Off-Roading in Central Utah: Exploring the OHV Trails of the Carbon Corridor

How the Carbon Corridor Became an Adventure Destination

This part of Utah was first settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1800s, but it grew dramatically in the late 1870s with the establishment of coal mines. The demand for miners brought immigrants from around the world to Carbon County. Even today, Carbon County has a much more ethnically and religiously diverse population than the rest of the state. 

As the emphasis on coal mining diminished, more people began to take advantage of the region’s natural resources for recreation. They were drawn to the wide variety of terrain to explore, including lush mountain forests, lakes, rivers, desert plateaus, and perhaps the area’s signature geographic feature, the San Rafael Swell. 

The Swell, as it’s known locally, is a 2,000-square mile region that features a dome-shaped structure called an anticline, which was pushed up from the surface of the earth 40 to 60 million years ago. Over the ages, flash floods and wind have caused erosion in the sandstone, shale and limestone to create incredible canyons, valleys, gorges and mesas. While you’ll find vistas that hold their own against just about any other part of the state, the area has remained mostly undeveloped — to the benefit of those who are willing to put in the effort to see it. 

Going Back in Time

The Carbon Corridor offers visitors a chance to see remnants of long-ago creatures, ancient cultures and the region’s earliest settlers in a truly unique way. This part of Utah is known for its dinosaur bones, and while you probably won’t see any on the trail, you can learn more about them at the Prehistoric Museum in Price. In addition to the skeletal remains of dinosaurs found in the area (including the Utahraptor, Allosaurus and Peloroplites), you can also find exhibits on the first people to make this area home. (It’s also where you can pick up free trail maps of the region). To get a better understanding of where these bones came from, take a trip to the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, (now known as Jurassic National Monument) located about 30 miles south of Price, which features the densest concentration of Jurassic bones in the world. 

Back on the ATV trails, you can go on your own archeological trip, this time for the remains of the first people to live in this area. You can spend time finding rock artwork, petroglyphs and sculptures carved by ancient cultures throughout the Swell and the surrounding region. You can go ahead and try to interpret the pictures — just keep your hands to yourself. You’ll also find remnants from the early mining culture and Mormon settlers. 

But perhaps the most exciting connection to earlier times are the animals that still roam the land. Keep your eyes out for antelopes, bighorn sheep, coyotes and raptors, which all make the region home.

“You’re definitely going to see the wild burros when you’re there,” Watson Kaneko says. “We sometimes see wild horses. It’s a great part of the trip.”