Beaver, UT Road Trips

The mountains to the east of Beaver reach elevations above 12,000 ft (3,700 m) and mountain passes are about 8,000 ft (2,400 m) in elevation. The elevation of Beaver itself is a little less than 6,000 ft (1,800 m). Despite the high elevation, Beaver gets hot weather, but it can also get very cold in winter. For temperature, the best weather conditions are in mid-to-late spring and September.

In the Beaver area, the main attraction besides the town's location for the traveler is the scenery. To the west is desert and open spaces, and to the east are the mountains. The desert west of Beaver consists of high-elevation desert, with high valleys scattered among rocky, often juniper-covered mountain ranges. Farther west, on the eastern side of Nevada, are some mountain ranges that more closely resemble the Sierras. However, there are also some local points of interest. 1 Cove Fort, Utah State Route 161 (Junction of Interstates 15 and 70), ☏ +1 435 438-5547, [email protected]. 9AM-dusk. Built in 1867 at the request of Brigham Young, the fort largely acted as a way station for people traveling the Mormon Corridor in the late 19th century. It is listed on mileage signs because it is the western terminus of Interstate 70, which travels over 2,100 miles to Maryland from Cove Fort. The site for Cove Fort was selected by Brigham Young because of its location about halfway between Fillmore, then the capital of the Utah Territory, and the nearest city, Beaver. It provided a way station for people traveling the Mormon Road. A town would have been constructed at the Cove Fort site, but the water supply was inadequate to support a sizable population. Another key factor in the selection of the site was the prior existence of a wooden-palisade fort, Willden Fort, which provided shelter and safety for the work crews who constructed Cove Fort. The fort is a square, 100 ft (30 m) on each side.

Definitely, driving is a good activity in the region, and enables you to get a good idea of the scenery without having to hike too far. 1 Scenic drive in the Tushar Mountains, Utah State Route 153 (From downtown Beaver, drive east on East 200 North Street and after not too long you should be out of the town. You will then reach protected area and the scenic part of the drive begins). Best avoided in winter. This is one of Utah's most scenic highway routes and it goes up the western side of the Tushar Mountains. (While the road goes down the eastern side as well, it is best not to drive along the eastern part of the road, which is unpaved.) Once you leave Beaver and you're driving east along the road, you will quite swiftly go into the mountain range. Around this point, you enter a canyon and the flora changes from scattered shrubs to more forested country. You continue to go through the canyon, which at times is like a great rocky gorge, before coming out of the canyon and reaching flatter, open terrain with pine trees on the ridges on each side. Higher mountains will be in front, but the road will avoid these and come to a mountain pass where there is a ski resort. Soon after the ski resort, the road becomes unpaved, so you will most likely want to turn back here. (updated Jun 2018)

Beaver has quite a few hotels and motels. 1 Best Western Butch Cassidy Inn, 161 S Main Street (Southern side of town), ☏ +1 435 438-2438. (updated Jun 2018) 2 Best Western Paradise Inn, 1451 North 300 West Street (Near the northernmost freeway exit in the town), ☏ +1 435 438-2455. (updated Jun 2018) 3 Days Inn (Wyndham), 646 West 1400 North (Northwestern end of town, west of the I-15 freeway), ☏ +1 435 261-2641. (updated Jun 2018) 4 DeLano Motel, 480 North Main Street, ☏ +1 435 438-2418. (updated Jun 2018)

It's quite easy to reach Beaver by car, and this can be done from every side of the town. The main transport route that connects to Beaver is I-15, the main interstate route between the I-5 in California and the I-25 in New Mexico and the Midwest. The I-15 enters Beaver from the north and south, and leads to many important cities, including Salt Lake City to the north and Las Vegas and Los Angeles to the southwest. Interstate 70, from Denver, Grand Junction and points east, ends at tiny Cove Fort, about 20 miles north of Beaver. Utah State Route 21 goes from the Nevada-Utah border to Beaver. Route 21's western end is in Nevada as Route 487, which goes from U.S. 50 to the town of Baker (the gateway to Great Basin National Park) and the border, where it becomes Route 21. Route 21 goes through many miles of practically uninhabited desert country before coming to Milford, and from Milford to Beaver the route is closer to civilization. The twisty Route 153 enters Beaver from the eastern side and connects Beaver with a ski resort. A lot of that road is unpaved, so it's probably best not to take it if you're trying to get across the Tushar Mountain Range. Salt Lake Express provides intercity bus service.

Although you could probably get around the town by walking, like most towns and cities in the United States it's better to drive due to the great distances that often exist between towns and points of interest. The main road in the town is, not surprisingly, Main Street, which connects with I-15 at the southern and northern ends of town. It also intersects with most of the important east-west roads, making it useful for getting around town. The two main east-west roads are Center Street, which becomes Route 21 to the west, and East 200 North Street, which becomes Route 153 on its eastern side.