Here's a rundown of the sights and attractions along the way, starting at the byway's northern end near the town of Whitewater, and counting backwards from mile 152. . .

152 - East Creek Entrance
You are at the northern end of the Unaweep/Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway. Highway 141 south first enters the canyon of East Creek, a small stream that drains the eastern part of Unaweep Canyon. As you proceed on to Gateway through the Canyon, you will be traveling across the northern end of the Uncompahgre Plateau. The Plateau is 25 to 30 miles wide and stretches nearly 100 miles south to the San Juan Mountains.

Highway 141 into Unaweep Canyon was once known as"Uranium Road" as it was the only access between the mines in the Gateway area and the processing mill in Grand junction.

152.7 - Bridge Over East Creek
The Tabeguache Mountain Bike Trail crosses Highway 141 at the first bridge over East Creek. The trail runs 142 miles from Montrose to Grand junction.

146.0 - Grand Valley Overlook
From this viewpoint the Grand Valley of the Colorado River can be seen bordered on the north by the Book Cliffs. Mt. Garfield (elevation 6,765 ft.) is a prominent point at the eastern end of the Book Cliffs. Traces of the old stagecoach and wagon road to Gateway are visible on the north side of East Creek.

This is the crest of Nine-Mile Hill, a legendary wagon route once used for hauling supplies and radium ore from Gateway to Whitewater during the radium boom period in the early 1900s. At that time the hill was a grueling 18% grade and teamsters often exhausted their stock while pulling loaded wagons over the trail. It also proved too steep for early motor-powered vehicles and passengers frequently had to climb the hill on foot.

145.1 - Cactus Park
Cactus Park was the ancestral channel of the Gunnison River 1 to 5 million years ago during the formation of Unaweep Canyon. Approximately one half mile to the south of the mileage post is the Gunnison Gravels Natural Research Area. This area protects unique gravel deposits which prove that the Gunnison River flowed here during prehistoric times. The Cactus Park road to the east provides access to BLM lands on the Uncompahgre Plateau for hunting, fishing, hiking, camping and wildlife viewing.

143.0 - Beginnings of Unaweep Canyon
Outcrops of Precambrian metamorphic rock can be seen along the highway here. The Precambrian rocks in Unaweep Canyon are some of the oldest in Colorado, dated at 1.4 to 1.7 billion years old. Within the next several miles, Unaweep Canyon has cut deeper and deeper into these ancient rocks to form stunning cliffs over 1,200 feet high.

142.1 - Nancy Hanks Gulch Bridge
The now-vanished communities of Copper City and Pearl City were founded in this area during the copper boom of 1897-1912. While Copper City once sported a small smelter and wooden structures for businesses, schools and some homes, Pearl City remained a community of tents for 17 years. The Pearl City Hotel, which offered the finest accommodations in town, consisted of three tents joined together.

139.8 - Divide Road Turnoff
An excellent overlook of Unaweep Canyon can be reached by following the Divide Road for three miles south to the site of the old Taylor Granite Quarry which operated briefly in 1928. North of the quarry, on the opposite side of the canyon is a large man-made opening. Here in the early 1940s the Army Corps of Engineers conducted experiments on the effect of explosives on granite.

The Divide Road continues to the south where it climbs to the top of Uncompahgre Plateau, a forested area abundant in wildlife. Divide Road travels over 100 miles to its southern end at Dallas Divide, near Ridgway. Unimproved roads off of Divide Road lead to the cities of Delta, Montrose, Nucla and Norwood and provide access to nearly 1,000 square miles of Uncompahgre National Forest and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public lands.

134.3 - Unaweep Divide (elevation 7,048 ft.)
The Ute Indian name "Un-a-weep," which translated means "canyon with two mouths" refers to the fact that from this point one mouth (East Creek) drains eastward to the Gunnison River and the other mouth (West Creek) drains westward to the Dolores River.

133.0 - Wildcat Trail
This is a planned Forest Service interpretive area and rest stop.

131.4 - Fall Creek Waterfall
Fall Creek Waterfall on the north side of Highway 141 is one of several waterfalls in Unaweep Canyon. The waterfall is on private land with no public access.

129.6 - Driggs Mansion
Seen here are the remains of Driggs Mansion, a structure which was built by a wealthy New Yorker between from 1914 to 1918. Local stone masons cut sandstone from nearby Mayflower Canyon for the building's walls. The mansion is on private land. Thimble Rock rises to the south behind the Driggs Mansion.

119.8 - Unaweep Seep
Locally known as "Swamp Hill," the Unaweep Seep is a unique wet meadow area which is best known as one of only a few habitats of the rare Nokomis Fritillary butterfly. A little over half of the 55 acre seep area has been designated by the BLM as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), and is managed by the BLM to protect this unique biological area.

