Boulder: Mountain Landscapes, Culture, and Historic Trails

Boulder lies at the foot of Boulder Mountain and combines impressive scenery with an unusual cultural history. The town is located within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. If you are looking for a vacation rental for your trip, the main consideration is therefore what you want to focus on: mountain landscapes, historic sites, hiking routes, or a challenging bike ride.

Boulder Mountain and Death Hollow

Boulder Mountain shapes the surrounding area not only through its location. It is home to more than 80 lakes and ponds. Many of them can be reached via well-maintained gravel and dirt roads or by short paths from the road. This makes it possible to explore the landscape in different ways without planning every outing according to the same pattern.

A different landscape awaits you in Death Hollow. Along a year-round stream, you will find waterfalls, deep pools, and rock alcoves. The Boulder Mail Trail passes through this area for part of its route. Those interested in historic trails and natural formations can combine these two aspects when planning their trip.

Archaeology at the Coombs Site

At the Coombs Site, recovered artifacts and the architecture reflect a blending of Ancestral Puebloan and Fremont features. The site is located near the presumed boundary between these cultures. Elements from other branches of the Ancestral Puebloans have also been identified there, indicating an extensive trade network.

The scale of the site makes it particularly illustrative: The Coombs Site contains almost 100 structures and rooms in which up to 200 people are thought to have lived. Behind the Anasazi State Park Museum, a short path with information panels leads to a self-guided tour and continues past ruin walls and other structures. For families with different interests, this can be a way to combine scenery and history in a single day of travel.

Historic Trails and Sporting Stages

The Boulder Mail Trail was established in 1902 as a mail route traveled by pack horses and connected Boulder Town with Escalante. Its trailhead is located 3.2 miles southwest of the intersection of UT 12 and Burr Trail Road in Boulder. This information helps you plan the trail as a focus of its own, without equating it with the area's road or cycling routes.

Scenic Byway 12 also offers a clearly defined challenge for cyclists. The route from Escalante to Boulder is 27 miles one way and has an approximate elevation gain of 4,000 feet. After the summit, a two-mile descent leads to Boulder. Between Escalante and Boulder, there are no services on this cycling route other than Kiva Koffeehouse. If you plan such a stage, this circumstance should be taken into account when choosing your daily itinerary and starting point.

Getting There and Choosing Where to Stay

The history of transportation explains how Boulder developed into an accessible destination: The completion of a year-round road made automobile travel from the south and west possible in 1939. The northern section of Highway 12 over Boulder Mountain was paved in 1985. When looking for a vacation rental, Boulder is a particularly natural choice if you want to include the town itself, Boulder Mountain, and the cultural and natural experiences described above in your travel plans.

More Destinations for Orientation

If you would also like to look at other places in the regional search area, you can compare Ticaboo, Panguitch, Hatch, Escalante, Cannonville, Henrieville, Tropic, and Bryce Canyon.

For the higher-level travel overview: Garfield.