U.S. Route 191 (US 191) is a major , north–south U.S. Numbered Highway through eastern

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, United States. The present alignment of US 191, which stretches from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, was created in 1981 through Utah. Previously the route had entered northern Utah, ending at US 91 in

Brigham City Brigham City is a city in Box Elder County, Utah, Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The population was 19,650 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, up from the 2010 figure of 17,899. It is the county seat of Box Elder County. It l ...

, but with the completion of

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the Western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Ca ...

it was truncated to

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...

and re-extended on a completely different alignment. In addition to a large portion of

U.S. Route 163 in Utah U.S. Route 163 (also U.S. Highway 163, US 163) is a U.S. Highway that runs from US 160 northward to US 191 in the U.S. states of Arizona and Utah. The southernmost of its length are within the Navajo Nation. The highway forms part of the Tr ...

(, US 163, this extension absorbed several state routes: the former

Utah State Route 33 U.S. Route 191 (US 191) is a major , north–south United States Numbered Highway System, U.S. Numbered Highway through eastern Utah, United States. The present alignment of US 191, which stretches from Mexico to Canada, was cre ...

, most of

Utah State Route 44 State Route 44 (SR-44) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Utah that runs from US-191 (UT), US-191 at Greendale Junction, Utah, Greendale Junction, southwest of Dutch John, Utah, Dutch John, to SR-43 (UT), SR-43 in Manila, Utah, Manila. Th ...

, and the former

Utah State Route 260 State Route 260 is a highway within Sevier County in central Utah that connects SR-24 to US-50 while passing through the town of Aurora in a span of four miles (6 km). Route description From its southern terminus at SR-24, the route go ...

Route description

US 191 enters Utah on

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in ...

land and crosses mostly desolate parts of the state. The largest cities served by US 191 are

Moab Moab () was an ancient Levant, Levantine kingdom whose territory is today located in southern Jordan. The land is mountainous and lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by ...

, Green River,

Price A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation expected, required, or given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, especially when the product is a service rather than a ph ...

, and Vernal. The highway nears the level in 2 places in Utah, over Indian Summit near Price and again while crossing the Uintah Mountains near Vernal. It leaves Utah at

Flaming Gorge Reservoir Flaming Gorge Reservoir is the largest reservoir in Wyoming, on the Green River, impounded behind the Flaming Gorge Dam. Construction on the dam began in 1958 and was completed in 1964. The reservoir stores of water when measured at an el ...

. US 191 directly or indirectly serves a number of parks in eastern Utah:

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park Monument Valley (, , meaning "valley of the rocks") is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of sandstone buttes, with the largest reaching above the valley floor. The most famous butte formations are located in northeas ...

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (shortened to Glen Canyon NRA or GCNRA) is a national recreation area and conservation unit of the United States National Park Service that encompasses the area around Lake Powell and lower Cataract Canyo ...

Hovenweep National Monument Hovenweep National Monument is located on land in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah, between Cortez, Colorado and Blanding, Utah on the Cajon Mesa of the Great Sage Plain. Shallow tributaries run through the wide and deep canyons into ...

Natural Bridges National Monument Natural Bridges National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located about northwest of the Four Corners boundary of southeast Utah, in the western United States, at the junction of White Canyon and Armstrong Canyon, part of the Colorad ...

Capitol Reef National Park Capitol Reef National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in south-central Utah. The park is approximately long on its northsouth axis and just wide on average. The park was established in ...

Canyonlands National Park Canyonlands National Park is a national park of the United States located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green Rive ...

Arches National Park Arches National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in eastern Utah. The park is adjacent to the Colorado River, north of Moab, Utah. The park contains more than 2,000 natural arch, natural ...

Dead Horse Point State Park Dead Horse Point State Park is a state park in San Juan County, Utah in the United States, featuring a dramatic overlook of the Colorado River and Canyonlands National Park. The park opened to the public in 1959 and covers of high desert at an ...

, Utahraptor State Park,

Dinosaur National Monument Dinosaur National Monument is an American national monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between Colorado and Utah at the confluence of the Green River (Colorado River tributary), Green and Yampa River, Y ...

, and

Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area is a United States national recreation area in Wyoming and Utah. Its centerpiece is the long Flaming Gorge Reservoir. History The area was given the name "Flaming Gorge" by John Wesley Powell during hi ...

