Although one might look at Utah’s northwestern region and see nothing but vast, isolated desert, a sharp observer would see a historical playground distinguished by the Transcontinental Backcountry Byway. Traversing the flat lands of the Great Salt Lake Desert, the byway stretches between the area just west of Golden Spike National Historic Site and the Utah-Nevada border, following the deserted Central Pacific Railroad grade lain in 1903.
Navigating the Byway:
To travel this back country byway, the only developed road in the area, begin on the west side of the Golden Spike National Historic Site, located 32 miles west of Brigham City. From there, travel on a dirt road across the desert following the abandoned Central Pacific Railroad grade through the old town sites of Kelton, Terrace, and Watercress to Lucin and the Utah/Nevada border, where the byway ends.