We recently completed a round trip between Arizona and Colorado and had the opportunity to drive along Utah SR-128, a designated Scenic Highway. I was reminded of our first trip down this road and crossing the Dewey Bridge.

That was in November 1983 and we were on our way from Denver, Colorado to the Grand Canyon. I remember stopping and getting out of the car in amazement and wondering if the bridge was safe. Well, there was no turning back at this point so across the bridge we went. The first photo was taken just before we drove across. As I recall, the highway had some unpaved segments at that time.

There was a lot of snow on that trip and the buttes and mesas were gorgeous.

A later visit was in April 1988. The new bridge was in place and the Dewey Bridge was now closed to vehicles but you were welcome to walk across it. We fixed a dinner in the Fisher Towers picnic area (there was no campground at that time) and were treated to this colorful sunset on the towers.

Much has changed since then. The highway has more traffic. The picnic area was replaced by a campground and it is busy. There are additional campgrounds farther downstream where once there were only faint pullouts along the side of the river.

In 2008, the Dewey Bridge burned and it was the end of an era. Jim Stiles wrote about it in High Country News.

All photos were shot on Kodachrome 64 film. Yeah, those were the days!