New pavement in little used area:
The Moore road, 39 miles, was recently paved. It connects Utah highway 10 with I-70 and Eagle canyon view point rest stop at the junction. On your southwest side of the Moore road you are seeing Lookout point with 6037 feet elevation. There is a cairn about 9 feet high on Lookout point. On the I-70 end, the elevation is probably about 1000 feet higher giving the visitor expansive views. To the far southwest you will identify Mount Hilgard at 11533 feet, looking like a ski-jump. South of that are Geyser peak, Hens Hole peak, and Thousand-Lake mountain going south. North of Hilgard are several undetermined features altogether called the Wasatch Back,(east face) in comparison to the Wasatch front (the west face). Three smokestacks 600 feet high are in Castle Dale turning coal into money, jobs, and electric power. I sat at the gravelpit at the beginning of Moore Road, trying to identify the ridgeline and foothills to the west. From that vantage point much of the valley is red sandstone. The Swasey brothers named it because the canyon was so deep that an eagle would not be able to fly out.
Getting there:
The longest road without services is I-70 from Salina at milemarker 56 to Green River at milemarker 160, a total of 104 miles. Moore Road starts at milemarker 116, so it is right in the middle of the long expanse. Salina canyon was part of the pre-historic Old Spanish Trail, also with a trip report. Traveling this road is so beautiful and special, it doesn't seem nearly that long. There are interchanges, exits, and tunnels under the highway all the way along, making it not quite so definite. There are two ways to get to Capitol Reef from I-70, so you have options.
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