Three portions of US 191 in Utah have been designated

National Scenic Byway A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for one or more of six "intrinsic qualities": archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic. The program was established by Co ...

s. Between U.S. Route 163 and State Route 95, US 191 forms part of the

Trail of the Ancients The Trail of the Ancients is a collection of National Scenic Byways located in the U.S. Four Corners states of Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. These byways comprise: *The Trail of the Ancients National Scenic Byway in San Juan County, Utah; *The ...

. From

to Vernal, US-191 is a portion of the

Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is a ...

. The

Flaming Gorge-Uintas Scenic Byway The Flaming Gorge - Uintas Scenic Byway is a National Scenic Byway in the state of Utah. It spans approximately as it travels from Vernal, Utah northward through the Ashley National Forest and the Uintah Mountains to the area around Flaming Go ...

begins at Vernal and follows US 191 to Flaming Gorge. The state has designated the portion from Helper to Duchesne as the Indian Canyon Scenic Byway, a

Utah Scenic Byway The legislature in the U.S. state of Utah has designated a system of Utah Scenic Byways in addition to the National Scenic Byways that are defined within the state. Some of the state designated routes overlap with the federal designations. The ...

. Three portions of US 191 in Utah have restrictions on

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...

s and other large vehicles. Between the junctions with State Routes 46 and

279 __NOTOC__ Year 279 ( CCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Probus and Paternus (or, less frequently, year 1032 ''Ab urbe condita''). The den ...

, vehicles wider than are required to have two police escorts. Between Vernal and the Wyoming State line, vehicles longer than are required to have two certified pilot escorts. Vehicles heavier than per

axle An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotation, rotating wheel and axle, wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In ...

are prohibited on

Flaming Gorge Dam Flaming Gorge Dam is a concrete thin-arch dam on the Green River, a major tributary of the Colorado River, in northern Utah in the United States. Flaming Gorge Dam forms the Flaming Gorge Reservoir, which extends into southern Wyoming, submerg ...

. The independent portions of US 191 south of Interstate 70, as well as the concurrencies with I-70, US 6, and US 40, are included as part of the National Highway System.

History

When US 191 was created in 1926, it did not enter Utah, only running from

Idaho Falls Idaho Falls is the List of cities in Idaho, fourth most populous city in Idaho and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, Bonneville County. It is the state's most populous city outside the Boise metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United St ...

northeast to

. An extension in the late 1930s brought US-191 south to

Brigham City, Utah Brigham City is a city in Box Elder County, Utah, Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The population was 19,650 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, up from the 2010 figure of 17,899. It is the county seat of Box Elder County. It l ...

, following what was then SR-41 and is now mostly SR-13.

Rand McNally & Company Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation, and education markets. The company is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois with a dist ...

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Independ ...

Road Map
Idaho, Montana, Wyoming
1937 With the construction of

I-15 I15 may refer to: * Interstate 15, a north–south Interstate Highway in the United States of America * Polikarpov I-15, a Soviet fighter aircraft * I15 (band), a band * , of the Imperial Japanese Navy * Älvsborg Regiment The Älvsborg Regiment ...

parallel to US-191, the latter route was removed from Utah in the early 1970s, and by 1980 it only existed north of Yellowstone. In cooperation with

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, the

Utah Department of Transportation The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is an agency of the state government of Utah, United States; it is usually referred to by its initials UDOT (pronounced "you-dot"). UDOT is responsible for approximately 5,900 miles (9,495 kilomet ...

submitted an application to the

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway A highway is any public or private road ...

(AASHTO) for an extension of US-191. In Wyoming, it would replace US 187 - a single-state route, which was against current AASHTO policy — and then follow Wyoming Highway 373 to the state line. The portion in Utah replaced several state routes — State Route 260 from Wyoming to Greendale Junction, the majority of SR-44 to

US-40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America (a nickname shared with U.S. Route 66), is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid- ...

in Vernal, and SR-33 from US-40 in Duchesne to US-6 near

. After overlapping US-6 past Green River, the routing followed and replaced a large portion of US-163 to a junction southwest of

Bluff Bluff or The Bluff may refer to: Places Australia * Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town * The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich * The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality * Bluff River (New ...