Towering 3,000 feet above Unaweep Seep to the north is Camel Point. Camel Point is not named for its resemblance to a camel, but rather after an outlaw by that name who carried the body of one of his victims to the top of the rock, throwing it off the edge in an attempt to hide his crime. He was later captured and punished.

117.0 - West Creek Picnic Area
This BLM picnic site is located in the West Creek Narrows. This deep narrow gorge cuts into ancient Precambrian rock of the Uncompahgre Plateau. The stream and associated habitat provide sanctuary for numerous wildlife species. An interpretive display featuring riparian habitat maybe viewed at this area.

115.6 - Uncompahgre Fault
Note the dramatic change in the scenery. Here the Uncompahgre Fault brings the Precambrian rocks on the east in contact with the red rocks of the Paradox Basin. The Fault has resulted in a vertical displacement of over 8,000 feet. To the west is a good view of the La Sal Mountains in Utah.

115.2 - Niche Road
This steep, 4-wheel drive road to the south provides access to the BLM and National Forest lands on the Uncompahgre and to Divide Road.

111.4 - Gateway
This community is the "gateway" to the spectacular slickrock country of the Dolores River Canyon. The town and its surrounding maze of canyons and mesas are rich in the culture of the ancient Indians who once inhabited the area, as well as in the history of the Old West and the uranium/ vanadium mining, boom of the 1940s and 50s. The Gateway Community Park has a shaded picnic area, drinking water and toilet facilities. An interpretive display features additional information on the history of the area.

The spectacular Palisade formation lies to the north of Gateway. The monolith is part of the 14,000 acre BLM Palisade Outstanding Natural Area (ONA). At mile marker 110.6 you can travel towards Castle Valley and Moab, Utah on John Brown Canyon Road.

101.5 - Salt Creek/Sinbad Valley
The road to the west follows Salt Creek to Sinbad Valley. It is thought that the sparkling-, salt deposits on the floor of the valley here reminded early miners of the fabulous Valley of Diamonds that Sinbad the Sailor encountered in the book "The Thousand and One Nights."

Sewemup Mesa, a BLM Wilderness Study Area rises to the west between this mile marker and the next. The isolated mesa is named for the cattle rustlers who brought stolen cattle here, cut off their brands, sewed up the wounds with cowhide and then re-branded them with their own brands. Cattle rustling and horse thieving have been notorious activities in this remote area of the state even in recent times.

88.6 - Roc Creek Canyon
Roc Creek to the west was named by the early miners for the giant bird that carried Sinbad the Sailor to the Valley of Diamonds. Carnotite, a soft yellow mineral containing radium, uranium and vanadium, was discovered at the head of Roc Creek in 1881.

85.6 - Bridge Over Mesa Creek
The gravel deposits on the east side of the road are the Lone Tree Placers. Water from the San Miguel River was delivered by the Hanging Flume to operate hydraulic mining equipment at this site from 1891-1893. Mining was discontinued because the gold at the site proved too fine to be profitably recovered.

83.5 - Coke Oven
On the west side of the road is a dome-shaped coke oven built in the 1880s. Coal was heated in the oven to produce coke, a combustible material that burns practically smoke-free. It is believed that coke from this oven was used by blacksmiths during the construction of the Hanging Flume.

81.6 - Hanging Flume Turnout
Clinging to the massive Wingate Sandstone cliffs some 100-150 feet above the Dolores River Canyon, this wooden flume was built in 1889-1890. The seven-mile flume and associated ditches delivered 80 million gallons of water per day from the San Miguel River to operate mining equipment at the Lone Tree Placer site. Even though the site was only 40 feet above the Dolores River, the technology was not yet available to pump the water directly from the river at the necessary volume and pressure to wash the gold from the gravel.

81.4 - San. Miguel-Dolores Confluence
To the west is the confluence of the San Miguel and Dolores rivers. Some historians believe that the Spanish explorer Father Escalante first named the river "El Rio de Nuestra Senora de Dolores" or "The River of Our Lady of Sorrows."

77.4 - Bridge Over Atkinson Creek
Just west of the bridge a graveled road to the south crosses the San Miguel River at the "Black Bridge" and goes to Paradox and Bedrock, Colorado via the scenic canyons of the San Miguel and Dolores rivers. Paradox is a farming and ranching community. It was named because the Dolores River runs north and south through the valley rather than the usual east and west, a Paradox that occurs in only one other valley in the world.

75.7 - Uravan
Uravan, named for the uranium and vanadium processed from carnotite ore, was established in 1936 as a company town and mill site for U.S. Vanadium Corporation, a subsidiary of Union Carbon and Carbide Corporation. From the 1930s to the mid '40s the mill produced vanadium used to harden steel in war armaments. Uranium was recovered from the mill tailings during the early 1940s and was used in the first atomic bombs. Production of uranium and vanadium continued until 1984 when the mill closed. Today only the mill and some of the community buildings remain as evidence of a once thriving community. The remainder of the buildings have been removed and the area's current owner, Umetco Minerals Corporation, is undertaking environmental reclamation.

