a branch from Tropic Junction to Bryce Canyon was built as a forest road.[5] The State Road Commission numbered the route to Bryce Canyon SR-12 in the 1920s,[6] and in 1927 the state legislature assigned it to both branches, to Bryce Canyon and Tropic,[7] but split off the branch to Tropic as State Route 54 in 1931. That same year, a new State Route 120 was created, continuing the road from Tropic to Henrieville,[8] and in 1935 it became part of SR-54.[9] Another road was also added to the state highway system in 1914, connecting SR-22 at Widtsoe with Escalante,[10] and it was numbered State Route 23 in 1927.[11] An extension took SR-23 northeast to Boulder in 1941,[12] and in 1947 SR-54 absorbed SR-23, with the Widtsoe-Escalante road dropped in favor of Henrieville-Escalante.[13]State Route 117, running southeast from SR-24 near Teasdale to Grover, became a state highway in 1931,[14] and was extended south to Boulder in 1957, becoming part of SR-54 in 1966.[15] In 1969, SR-54 became part of SR-12, but most of former SR-117 was dropped, leaving SR-12 to stretch from Bryce Canyon Junction to the north limit of Boulder (at the Dixie National Forest boundary), with a short spur to Bryce Canyon. This spur became a new SR-63 in 1975, and in 1985 the route was extended back north from Boulder to SR-24, using a different route than the old SR-117 north of Grover.[5]
↑Utah State Legislature (1927). "Chapter 21: Designation of State Roads". Session Laws of Utah. 12. From Hillsdale, about 7 miles south of Panguitch, southeasterly via Tropic Junction; to Bryce Canyon; also from Tropic Junction to Tropic.
↑Utah State Legislature (1931). "Chapter 55: Designation of State Roads". Session Laws of Utah. (54) From Tropic junction on route 12 to Tropic." "(120) From Tropic southerly via Cannonville to Henrieville.
↑Utah State Legislature (1935). "Chapter 37: Designation of State Roads". Session Laws of Utah.
↑Utah State Legislature (1947). "Chapter 49". Session Laws of Utah. Route 54. From Tropic Junction on route 12 via Tropic, Cannonville, Henrieville, and Escalante to Boulder.
↑Utah State Legislature (1931). "Chapter 55: Designation of State Roads". Session Laws of Utah. (117) From junction with route 24 east of Bicknell, southerly via Teasdale to Grover.
