U.S. Route 189 is a spur of
U.S. Route 89
U.S. Route 89 (US 89) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway with two sections, and one former section. The southern section runs for from Flagstaff, Arizona, to the southern entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The northern sectio ...
. It currently runs for 322 miles (518 km) from
Provo, Utah
Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...
at
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 ...
to
Jackson, Wyoming
Jackson is a resort town in Teton County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 10,760 at the 2020 census, up from 9,577 in 2010. It is Teton County's only incorporated municipality and county seat, and it is the largest incorporated town ...
. The highway was not part of the original 1926
U.S. Highway
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 ...
system. The highway was created in the 1930s, absorbing former U.S. Route 530 and a portion of
U.S. Route 30S
U.S. Route 30S may refer to:
* U.S. Route 30S (Oregon), now OR 201 and US 20/US 26 from Ontario to Caldwell
* U.S. Route 30S (Idaho–Utah–Wyoming), now I-84 and I-80 from Burley to Granger
* U.S. Route 30S (Nebraska–Iowa), now US 275, US 6, an ...
. The portion through
Provo Canyon
Provo Canyon is located in unincorporated Utah County and Wasatch County, Utah. Provo Canyon runs between Mount Timpanogos on the north and Mount Cascade on the south. The canyon extends from Orem on the west end to Heber City on the east. P ...
(between Provo and
Heber City, Utah
Heber City is a city and county seat of Wasatch County, Utah. The population was 16,856 as of the 2020 United States census. The city is located 43 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.
History
Heber City was first settled in 1859 by Robert Broad ...
) has been designated the Provo Canyon Scenic Byway by the state of Utah.
Route description
Utah

US-189 begins in Provo where it is known as University Avenue, referring to
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...
. The highway then winds up Provo Canyon passing by
Deer Creek Reservoir
The Deer Creek Dam and Reservoir hydroelectric facilities are on the Provo River in western Wasatch County, Utah, United States, about northeast of Provo. The dam is a zoned earthfill structure high with a crest length of . The dam contains ...
and paralleling the route of the Heber Creeper (now known as the
Heber Valley Railroad
The Heber Valley Railroad (HVRX) is a heritage railway, heritage railroad based in Heber City, Utah. It operates passenger excursion trains along a line between Heber City and Vivian Park, Utah, Vivian Park, which is located in Provo Canyon. The ...
). The portion in
Provo Canyon
Provo Canyon is located in unincorporated Utah County and Wasatch County, Utah. Provo Canyon runs between Mount Timpanogos on the north and Mount Cascade on the south. The canyon extends from Orem on the west end to Heber City on the east. P ...
is designated the Provo Canyon Scenic Byway by the state legislature.
The highway exits Provo Canyon near
Heber City, Utah
Heber City is a city and county seat of Wasatch County, Utah. The population was 16,856 as of the 2020 United States census. The city is located 43 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.
History
Heber City was first settled in 1859 by Robert Broad ...
.
At Heber City US-189 meets
U.S. Route 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- ...
and is co-signed with Route 40 all the way to its junction with I-80.
Prior to the construction of the
Jordanelle Reservoir
Jordanelle Reservoir is a reservoir in Wasatch County, Utah, United States, just north of Heber City.
Jordanelle Reservoir is fed and drained primarily by the Provo River, and is impounded by the Jordanelle Dam, an earthen dam. The constructio ...
, the highway continued north concurrent with the former alignment of US-40 that is now under water. US-40 and 189 separated at
Hailstone
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fal ...
, also now under the lake. US-189 emerged from the lake shore along the route now signed
State Route 32. SR-32 and former US-189 join I-80 in
Wanship
Wanship ( ) is a census-designated place in Summit County, Utah, United States. The population was 423 at the 2020 census.
History
Wanship was founded in 1859 by Stephen Nixon and Henry Roper, who were joined by other settlers over the next tw ...
. Prior to the completion of Interstate 80 in eastern Utah US-189 formed the main streets of
Coalville
Coalville is a town in the district of North West Leicestershire in Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. In 2011, it had a population of 34,575. It lies on the A511 road, A511 between Leicester and Burton upon Trent, close to junct ...
and other communities now bypassed by I-80.
The Utah section of US-189 is defined in Utah Code Annotated § 72-4-124(2).
The Utah Code does not contain the concurrent alignment along US-40 and I-80, but the concurrent portion is included in Utah Department of Transportation maps of the area.
Wyoming

US 189 enters
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 ...
from the west co-routed with
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...
. The routes separate east of
Evanston, at exit 18, where US 189 proceeds north through the town of
Kemmerer, home of the
JC Penney
Penney OpCo LLC , doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain with 649 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalyst Brands portfolio alon ...
Mother Store which is located along the route. US 189 continues north, eventually following the western shore of
Fontenelle Reservoir
Fontenelle Reservoir is an artificial reservoir located in southwest Wyoming. It lies almost entirely within Lincoln County, although the east end of the Fontenelle Dam and a tiny portion of the reservoir are actually in northwestern Sweetwater ...
and passing
Names Hill
Names Hill is a bluff located on the bank of the Green River in the U.S. state of Wyoming, where travelers on the Oregon and California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of t ...
before entering
La Barge, passing what is left of the
Moondance Diner, which was moved to the town from
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in 2007, and is famous from many movies and television shows. The route then continues north along the
Green River towards the neighboring towns of
Big Piney and
Marbleton. This area is heavily developed by the
Oil and Natural Gas industries. The route then cuts across the northern part of the
Green River Basin
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...
