U.S. Route 89A is a north–south auxiliary U.S. highway (though its actual direction of travel is more east–west) in southwestern Kane County,

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 ...

and northeastern

Coconino County Coconino County is a County (United States), county in the North Central Arizona, North-Central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. Its population was 145,101 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county seat is Flagstaff, Arizon ...

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 ...

in the southwestern United States. The highway is an old routing 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 ...

from Bitter Springs, Arizona to

Kanab Kanab ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Utah, United States.Find a County
". ' ...

, Utah. The state of Arizona has designated this highway the Fredonia-Vermilion Cliffs Scenic Road. The highway is used to access the North Rim of

Grand Canyon National Park Grand Canyon National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in northwestern Arizona, the 15th site to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyo ...

and is known for the

Navajo Bridge Navajo Bridge is the name of twin steel spandrel arch bridges that cross the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon National Park (near Lees Ferry) in northern Coconino County, Arizona, United States. The newer of the two spans carries vehicular t ...

. Until 2008, the Utah portion was signed State Route 11. The route provides the only direct road connection between the

Arizona Strip The Arizona Strip is the part of Arizona lying north of the Colorado River. Despite being larger in area than several U.S. states, the entire region has a population of fewer than 10,000 people. Consisting of northeastern Mohave County and ...

and the rest of Arizona.

Route description

The highway's southern terminus is at

south of

Page, Arizona Page is a city in Coconino County, Arizona, United States, near the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 7,247. History Page was founded in 1957 as a housing community for workers and their f ...

. Its northern terminus is in

Kanab, Utah Kanab ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Utah, United States.Find a County
". ' ...

, also at

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 ...

. US 89A runs near or through

Lee's Ferry Lees Ferry (also known as Lee's Ferry, Lee Ferry, Little Colorado Station and Saints Ferry) is a site on the Colorado River in Coconino County, Arizona in the United States, about southwest of Page and south of the Utah–Arizona state l ...

, the

Vermilion Cliffs The Vermilion Cliffs are the second "step" up in the five-step Grand Staircase of the Colorado Plateau, in northern Arizona and southern Utah in the southwestern United States. They extend west from near Page, Arizona, for a considerable dis ...

, the

Kaibab Plateau The Kaibab Plateau is a plateau almost entirely in Coconino County, Arizona (but extending slightly north into Kane County, Utah) in the Southwestern United States. The high plain is also known as the Buckskin Mountain, Buckskin Plateau, and Ka ...

, and

Fredonia, Arizona Fredonia is a town in Coconino County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,314. Fredonia is the gateway to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. History Fredonia was laid out in 1886. Its name is said to mean th ...

. The eastern portion of the highway runs through part of the

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 ...

. From Jacob Lake,

Arizona State Route 67 State Route 67 (SR 67) is a long, north–south state highway in northern Arizona. Also called the Kaibab Plateau – North Rim Parkway, SR 67 is the sole road that links U.S. Route 89A (Arizona), U.S. Route 89A (US 89A) at Jacob ...

(AZ 67) branches off south, leading to the North Rim of

. US 89A then continues north to the neighboring cities of

and

Kanab, Utah Kanab ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Utah, United States.Find a County
". ' ...

. The Utah portion of US 89A is defined by Utah Code Annotated §72-4-114.

History

This was part of mainline US 89 until the construction of

Glen Canyon Dam Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the southwestern United States, located on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, near the city of Page. The dam was built by the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from 1956 to 1966 and forms L ...

. In 1960, US 89 was moved to a new, more northerly route and the old route became US 89A. The Utah segment of US 89A was first commissioned as part of Utah State Route 11. This highway ran from Nephi to the

state line near Kanab. This route is still drivable as the modern US 89A, US 89, and Utah SR-132. With the establishment of the

United States 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 in 1926, most of SR-11 was used for the routing of US 89 through southern Utah; the internal designation used by state agencies remained SR-11. In 1969, as part of a series of changes to state routes, the portion north of Sevier Junction (

I-70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, just outside Baltimore, Maryland. I-70 appr ...

and US 89 near

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

) was transferred to other routes, removing the only part of State Route 11 that was signed with the state designation. It is also during this time that a new alignment for US 89 was constructed to serve the

, with SR-11 being now signed as US 89A south of Kanab and US 89 to the north. As part of the

1977 Utah state route renumbering In 1977, the Utah State Legislature changed its system of how state route numbers were used and assigned. Prior to 1977 Utah used a system where every U.S. Highway and Interstate Highway traversing the state was assigned a different Utah state ...

to conform signage and legislative definitions, SR-11 was truncated to what is now signed US 89A. The route was signed SR-11, with "TO US 89A" at the northern terminus in Kanab and a "TO US 89" at the Arizona state line. In 2008, however, SR-11 was deleted after a bill in the Utah legislature was passed to restore U.S. Route 89A in Utah. From 1941 to 1992, there was a discontinuous southern portion US 89A running from Flagstaff to

Prescott, Arizona Prescott ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. As of 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the city's population was 45,827. In 1864, Prescott was designated as the capital of the Arizona Territory, r ...

, now designated

Arizona State Route 89A State Route 89A (SR 89A) is an state highway that runs from Prescott, Arizona, Prescott north to Flagstaff, Arizona, Flagstaff in the U.S. state of Arizona. The highway begins at Arizona State Route 89, SR 89 in Yavapai County, Arizona, Yavapa ...

Junction list

Gallery

Route89A.JPG, US 89A southeast of the

, June 2009 Navajo Bridge (May 2006).jpg, The

s over

Marble Canyon Marble Canyon is the section of the Colorado River canyon in northern Arizona from Lee's Ferry to the confluence with the Little Colorado River, which marks the beginning of the Grand Canyon. Lee's Ferry is a common launching point for riv ...

along US 89A, June 2009. Stone House Vermilion Cliffs.jpg, Stone House at the Vermilion Cliffs, near Cliff Dwellers Lodge, Arizona.

References

External links