5 parts of backroad itinerary building, explained

What to take away

The five parts, in order

Every backroad plan answers five questions. Skip one and the trip still happens, but you answer it at the wheel instead of at the kitchen table.

Parts one and two decide whether the trip is possible. Parts three through five decide whether it is pleasant.

Part one: the road, and who publishes its closure

Start with the managing agency, because that is who publishes the closure. A paved county road, a BLM backway and a state scenic byway can run within sight of each other and be governed by three different offices.

Five sources cover it, and all are free. The National Park Service posts conditions on each park's site. The BLM publishes route pages and field office phone numbers. The USFS issues a Motor Vehicle Use Map for each district, listing which roads are open to which vehicles.

State DOTs run 511 phone lines and traveler information sites. County road departments usually hear about a washout first, and they are the ones who close it.

The BLM's Cottonwood Canyons Scenic Backway runs 46 miles in Utah, south through Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument from Cannonville to Highway 89. The first nine miles, Cannonville to the Kodachrome Basin State Park turnoff, are paved. The rest is dirt.

That split is the whole reason the route works for a first visit. Drive the paved section, look at the surface where it changes, and turn around without losing the day if conditions are poor.

Fuel on the north end means Tropic, Cannonville or Henrieville, all on Utah 12 within a few miles of each other. The Highway 89 junction at the south end has no services, so fill up before you leave pavement.

Part two: surface and season

Surface and season are one part, not two. A road that is graded and easy in August can hold snow into May, and a wash that is dry all summer can end a trip in an afternoon.

Ask the field office for the current condition, not the brochure condition. Seasonal closure dates for mountain passes are set by the agency that maintains the road, and they move with the snowpack.

Two public sources fill the gap. USFS and BLM district offices publish seasonal closure orders, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service SNOTEL network reports snowpack by site.

That snowpack number tells you how long the dirt stays wet. Clay surfaces like the one on Cottonwood Canyons turn slick after rain, so season decides more than surface grade does.

Part three: services, and the gaps between them

Write down the distance between fuel stops, not just the stops. The gap is the number that matters.

Small towns lose services. A cafe that opened last spring may be closed by the time you arrive, and a station may have stopped selling to the public. Call ahead where a number is published, and carry what you need for the longest gap rather than the average one.

Two booking rules cut the guesswork. Recreation.gov takes reservations for many federal campgrounds, and most BLM dispersed sites stay first come, first served. Cell coverage drops out for long stretches of both routes, so a downloaded map beats a search bar.

The gaps on these two routes are long. Cannonville to the Highway 89 junction is 46 miles with nothing in between, and the Beaver Dam Wash route has no water and no services along its 18.9 miles.

Part four: stops you will actually use

The BLM's page for the Mojave Desert Joshua Tree Road Scenic Backway in Utah describes 18.9 miles through the Beaver Dam Mountains by way of Bulldog Pass.

Dispersed camping is permitted on BLM lands bordering the route. Inside the Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area, camping is limited to 39 numbered campsites with a metal fire ring, first come first served, with occupancy capped at 14 days in a 28 day period.

The same page notes the route often needs high clearance, gets only intermittent maintenance, may become impassable in heavy rain, and has no services. Numbered sites are a comfort. They are not a substitute for preparation.

Match the stop list to the gate list. The USFS Motor Vehicle Use Map and the BLM route page both mark locked gates and closed spurs, so a promising side road can be ruled out before you drive it.

Part five: the turnaround

Name the turnaround before you leave. A junction with a signed route to pavement, and enough fuel to reach it comfortably, is the whole test.

A run formed to the wrong length is a return trip with a trailer. The same is true of a day formed around the wrong turnaround.

A practical rule: set the turnaround where the tank reads half, not where the road gets interesting. On Cottonwood Canyons the natural turn is the pavement change at the Kodachrome Basin turnoff; from the south, it is the Highway 89 junction.

A worked example

The example below is the Cottonwood Canyons Scenic Backway: 46 miles from Cannonville to Highway 89, with nine paved miles at the north end.

If any line is blank, the trip is not planned yet. It is only scheduled.

Where to go next

The order these five parts fit into, from route designation through to placing the sights, is in the backroad itinerary process. To decide which shape of trip suits your week, the comparison of route types sets the two options side by side.

Common questions

Is turning around at the pavement change wasteful?

No. It is the cheapest good decision available, and the paved section usually justifies the drive on its own. The nine paved miles end at the turnoff to Kodachrome Basin State Park, which fills a half day by itself.

How do I find numbered dispersed sites?

They are described on the site or route page, and the managing field office can confirm current availability and the occupancy limit. On the Beaver Dam Wash route the BLM lists 39 of them.

Are two half days better than one full day?

On rough surfaces, often. Fatigue causes more trouble on gravel than any other single factor.

What makes a good bail out?

A junction with a signed route to pavement, and enough fuel in the tank to reach it without a detour.