Utah State Route 190
Encyclopedia
State Route 190 or the Big Cottonwood Canyon Scenic Byway is primarily an east and west scenic highway
Utah Scenic Byways
The legislature in the U.S. state of Utah has designated a system of Utah Scenic Byways in addition to the National Scenic Byways that are defined within the state. Some of the state designated routes overlap with the federal designations...
located in Salt Lake County, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
that begins at I-215 and runs through Big Cottonwood Canyon
Big Cottonwood Canyon
Big Cottonwood Canyon is a canyon in the Wasatch Range southeast of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The -long canyon provides hiking, biking, picnicking, rock-climbing, camping and fishing in the summer. During winter, its two ski resorts, Brighton and Solitude, are popular among skiers...
including the Brighton Loop and ends at the Salt Lake and Wasatch County
Wasatch County, Utah
Wasatch County is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. It was named for a Ute Indian word meaning mountain pass or low place in the high mountains. Its county seat and largest city is Heber City.The county is governed by a county council with an appointed county manager.Wasatch County is...
line.
Holladay and Cottonwood Heights
SR-190 begins at a single point urban interchange with I-215 (though the rightmost lane of the eastbound off-ramp actually leads to 3000 East instead of SR-190) and the road curves to the south as it climbs from the Knudsen's Corner lowlands near Big Cottonwood CreekBig Cottonwood Creek
Big Cottonwood Creek is one of the largest streams entering Salt Lake Valley from the east from the Wasatch Mountains. The creek flows through the Big Cottonwood Canyon in a westerly direction until it emerges into Salt Lake Valley about eighteen miles from its highest source...
to run first along the bottom of the south-facing mountainside leading up to Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus (Utah)
Mount Olympus in the U.S. state of Utah, is one of the most prominent and recognizable mountains viewable from practically every location in the Salt Lake Valley. Mount Olympus is not the tallest peak along the Wasatch front, but its unusual form and location make it a popular hiking destination...
to the north and then along the west-facing mountainside just north of Big Cottonwood Canyon's mouth. The border between the cities of Holladay
Holladay, Utah
Holladay is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 26,472 at the 2010 census, a significant increase from 14,561 in 2000. The city was incorporated on November 29, 1999 as Holladay-Cottonwood, and the...
and Cottonwood Heights
Cottonwood Heights, Utah
Cottonwood Heights is a city located in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States, along the east bench of the Salt Lake Valley. It lies south of the cities of Holladay and Murray, east of Midvale, and north of Sandy within the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. Following a successful...
loosely follows the route until the intersection with Wasatch Boulevard. North of Wasatch Boulevard, the route passes several office buildings, the Old Mill Golf Course, and a Utah Transit Authority
Utah Transit Authority
The Utah Transit Authority operates a public transportation system throughout the Wasatch Front of Utah, United States. It operates fixed route buses, express buses, ski buses, three light rail lines , and a commuter rail line from Salt Lake City to Pleasant View, north of Ogden. UTA is based in...
park-and-ride lot. South of Wasatch Boulevard (where SR-190 actually takes on the Wasatch Boulevard name) there is only a quarry to the east and the view to the valley below to the west; at the base of the cliff, but out of sight, is the old paper mill building with which the area is often identified.
The route continues south over a bridge spanning Big Cottonwood Creek and the planned final phase of the Big Cottonwood Creek multi-use trail at the mouth of the canyon, then intersects with SR-210, which continues south as Wasatch Boulevard, and Fort Union Boulevard, which heads west. Traffic following SR-190 east must turn left at this intersection. Beyond the intersection, park-and-ride lots used only for ski
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
buses (or otherwise for the benefit of canyon visitors) and a water treatment plant are visible to the north and residential development within Cottonwood Heights city occupies the slope to the south.
Big Cottonwood Canyon
Signs of urban development quickly disappear as the canyon walls get closer together. The route passes many trailheads and picnic areas within the canyon, as well as historic water- and mining-related infrastructure and a few areas of cabins, before passing Solitude Mountain ResortSolitude Mountain Resort
Solitude Mountain Resort is a ski resort located in the Big Cottonwood Canyon of the Wasatch Mountains, thirty miles southeast of Salt Lake City, Utah. With 64 trails, and vertical, Solitude is one of the smaller ski resorts near Salt Lake City, along with its neighbor Brighton...
and looping through the town of Brighton and its associated ski resort
Brighton Ski Resort
Brighton Ski Resort is a ski area located in Big Cottonwood Canyon, from downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. Brighton Ski Resort was the first ski resort in Utah, and one of the first in the United States. Brighton was started in 1936 when members of the Alpine Ski Club built a rope tow from wire and...
.
Guardsman Pass
After looping through Brighton, the route connects (with some backtracking) to a narrower mountain road across Guardsman Pass, terminating (with a non-state-maintained connection through to Park City) at the top of the pass as it enters Wasatch County. This part of the road is normally closed all winter.History
The first piece of present SR-190 was added to the state highway system in 1933 as part of SR-152, which followed Highland Drive, 6200 South, and Big Cottonwood Canyon Road from Salt Lake City to the Wasatch-Cache National ForestWasatch-Cache National Forest
Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest is a United States National Forest located primarily in northern Utah , with smaller parts extending into southeastern Idaho and southwestern Wyoming . The name is from the Ute word Wasatch for a low place in high mountains, and the French word Cache meaning to...
boundary in Big Cottonwood Canyon
Big Cottonwood Canyon
Big Cottonwood Canyon is a canyon in the Wasatch Range southeast of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The -long canyon provides hiking, biking, picnicking, rock-climbing, camping and fishing in the summer. During winter, its two ski resorts, Brighton and Solitude, are popular among skiers...
. In 1941, SR-152 was extended east in the forest to Brighton, and in 1945 the connection from Highland Drive to the canyon was moved south to Fort Union Boulevard. In order to provide access to the new Wasatch Mountain State Park
Wasatch Mountain State Park
Wasatch Mountain State Park is a state park of Utah, USA, located in the Heber Valley of Wasatch County near Midway.Established in 1961, Wasatch Mountain State Park is Utah's most developed state park. Named for Wasatch Mountain, the park consists of , and sits at an elevation of...
, SR-152 was extended east from Brighton in 1963, following an existing county road over Guardsman Pass to end at SR-224. Finally, in 1987, a piece in the middle of SR-152, from I-215 south and east to Wasatch Boulevard (SR-210), was removed from the state highway system. In its place was a proposed limited access road, extending 6200 South past I-215 and along Wasatch Boulevard to Big Cottonwood Canyon Road. To avoid an overlap of SR-152 on I-215, the new roadway became an extension of SR-210, and former SR-152 from Wasatch Boulevard to SR-224 became a new State Route 190. To avoid the necessity of remileposting SR-210, the new connection instead became part of SR-190 in 1988, bringing that route to its maximum extent: I-215 to SR-224. As part of a trade with Wasatch County in which the state took back what is now SR-32, and had been US-189, from US-40 south of the Jordanelle Reservoir
Jordanelle Reservoir
Jordanelle Reservoir is a reservoir in Wasatch County, Utah, United States, just north of Heber City.Jordanelle Reservoir is fed and drained primarily by the Provo River, and is impounded by the Jordanelle Dam, an Earthen dam. The construction of the dam resulted in the reroutings of U.S. Route 40...
to Francis, the east end of SR-190 was cut back to the Salt Lake-Wasatch County line in 1990.
Major intersections
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