SR-57


This weekend, we are in EC with my family to play on Joe's Valley Reservoir so I decided to seize the opportunity and hit some of the roads down here. I had originally planned to do SR-155 with K Jo but she wasn't feeling well so we just went straight to Castle Dale. After being there for 10 minutes she said, "If you want to go on a ride somewhere, that is okay with me." I left as soon as I could and hit SR-57. Before I left, I told everyone that I was riding the Coal Haul Road. K Jo's eyes got as wide as saucers. She is always afraid I am going to get plowed over by some car. We explained to here that coal is no longer hauled from the Wilberg mine. My mom asked me if I was going all the way up. When I said yes, she said, "You are so weird." I smiled and took off.

This one is fairly short at 10.7 miles. The milepost marking starts at the Wilberg Mine property and crosses SR-29, bypasses Orangeville before ending at SR-10. The Wilberg mine is the site of the worst mine fire in Utah where 27 people died in 1984. I rode from my parent's house south to 100 N in Castle Dale, headed down Bott Lane, into Orangeville where I made two lefts which put me on the highway. From Orangeville, the road is three miles to the S terminus at SR-10.

As you ride down this road, the Hunter Power Plant is seen in the distance. With chimneys 600 feet tall, this plant can be seen from miles away.
The road continues past SR-10 onto a road on the Hunter Power Plant property where trucks still deliver coal. I turned around at SR-10 and headed back north. From here the road undulates up and down for a little over six and a half miles until it heads under SR-29. Because trucks used to haul coal to the plant on this road, it was built like a freeway with entrances and exits at SR-29 and SR-10.

About four miles from SR-10 there is a neat little waterfall cascading from one of the many small rivers in EC. From 29, this road climbs to the mine. The state only maintains the highway for the next 4 miles, but the mine is a little over half a mile past that. In 4.6 miles, the highway climbs from 6000 feet in elevation to 7200 feet, about a 5% grade. Not a difficult climb, but it is a really good workout. It took me around 45 min to climb and because I left kind of late, I headed back as soon as I could knowing that the sun was sinking fast. It took me about 10 minutes to descend the 4.6 miles to SR-29 where I took a left and headed through Orangeville and on into Castle Dale. I arrived at my parent's place just as it was getting dark. My ride time today was 1:38:46. I averaged 16 mph over 26.6 miles and topped out at 47.5 mph down the hill. A good ride.

Chris


Comments

  1. Jeremy & AndreaAugust 5, 2009 at 10:10 PM

    sweet. when we go down this weekend we're doing an 11 mile run...maybe you could bike while we're running and carry our water..

    ReplyDelete
  2. bmarkAugust 19, 2009 at 11:15 AM

    Chris I love the details that you include on your trips. I look forward to the next time I go to EC in the fall,spring or summer. I will now know where to go. It was nice talking to you at th 10 year reunion.
    See ya, Brian Marquardt

    ReplyDelete

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