State Route 261 is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

located entirely within south-central San Juan County, Utah. It runs north, from the junction of U.S. Route 163 ( north of Mexican Hat), to the junction with

State Route 95 Route 95, or Highway 95, may refer to routes in the following countries: __TOC__ International * European route E95 Australia * Great Northern Highway (Western Australia) * Fossickers Way (New South Wales) Canada * British Columbia Highway 95 ...

, just east of Natural Bridges National Monument. The highway is part of the Utah section of the Trail of the Ancients, a

National Scenic Byway A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for one or more of six "intrinsic qualities": archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic. The program was established by Co ...

. It includes steep switchbacks as it traverses the Moki Dugway.Photo and description of the Moki Dugway
from a U.S. Geological Survey website

Route description

From its southern terminus north of Mexican Hat, SR-261 commences in a westerly direction. After turning north, the route encounters the Moki Dugway, becoming an unpaved road for its ascent up onto Cedar Mesa, only to return to being paved for the rest of the route to its terminus at SR-95 just east of Natural Bridges National Monument.

History

The Moki Dugway was constructed in 1958 by Texas Zinc, a mining company, to transport uranium ore from the "Happy Jack" mine in

Fry Canyon Fry Canyon was a small community in San Juan County, Utah, San Juan County, Utah, United States, located in Fry Canyon, just south of White Canyon (San Juan County, Utah), White Canyon, west on Utah State Route 95, State Route 95 from its juncti ...

to the processing mill in Mexican Hat. The State Road Commission added SR-261 to the state highway system in 1957, following its present alignment from SR-47 (now US-163) north of Mexican Hat to SR-95. Utah Department of Transportation
State Route History
, accessed July 2007

Major intersections

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:State Route 261

261 __NOTOC__ Year 261 ( CCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gallienus and Taurus (or, less frequently, year 1014 ''A ...

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