62.1 - Dominguez and Escalante Expedition Historic Marker
The historic marker commemorates the 1776 expedition of Franciscan friars, Fathers Francisco Dominguez and Silvestre Escalante, who explored much of southwest Colorado while searching for a route from Santa Fe , New Mexico to the missions in California, Hwy. 90 travels to Bedrock and Paradox, Colorado and into Utah.

61.0 - Naturita/Nucla
Naturita was established in 1882 and was named by "Grandma" Blake, a founding resident, because of its beautiful setting beside the river. It was developed primarily as a business district for nearby ranching and 'mining interests. A local museum contains many interesting exhibits on the history of the area.

Approximately 5 miles north of Naturita on Hwy. 97 is the town of Nucla, home of the West's first experiment in communal living. The town was founded in 1896 by the Colorado Cooperative Company as an agricultural community where "equality and service rather than greed and competition were the basis of conduct." The name was chosen because the colonists believed their town would be the "nucleus"' of a socialistic form of government which would spread across the nation. They erected a sawmill for lumber to build an irrigation flume. Extra lumber was made into fruit boxes which were traded in the Montrose area for hay and groceries. As irrigation opened more land to farming, colonists became property owners and eventually only the ditch system was cooperatively owned.

56.8 - Junction of Highways 141 and 145
The Unaweep Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway travels east along Hwy. 145 and north along Hwy. 141. Highway 141 to the west goes on to Slick Rock and Dove Creek, Colorado. Note change in highway mile marker numbers.

110 - Redvale
This town was established around 1910 by an orchard company. The company planted orchards and advertised and sold them to settlers. The 7,000 foot elevation proved too high for fruit production and the land was turned over to general farming.

101 - Norwood
Driving toward Norwood, majestic mountain panoramas suddenly come into view. Norwood is a small ranching community set atop Wright's Mesa and is a western paradise for outdoor recreation. Hunting, fishing, hiking, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling opportunities are near Norwood's service area.

Norwood is proud of its ranching tradition but is determinedly tuning up for the 21st century. The community includes a commercial elk ranching venture and a new Events and Equestrian Center.

Look south to Lone Cone, a 12,000 foot monarch which is the Rocky Mountains' most westerly peak. This forested mountain offers easy access to quiet lakes and streams, shimmering aspen groves, towering spruce stands, spectacular wild flowers and varied wildlife.

Byway names and colorful history remind us that this was Ute country a little more than 100 years ago.

90 - San Miguel River Nature Conservancy Preserve
This rugged, remote canyon with its steep, densely vegetated hillsides is home to an extremely diverse assemblage of plant and animal species. It represents one of the last remaining, undisturbed, low to mid-elevation riparian areas of Colorado.

This habitat along the San Miguel River is home to the raccoon, longtail weasel, American dipper, belted kingfisher, bald eagle and numerous songbirds. Land along the river was purchased by the Nature Conservancy in order to protect this unique area. The public lands in the canyon are managed by the BLM as the San Miguel River Area of Critical Environmental Concern. Please follow the posted regulations when visiting the Preserve.

87.1 - Saltado Creek Area
The gravels of the San Miguel River Valley were the site of many gold placer operations in the past. Watch for gravel piles, sections of old wooden sluices and other evidence of past placer operations along the river corridor.

Placerville
The town of Placerville, located less than a mile down Highway 145, was founded in 1877 as a placer goldmining town. When the gold played out, the town became the shipping center for the San Miguel Basin. The Placerville stock yard was a major cattle shipping point for as long as the Rio Grande Southern Railroad operated. At one time it was the largest in the entire state. In 1987, the town built a new post office. The old one, built in 1933, was donated to the Museum of Western Colorado in Grand Junction where it is on exhibit in its entirety.

The junction of Colorado Highway 62 and Highway 145 near Placerville marks the southern end of the Unaweep/ Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway and the beginning of the San Juan Skyway. The San Juan Skyway is a 236-mile loop along state highways through the majestic San Juan Mountains. It includes many of the picturesque and historic mining towns of the area such as Telluride, Silverton and Durango. The Skyway also takes you to the scenic mesas and canyons containing prehistoric Indian ruins near the towns of Cortez and Dolores.

As you travel this part of the Byway you have excellent views of several mountains and ranges. To the southeast is the Last Dollar Range of the San Juan Mountains. Directly south are the Sunshine Mountains (12,960 ft); Mount Wilson group (highest peak 14,246 ft.); Little Cone (11,981 ft.); Dolores Peaks (highest peak 12,595 ft.). To the far west is Lone Cone, an extinct volcano (12,613 ft.). The La Sal Mountains of Utah are visible on the skyline to the northwest. The highest peak in the group is Mt. Peale at 12,721 feet.

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