San Juan County Roads: Arteries to Natural Resources and Survival Jay M. Haymond
Since the initial settlement of San Juan County in 1880, roads have been the means to survival in a land that gives up its substance grudgingly. As with other government functions carried on in a vast area by a small number of people, road construction and maintenance has been a struggle. Most San Juan roads have been built because of the need for access to the county's natural resources. These resources have not only been the reason for much road construction but have also been the source of funds to pay for maintenance. Federal funds have also been important in the development and maintenance of roads in the county. Today few, if any, roads would be built without federal funding. After the construction of the Hole-in-the-Rock road from Escalante to Bluff in 1880, San Juan pioneers built roads to the mountains. These one-way or "dead end" roads were built first to reach the much-needed timber, then later as part of the development of water resources in the mountains. 1 Of equal concern was the early establishment of roads connecting San Juan communities with other parts of Utah and nearby Colorado. In 1881 the Hole-in-the-Rock was abandoned in favor of a new route to Escalante by way of Hall's Crossing on the Colorado River. However, the Hall's Crossing road was a primitive trail, not much better than the original Hole-in-the-Rock route. Roads were also built northwest from Bluff to Cane Springs, Spanish Valley, and the community of 227