through the town of
Daniel
Daniel commonly refers to:
* Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname
* List of people named Daniel
* List of people with surname Daniel
* Daniel (biblical figure)
* Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the acti ...
and intersects with
US 191
U.S. Route 191 (US 191) is a north–south highway in the Western United States and a spur of parent route U.S. Route 91 that has two segments. The southern segment runs for from Douglas, Arizona on the Mexican border to the southern part o ...
at Daniel Junction and runs concurrently to the north. Continuing north, the road traverses increasingly mountainous terrain, entering the
Bridger-Teton National Forest and passing through the small community of
Bondurant before descending through the narrow
Hoback River
The Hoback River, once called the Fall River, is an approximately -long tributary of the Snake River in the U.S. state of Wyoming. It heads in the northern Wyoming Range of Wyoming and flows northeast, northwest, and then west through the Bridg ...
Canyon to an intersection with
US 26
U.S. Highway 26 (US 26) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that runs from Seaside, Oregon, to Ogallala, Nebraska. When the U.S. Numbered Highway System was first defined, it was limited to Nebraska and Wyoming
Wyoming ...
and rejoining its parents route,
US 89
U.S. Route 89 (US 89) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway with two sections, and one former section. The southern section runs for from Flagstaff, Arizona, to the southern entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The northern sectio ...
at Hoback Junction.
History
There was a US-189 in the initial 1926 plan for
U.S. Highway
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 ...
s, which ran from
Nephi to
Pigeon Hollow Junction. This route is currently the eastern half of
State Route 132.
In 1938, a second iteration of US 189 was created using several state routes. The portion from Provo to Heber City in Utah was numbered State Route 7. Although signed US-189 starting in 1938 this road retained the SR-7 designation until 1977.
US-189 replaced US-530, designated in 1926, between the modern junctions of I-80 with US-40 at Silver Creek Junction and
I-84
Interstate 84 may refer to:
* Interstate 84 (Oregon–Utah), passing through Idaho, formerly known as Interstate 80N
* Interstate 84 (Pennsylvania–Massachusetts), passing through New York and Connecticut
{{road disambiguation ...
at
Echo
In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...
. Between Echo and
Evanston, Wyoming
Evanston is a city in and the county seat of Uinta County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 11,747 at the 2020 census. It is located near the border with Utah.
History
Evanston was named after James A. Evans, a civil engineer for th ...
US-189 was originally concurrent with US-30S. As portions of
I-80
Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...
were complete, US-189 was moved from the old US-30S alignment to the freeway alignment.
Prior to the construction of the
Jordanelle Reservoir
Jordanelle Reservoir is a reservoir in Wasatch County, Utah, United States, just north of Heber City.
Jordanelle Reservoir is fed and drained primarily by the Provo River, and is impounded by the Jordanelle Dam, an earthen dam. The constructio ...
, the US-189 designation alternated between two routes between
Hailstone
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fal ...
and
Wanship
Wanship ( ) is a census-designated place in Summit County, Utah, United States. The population was 423 at the 2020 census.
History
Wanship was founded in 1859 by Stephen Nixon and Henry Roper, who were joined by other settlers over the next tw ...
. For most of this era, US-189 was routed along what is now
State Route 32 via
Kamas Kamas may mean
* Kamas, Utah
* Kamas (raga), a ragam in Carnatic music
* KAMAS (program), an acronym for ''Knowledge and Mind Amplification System'', an outline processor
* Kamasins, a Samoyedic people
* Kamassian language, an extinct Samoyedic lan ...
. However, there are some years the official Utah Highway Map shows the road through Kamas designated as US-189 Alternate, with the main route of US-189 concurrent with the routes of US-40 and what is now I-80.
In 1985 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 ...
(UDOT) began plans to relocate US-40 and US-189 to prepare for the construction of the Jordanelle Reservoir. As late as 1989, UDOT still intended move US-189 to an alignment on the northern shore of the proposed reservoir. On January 18, 1990 the
Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...
sent a letter to UDOT recommending that US-189 not be moved to this new alignment. The stated reason was this new routing would result in traveling "out-of-direction".
AASHTO
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test quality control, protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction through ...
agreed, and authorized a change of plan for the route of US-189 to run
concurrent
Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to:
Law
* Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea''
* Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...
with US-40. UDOT agreed, and this new road was instead signed as extension of
State Route 248. The portion of the former route of US-189 not submerged by the new lake was designated
State Route 32 after months of negotiations with county officials.
However, although US-189 was now officially concurrent with US-40 between
Heber City
Heber City is a city and county seat of Wasatch County, Utah. The population was 16,856 as of the 2020 United States census. The city is located 43 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.
History
Heber City was first settled in 1859 by Robert Broad ...
and Silver Creek Junction, this segment was signed only as US-40, and an "END US-189" sign was posted in Heber City. This lasted until late 2017, when the end signs were removed and US-189 signs were added to the US-40 concurrency. US-189 remains unsigned on the I-80 concurrency between Silver Creek Junction and the Wyoming state line.
[
]
Major intersections
References
External links
Endpoints of U.S. Highway 189
{{DEFAULTSORT:U.S. Route 89-1
89-1
89-1
89-1
189
Year 189 ( CLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silanus and Silanus (or, less frequently, year 942 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 189 for th ...
1
Transportation in Utah County, Utah
Transportation in Wasatch County, Utah
Transportation in Summit County, Utah
Transportation in Uinta County, Wyoming
Transportation in Lincoln County, Wyoming
Transportation in Sublette County, Wyoming
Transportation in Teton County, Wyoming