Box Elder Canyon | |
---|---|
Elevation | 5,525 ft (1,684 m) |
Location | Box Elder County |
Range | Wasatch Mountains |
Coordinates | 41°29′58″N111°59′40″W / 41.4994°N 111.9944°W |
Location in Utah |
Box Elder Canyon is a canyon located within the western slopes of the Wellsville Mountains, a branch of the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains in Box Elder County, Utah, United States. [1] Box Elder Canyon and Wellsville Canyon together provide the routes of U.S. Route 89 / U.S. Route 91 (US 89 / US 91) across the Wellsville Mountains. Both of these canyons are sometimes locally referred to as Sardine Canyon, although the actual Sardine Canyon is used by an old alignment of the highway along the eastern slope of the Wellsville Mountains. [2]
The valley was created by a prehistoric river, which flowed as a tributary into the main pool of ancient Lake Bonneville, emerging east of present-day Brigham City. The western or lower mouth of Box Elder Canyon is located approximately 56 miles (90 km) north of Salt Lake City, Utah, via Interstate 15 and US 91. The joint routes of US 89 / US 91 join together at 1100 South Main Street to the west and enter Box Elder Canyon 2 miles (3.2 km) east of downtown Brigham City.
In addition to US 89 / US 91, Box Elder Canyon also contains Box Elder Creek, which flows westward from Mantua Reservoir, a moderately-sized water impoundment created in 1961 through the construction of an earthen-fill dam at the upper mouth of the canyon, adjacent to the small farming community of Mantua (pronounced by locals as "Man-a-way"). [3] From Mantua, US‑89/US‑91 enters Dry Canyon for 3 miles (4.8 km) before the combined routes reach their apex at Sardine Summit (5,981 feet [1,823 m]). From there, the highway enters a mountain valley known as Dry Lake before traversing Wellsville Canyon (popularly but incorrectly called "Sardine Canyon") before entering the Cache Valley at Wellsville.
Cache County is a county located in the Wasatch Front region of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 133,154, with an estimated 140,173 in 2022. Its county seat and largest city is Logan. Cache County is included in Logan metropolitan area.
Box Elder County is a county at the northwestern corner of Utah, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 57,666, up from the 2010 figure of 49,975. Its county seat and largest city is Brigham City. The county was named for the box elder trees that abound in the county.
Brigham City is a city in Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The population was 19,650 at the 2020 census, up from the 2010 figure of 17,899. It is the county seat of Box Elder County. It lies on the western slope of the Wellsville Mountains, a branch of the Wasatch Range at the western terminus of Box Elder Canyon. Brigham City saw most of its growth during the 1950s and 1960s but has seen a struggling economy and stagnating growth. It is near the former headquarters of ATK Thiokol, now Northrop Grumman, the company that created the solid rocket boosters for the Space Shuttle.
Mantua is a town on the eastern edge Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The population of the town was 687 at the 2010 census.
The Wasatch Range or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about 160 miles (260 km) from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the Great Basin region. The northern extension of the Wasatch Range, the Bear River Mountains, extends just into Idaho, constituting all of the Wasatch Range in that state.
U.S. Route 91 or U.S. Highway 91 is a 172.7-mile-long (277.9 km) north–south United States highway running from Brigham City, Utah, to Idaho Falls, Idaho, in the U.S. states of Idaho and Utah. Despite the "1" as the last digit in the number, US 91 is no longer a cross-country artery, as it has mostly been replaced by Interstate 15. The highway currently serves to connect the communities of the Cache Valley to I-15 and beyond. Prior to the mid-1970s, US 91 was an international commerce route from Long Beach, California, to the Canada–US border north of Sweetgrass, Montana. US 91 was routed on the main streets of most of the communities it served, including Las Vegas Boulevard in Las Vegas and State Street in Salt Lake City. From Los Angeles to Salt Lake, the route was built along the corridor of the Arrowhead Trail. A portion of the highway's former route in California is currently State Route 91.
Cache Valley(Shoshoni: Seuhubeogoi, “Willow Valley”) is a valley of northern Utah and southeast Idaho, United States, that includes the Logan metropolitan area. The valley was used by 19th century mountain men and was the site of the 1863 Bear River Massacre. The name, Cache Valley is often used synonymously to describe the Logan Metropolitan Area, one of the fastest growing metro areas in the US per capita — both in terms of economic GDP and population.
U.S. Route 89 is a north–south United States Numbered Highway with two sections, and one former section. The southern section runs for 848 miles (1,365 km) from Flagstaff, Arizona, to the southern entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The northern section runs for 404 miles (650 km) from the northern entrance of Yellowstone National Park in Montana, ending at the Canadian border. Unnumbered roads through Yellowstone connect the two sections. Before 1992, US 89 was a Canada–Mexico, border-to-border highway that ended at Nogales, Arizona, on its southern end.
City Creek is a small but historically important mountain stream that flows from City Creek Canyon and across part of Salt Lake City, Utah, and into the Jordan River which empties into the Great Salt Lake. City Creek's head is about 8 miles (13 km) up City Creek Canyon northeast of Downtown Salt Lake City. The entire stream measures only about 14.5 miles (23 km) long. Melting snow from adjacent mountains provides most of City Creek's currents, but the stream flows year-round because of natural springs at the head of the creek.