. Between Bluff and

Mexican Water, Arizona Mexican Water is an unincorporated community in Apache County, Arizona, United States. Mexican Water is located on the Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United S ...

, US-191 followed a newly constructed road across the

, and then replaced State Route 63, still mostly inside the reservation, to

I-40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway in the southeastern and southwestern portions of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and ...

at Chambers. (It has since been continued along former

US 666 US or Us most often refers to: * Us (pronoun), ''Us'' (pronoun), the objective case of the English first-person plural pronoun ''we'' * US, an abbreviation for the United States US, U.S., Us, us, or u.s. may also refer to: Arts and entertainme ...

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

on the

Mexican border Mexico shares international borders with three nations: *To the north the United States–Mexico border, which extends for a length of through the states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. *To the sou ...

Arizona to US-6

The road from

north via

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary residence and plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. Jefferson began designing Monticello after inheriting l ...

, and Valley City to

Thompson Thompson may refer to: People * Thompson (surname) * Thompson Lantion, Filipino retired police general * Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician Places Australia * Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality Bulgaria * Thom ...

(a station on the

Denver and Rio Grande Railroad The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south fro ...

) became a state highway in 1910.

Highway Resolutions
, updated September 2007, accessed May 2008 To connect this road with the rest of the state highway system, a road from Valley City northwest via Floy to Green River was added in 1912, as was a connection from Thompson to via

Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, s ...

to Colorado.

Highway Resolutions
, updated September 2007, accessed May 2008 An extension from Monticello southeast to Colorado was added in 1913, and in the 1920s most of these roadways were assigned numbers:

State Route 8 The following highways are numbered 8. For roads numbered A8, see list of A8 roads. For roads numbered N8, see list of N8 roads. Route 8, or Highway 8, may refer to: International * AH8, Asian Highway 8 * European route E08 * European route E00 ...

went from Green River via Floy, Valley City, Thompson, and Cisco to Colorado, and State Route 9 began at Valley City and extended south via Moab to Monticello and east to Colorado.

Rand McNally Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation, and education markets. The company is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois with a di ...

br>Auto Road Atlas
1926 With the creation of the

U.S. Highway system The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

in 1926, SR-8 and SR-9 each received a second designation, US-50 and

U.S. Route 450 U.S. Route 160 (US 160) is a east–west United States Numbered Highway in the Midwestern and Western United States. The western terminus of the route is at US 89 west of Tuba City, Arizona. The eastern terminus is at US 67 and Missouri ...

respectively.

American Association of State Highway Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United St ...

, United States Numbered Highways, ''

American Highways American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

'', April 1927 The state legislature redefined all the state routes in 1927, and moved SR-8 to a direct Floy-Thompson cutoff, with both roads from Valley City to Floy and Thompson becoming SR-9. The Monticello-Bluff road was assigned State Route 47 and extended to Mexican Hat at that time and to the

state line in 1931. The State Road Commission designated a new alignment of SR-9 to Crescent Junction on SR-8 in 1934, replacing both branches to Floy and Thompsons, and the legislature updated the description in 1935; at that time, US-450 was extended from Valley City to Crescent Junction on the new SR-8 (US-50) cutoff. Although no significant changes were made to SR-9 or SR-47 after 1935, the signed U.S. Highway numbers changed several times. First, in the late 1930s,

U.S. Route 160 U.S. Route 160 (US 160) is a east–west United States Numbered Highway in the Midwestern and Western United States. The western terminus of the route is at US 89 west of Tuba City, Arizona. The eastern terminus is at US 67 and Missour ...

replaced US-450, continuing to enter the state east of Monticello and end at Crescent Junction. Then in about 1970, US-163 was designated along the entire length of SR-47 from Arizona to Monticello, and replaced US-160 north to Crescent Junction; at the same time, US-666 was extended from

Cortez, Colorado Cortez () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home-rule municipality that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The ci ...

over US-160 to a new terminus at US-163 in Monticello. The 1977 renumbering saw the elimination of SR-9 and SR-47, by then no longer signed due to the concurrent U.S. Highway designations. The final change (except for the 2003 renumbering of US-666 to US-491) came in 1981 when US-191 replaced US-163 north of a junction near Bluff. South of this intersection, US-191 followed a route that did not formerly exist as a state highway. The

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

(BIA) completed this road across the

, and San Juan County built the short piece north of the San Juan River, in time for the extension of US-191. After the BIA granted an

easement An easement is a Nonpossessory interest in land, nonpossessory right to use or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B" ...

to Utah for the road, formerly BIA Route N12 (23) 2&3, in 1988, it was added to the state highway system the next year.

