Part Journey, Part Destination: Boulder, Torrey and Escalante, Utah
Photography: Grant Johnson/Escalante Canyon Outfitters, Inc.
Slick Rock. Slot Canyons. Petroglyphs. Arches. A quiet town. Sounds like the Moab area, right? Try checking your map about 175 miles west (and a tiny bit south) of Moab, instead. Look for Boulder, right there between Torrey and Escalante on Highway 12. Yes, there!
Locating One of Utah’s Best Kept Secrets
Let your GPS or folding map direct you south on I-15, then take a south and east jog through small towns until you arrive at Torrey, about 35 miles north of Boulder. With a small bookstore-espresso bar, art galleries and a unique kiva-inspired community center, Torrey is ideally situated for you to stop and stretch your legs.
Note that the Entrada Institute is located here, should you ever want to return for harmonica, art or photography classes. The award-winning Café Diablo restaurant, which offers innovative Southwestern cuisine (rattlesnake cakes, anyone?), and the Torrey Schoolhouse Bed and Breakfast with its organic breakfasts and luxury suites might entice you to drop your hiking boots in Torrey, but for now, just bookmark this town for another visit.
Driving south on Highway 12, keep your camera at the ready as you make your way through one of America’s Scenic Byways through the Dixie National Forest, descending from the forested Aquarius Plateau into the vista of sagebrush and pinion pine that dots the landscape of one of the most remote towns in the United States: Boulder, Utah.
Why You Want to Go There
How about canyoneering, horseback riding in the Grand Staircase Escalante Forest, or fly-fishing in the Boulder Mountain area’s lakes and streams? The Boulder Outdoor Survival School, self-described as a step beyond Outward Bound, offers primitive survival-skill courses. And the good folks at Escalante Canyon Outfitters describe their program best: “On guided day hikes we might swim in a spring-fed canyon, discuss the forces that shaped this land, explore the rock art and dwellings of prehistoric Anasazi Indians, enjoy a Penstemon or Monkey Flower in bloom, or hear the call of a Peregrine falcon.”
Grabbing Some Grub and Bedding Down For the Night
Although Boulder, with a population of about 200 good-hearted people, has a number of lodging options, by far the most popular destination is the Boulder Mountain Lodge, a nationally recognized eco-lodge, located on a 15-acre lake and bird sanctuary. The lodge boasts spacious, comfortable rooms opening onto rustic fields, a hot tub overlooking the sanctuary, and an open door invitation to travelers with dogs (in a limited number of rooms, so be sure to let them know if your canine companions are traveling with you).
The uninitiated visitor to this unpretentious town will be delighted in discovering southern Utah’s best restaurant on the Boulder Mountain Lodge premises, Hell’s Backbone Grill. Owners Blake Spalding and Jen Castle (you might have seen them at last summer’s Park Silly Sunday Market) serve up organic, locally produced, regionally and seasonally appropriate cuisine, growing many of their own vegetables on their six-acre farm. They also rely on local ranchers for their lamb and beef. Even their wines are organic. Hell’s Backbone Grill has earned high Zagat ratings and is one of Fodor’s Choice recipients, along with garnering numerous additional national awards and media coverage. Expect food choices such as spicy “Cowgal Chipotle Meatloaf,” jalapeño and avocado soup, cornmeal-molasses and pecan skillet trout, sweet potato cakes, “Moqui Mac” (described as a “Very Grownup Macaroni and Cheese,”) and even “Tumbleweed Quesadillas.” And don’t walk out the door without diving into at least one of their delectable desserts, like the lemon chiffon cake or Navajo-style peach crisp.
Just three miles south of town is the turnoff to Boulder Mountain Ranch, where guests can stay in the farmhouse-style lodge or rent one of three rustic cabins on this working cattle ranch. Generous boarding house-style country breakfasts are served in the lodge kitchen, with hosts Gary and Sheri Catmull dishing up tales of local folklore while flipping flapjacks. Many guests stay at this ranch because of the full-service multi-day horse pack trips offered through some of the most rugged and wild country in the region. Don’t expect to find TVs, Internet connections or cell phone service, but the spectacular landscape more than makes up for the unwired conditions. Friendly dogs are welcome.
For those who prefer to sleep under the stars and howl with the coyotes, the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service can provide campground information.
Surprisingly, Hills and Hollows Gas and Mini-Market is the spot to pick up a freshly-baked vegetarian pizza, Mama Cyta’s homemade cookies and hummus, or juices and trail mix, while the Burr Trail Outpost, “your oasis at the end of the trail” serves up newly-made espresso and baked goods, and serves as the town’s wi-fi hotspot and local art gallery.
With all that’s going on in this town, Boulder might not be a secret for long. Oh, never mind. Forget I said anything. Or at least, keep the secret.
Sedona Callahan has visited Boulder twice, hasn’t yet hiked enough of the Burr Canyon trails, and back home in Park City, serves up recipes from Hell’s Backbone Grill cookbook.
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