Official Naming of Roads Near Potash Photo Gallery by Dave Beedon at pbase.com

Official Naming of Roads Near Potash

(PHOTOS APPEAR BELOW THE LENGTHY TEXT)

This gallery describes the roads of a popular recreational driving route near Moab, Utah and
documents their official names. It consists of Potash Road and the roads extending south
and west from it all the way to Canyonlands National Park. The route beyond Potash Road
is most often called "Shafer Trail," but that name is unofficial and lacks a standard definition.

Because there is no official definition of "Shafer Trail," confusion arises about its meaning.
Adding to the problem is the use of other names for the same road or parts of it. This
affects names appearing in books, brochures, magazines, and travel-oriented websites.
On-line providers of aerial imagery, when including road names, reflect this confusion.
The errors of naming from these providers is discussed at the end of this text.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ROUTE (EAST TO WEST):
The route starts a few miles north of Moab, at the junction of U.S. Highway 191 and
Utah Highway 279 (official name: SR-279). From there it follows the Colorado River
downstream to Potash---site of a potash mine and a boat ramp. The pavement ends at the
boat ramp. The remainder of the route is a rough dirt road that passes the blue evaporation
ponds of the potash mine, goes under Dead Horse Point, enters Canyonlands National
Park, while ascending Shafer Canyon, intersects with the White Rim Trail, passes through
a set of scary switchbacks known as the "Shafer Switchbacks," and terminates where it
meets the paved road on Big Flat that provides access to the Island in the Sky Visitors' Center.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ROUTE (EAST TO WEST) :
I figured that knowing the official names of the roads would help me refer to those roads
accurately. My quest to determine the official names of the roads has revealed the following:

1. Utah Highway 279 (official name: SR-279) starts at US 191 and terminates at
Potash. The exact point of termination is about 400 feet (123m) north of the
entrance to the potash mine and is marked by an insignificant sign on the river
side of the road that says "Route 1694." The Utah Department of Transportation
considers SR-279 and Potash Road to be one and the same.
[Source: e-mail correspondence dated May 1, 2006, from Myron W. Lee (Public Involvement
Coordinator, Utah Department of Transportation, Region Four) to David Beedon.]

2. From the sign mentioned in item 1., the next 1.5 miles of the route is known
officially as "Federal Route 1694." This is a Grand County road that is maintained
by that county. The "federal route" designation comes from the fact that federal
money helps pay for maintaining the road. Federal routes (at least in Utah) are
identified by blue-and-orange signs having a pentagon, the word "Route," and
route number. Reference numbers below the route sign are distance indicators.
[Source: e-mail correspondence dated June 5, 2007, from Marva
Braun (Utah Department of Transportation, Roadway Records Coordinator) to David Beedon.]

3. Route 1694 ends next to the parking lot of the Potash boat ramp. Another "federal
route" sign is posted there, on the river side of the road. The pavement ends here;
the remainder of the route is a rough dirt road. At this point the official name of
the route becomes unknown by this author and stays unknown for 0.6 miles, where
it meets the boundary between Grand and San Juan counties.
[Source: author's personal experience.]

4. At the county line, the road's official name becomes San Juan County Road 142, which
I abbreviate as "SJC 142." There the road is signed with a thin fiberglass post with a
sticker containing a simple outline of the shape of the county and the number "142."
The name "San Juan County Road 142" applies all the way to the road junction atop
Big Flat. (That junction is 900 feet southwest of the Island in the Sky entrance
station and one mile northeast of the visitors's center.) The Google Earth roads layer
used to label parts of SJC 142 as "South Fork Road," but San Juan County regards
"South Fork Road" as a casual name and does not use it.
[Source: e-mail correspondence dated May 30, 2007, from Walter Bird
(Deputy County Attorney, San Juan County) to David Beedon.]