US-6 to US-40

The road connecting Colton on SR-8 ( US-50, now US-6) with SR-6 (

) in Duchesne became a state highway in 1910. The southwest end was moved from Colton to Castle Gate in 1912,

Highway Resolutions
, updated October 2007, accessed May 2008 and in 1927 it was numbered State Route 33. Few changes were made to the roadway, and in 1981 it became part of US-191.

US-40 to Wyoming

The road from SR-6 (

) in Vernal north to SR-43 in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, where one could continue to

, was added to the state highway system in about 1918 as a

forest highway Forest Highways or Forest Routes are a category of roads within United States National Forests. They are built to connect the national forests to the existing state highway systems, and to provide improved access to recreational and logging area ...

project,Fifth Biennial Report, State Road Commission, 1917-1918
pp. 24-25 completed in 1926,

Highway Resolutions
, updated October 2007, accessed May 2008 and numbered SR-44 in 1927. It was the only state road connecting

Daggett County Daggett County ( ) is a county in the northeastern corner of the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 935, making it the least populous county in Utah. Its county seat is Manila. The county was named for ...

's seat, Manila, with the rest of the state, yet parts remained in an unimproved condition through the 1950s.

Utah State Road Commission The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is an agency of the state government of Utah, United States; it is usually referred to by its initials UDOT (pronounced "you-dot"). UDOT is responsible for approximately 5,900 miles (9,495 kilomet ...

(

), Utah Official Highway Map, 1956 Several routes have been designated over the years to connect SR-44 to Flaming Gorge, a

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

on the Green River that lends its name to the

that US-191 now crosses the river on. The first was State Route 165, which would have begun at SR-44 south of Manila and headed east to the gorge. The state legislature added the proposed road to the state highway system in 1933, but in 1935 it was deleted, and the number was reused to the west on a portion of Birch Creek Road. Later, in 1941, the planned connection was redesignated as a state highway, this time State Route 220, but in 1945 it was moved north, closer to the state line. It was this alignment that was actually built, beginning at

Linwood Linwood may refer to: Places Many of the place names for Linwood come from the presence of linden trees. Australia * Linwood, South Australia *Linnwood, Guildford, 11-35 Byron Road, Guildford, New South Wales Canada * Linwood, Ontario * Linwood, ...

on SR-43 and proceeding east-southeasterly through a valley that is now flooded by the

Linwood Bay Linwood may refer to: Places Many of the place names for Linwood come from the presence of linden trees. Australia *Linwood, South Australia *Linnwood, Guildford, 11-35 Byron Road, Guildford, New South Wales Canada * Linwood, Ontario *Linwood, N ...

Highway Resolutions
, updated October 2007, accessed May 2008, p. 5 SR-220 was deleted in 1957, but in its place was a new State Route 260 that began at Greendale Junction on SR-44 and headed northeast over the dam (then under construction) and to the state line. The legislature did not specify where it would intersect the border, and the State Road Commission initially routed it along former SR-220 to Linwood.

Highway Resolutions
, updated September 2007, accessed May 2008, p. 31 However, the law was amended in 1963 to define the north end to be east of the reservoir, and soon the lake began to fill, cutting off the road to Linwood (and inundating that settlement).Jack Goodman,

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Canyon-Country Waterway; Flaming Gorge Dam Is Forming 90-Mile Lake In Utah, Wyoming
June 27, 1965, p. XX1 By 1981 the new road was completed, and most of SR-44 and all of SR-260 were absorbed by US-191.

Highway Resolutions
, updated November 2007, accessed May 2008

Major intersections

References

External links

{{authority control 91-1

191 Year 191 ( CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 191 for this ye ...

UT Transportation in San Juan County, Utah Transportation in Grand County, Utah Transportation in Emery County, Utah Transportation in Carbon County, Utah Transportation in Duchesne County, Utah Transportation in Uintah County, Utah Transportation in Daggett County, Utah