The Wellsville Mountains is a mountain range in Box Elder and Cache counties in Utah, United States, that is part of the Wasatch Range.
State Route 68 (SR-68) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Utah. It is a major thoroughfare throughout the Wasatch Front as it runs north–south for 70.8 miles (113.9 km), linking US-6 near Elberta to US-89 in Woods Cross. The route intersects several major freeways and highways in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area including I-215, I-80, and I-15. The route is more commonly referred to as Redwood Road, after the street it is routed along throughout Salt Lake County. The highway is also routed for a short distance along 500 South and 200 West in Bountiful and Camp Williams Road in Utah County. The route is a surface street for its entire length.
State Route 38 is a state highway in Box Elder County in the U.S. state of Utah. It runs north from Brigham City to Collinston. The highway was originally State Route 69, but was renumbered in 1993 due to sign theft caused by the sexual connotation of the number.
Interstate 84 (I-84) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that links Portland, Oregon, to I-80 near Echo, Utah. The 117.38-mile-long (188.90 km) segment in the US state of Utah is the shortest of any of the three states the western I-84 passes through and contains the eastern terminus of the highway. I-84 enters Box Elder County near Snowville before becoming concurrent with I-15 in Tremonton. The concurrent highways travel south through Brigham City and Ogden and separate near Ogden-Hinckley Airport. Turing east along the Davis County border, I-84 intersects US Route 89 (US-89) and enters Weber Canyon as well as Morgan County. While in Morgan County, I-84 passes the Devil's Gate-Weber Hydroelectric Power Plant and Devil's Slide rock formation. Past Morgan, the highway crosses into Summit County, past the Thousand Mile Tree before reaching its eastern terminus at I-80 near Echo.
Interstate 15 (I-15) runs north–south in the U.S. state of Utah through the southwestern and central portions of the state, passing through most of the state's population centers, including St. George and those comprising the Wasatch Front: Provo–Orem, Salt Lake City, and Ogden–Clearfield. It is Utah's primary and only north–south interstate highway, as the vast majority of the state's population lives along its corridor; the Logan metropolitan area is the state's only Metropolitan Statistical Area through which I-15 does not pass. In 1998, the Utah State Legislature designated Utah's entire portion of the road as the Veterans Memorial Highway.
State Route 90 (SR-90) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Utah that sits completely within Brigham City in Box Elder County. The route travels from its western terminus at SR-13 to its eastern terminus at the junction of US-89/US-91.
U.S. Route 89 in the U.S. state of Utah is a north-south United States Highway spanning more than 502 miles (807.891 km) through the central part of the state, making it the longest road in Utah. Between Provo and Brigham City, US-89 serves as a local road, paralleling Interstate 15, but the portions from Arizona north to Provo and Brigham City northeast to Wyoming serve separate corridors. The former provides access to several national parks and Arizona, and the latter connects I-15 with Logan, the state's only Metropolitan Statistical Area not on the Interstate.
State Route 92 (SR-92), also known in various portions as the Timpanogos Highway, and Alpine Loop Scenic Highway is a scenic state highway in Utah County, Utah that runs from I-15/US-89 in Lehi to US-189 in Provo Canyon. The route is 27.296 miles (43.929 km) long and is the only road with access to Sundance Ski Resort and the Aspen Grove Family Camp and Conference Center.
State Route 101 (SR-101) is a 21.811-mile (35.101 km) long state highway located in the U.S. state of Utah. The route serves as a spur route into the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest through the cities of Wellsville and Hyrum, with an intermediate intersection with U.S. Route 89 (US-89) and US-91. SR-101 starts at an intersection of Main Street and SR-23 in Wellsville. Heading generally eastward, the highway terminates at the Hardware Ranch Wildlife Management Area. SR-101 was first designated in 1931 as a loop off SR-1 from Logan, south to Hyrum, and west to Wellsville.
The Dry River is an intermittent tributary, 88 miles (142 km) long, of the Crooked River in the U.S. state of Oregon. The stream arises near Hampton Buttes north of Hampton and U.S. Route 20 between Brothers and Riley in the Oregon High Desert. Beginning in eastern Deschutes County near its border with Crook County, it flows generally northwest along the Deschutes–Crook county line, crossing briefly into Crook County before turning slightly south and returning to Deschutes County. Along these upper reaches, it flows roughly parallel to the highway, under which it passes several times before turning sharply north near the Horse Ridge Research Natural Area, 19 miles (31 km) southeast of Bend. Continuing north and re-entering Crook County, it passes under Powell Butte Highway, Oregon Route 126, and Oregon Route 370 before entering the Crooked River 34 miles (55 km) from the larger stream's confluence with the Deschutes River.
The Colorado River is a major river of the western United States and northwest Mexico in North America. Its headwaters are in the Rocky Mountains where La Poudre Pass Lake is its source. Located in north central Colorado it flows southwest through the Colorado Plateau country of western Colorado, southeastern Utah and northwestern Arizona where it flows through the Grand Canyon. It turns south near Las Vegas, Nevada, forming the Arizona–Nevada border in Lake Mead and the Arizona–California border a few miles below Davis Dam between Laughlin, Nevada and Needles, California before entering Mexico in the Colorado Desert. Most of its waters are diverted into the Imperial Valley of Southern California. In Mexico its course forms the boundary between Sonora and Baja California before entering the Gulf of California. This article describes most of the major features along the river.
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