5. The original Shafer Trail---a path for moving cattle---was most likely the relatively
short route from Big Flat (the mesa) down through the Shafer Switchbacks to the White
Rim, site of the White Rim Trail (also called "White Rim Road"). In terms of present-day
landmarks this would be the westernmost portion of SJC 142, running as far east as the
road junction at the start of the White Rim Trail, site of a vault toilet.
[Source: personal conversation on 9/24/07 with Ray Tibbetts, a long-time resident
of Moab whose family was involved with the cattle business when he was a child.]

Although there is no standard definition for "Shafer Trail," I use that name
here because of its recognition value. Galleries named after San Juan County
Road 142 would have much less meaning for the general public.

NAMING ERRORS IN ON-LINE IMAGERY:
In August 2012, popular on-line aerial imagery providers had numerous errors concerning
the naming of roads between Potash and Canyonlands National Park. The errors do not
apply solely to San Juan County Road 142 (which I abbreviate as "SJC 142").

However, those errors are fewer than they were at the end of 2007, when I first recorded them.

The roads layer of Google Earth has these errors (listed from east to west):
1. South of the Potash boat ramp, SJC 142 is mis-labeled "Potash Road."
2. Southwest of the Potash boat ramp, a private road of the mine is mis-labeled "Co Rd 142."
3. Among the northern evaporation ponds of the potash mine, private r
roads are mis-labeled "Potash Road" and "Co Rd 142."
4. Along the southwestern side of the northern evaporation ponds, the public
road is absent (it is incorrectly routed through the evaporation ponds).
5. The White Rim Trail---near its junction with SJC 142---is mis-labeled
"S Fork Spu," which probably stands for "South Fork Spur" (also incorrect).
6. The paved road north of the Island in the Sky entrance station is mis-labeled "Co Rd 142."

The "Google hybrid" view in WikiMapia has these errors (listed from east to west):
1. South of the Potash boat ramp, SJC 142 is mis-labeled "Potash Road."
2. Southwest of the Potash boat ramp, a private road of the mine
is mis-labeled "Co Rd 142" and "Shafer Canyon Road."
3. Among the northern evaporation ponds of the potash mine, private roads
are labeled "Shafer Canyon Road," "Potash Road," and "Co Rd 142."
4. Along the southwestern side of the northern evaporation ponds, the public
road is absent (it is incorrectly routed through the evaporation ponds).
5. From the northern evaporation ponds to the paved road on Big Flat, SJC 142 is mis-labeled
"Shafer Canyon Road" I have not seen "Shafer Canyon Road" used anywhere else.
6. The White Rim Trail---near its junction with SJC 142---is mis-labeled
"S Fork Spu," which probably stands for "South Fork Spur" (also incorrect).
7. The paved road north of the Island in the Sky entrance station
is mis-labeled "Co Rd 142" and "Shafer Canyon Road."

The Bing Maps imagery has these errors (listed from east to west):
1. The entire length of SJC 142 is mis-labeled "Shafer Basin,"
a name I have seen used nowhere else.
2. Among the northern evaporation ponds of the potash mine,
private roads are labeled "S Fork Rd" and "Potash Road."
3. The White Rim Trail---near its junction with SJC 142---is mis-labeled "S Fork
Spur Rd," which probably stands for "South Fork Spur Road" (also incorrect).
.

Potash Road ends and Federal Route 1694 begins

Federal Route 1694 ends and Potash Road begins

Federal Route 1694 ends

San Juan County Route 142 ends and Federal Route 1694 begins

comment |

Dave Beedon		17-May-2007 07:07
John, my apparent amusement is a clever cover for a covert , clandestine, and secret operation that will [DELETED] to Clear Lake, Texas.

jCross		17-May-2007 02:41
Dave, I think you are way to easily amused.

Jason Anderson		16-May-2007 10:51
Be careful, Dave, with such obvious discrepancies you can bet unnamed shadowy organizations are behind this "route of smoke and mirrors." And unnamed shadowy organizations are the shadowiest because they don't even have names. I'll be following your quest with interest and using a proxy server.

click on thumbnails for full image

Type your message and click Add Comment

It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest. Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help	private comment

Type your message and click Add Comment

It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest. Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help	private comment