Highway 191 in Dec
 

We plan to drive from Canyonlands NP to Petrified Forest NP in last Dec. The shortest way is 5h via 191. However, part of it appears to be one lane road (single thin line in the map). One alternative will be 491, which appears be to wider and go through a few bigger town. It will take 1h longer.

Any advice on which way I should go?

Thanks!

Why dont you drive to from Canyonlands to Moab instead of Petrified forest ? Not so much to see there.Moab is a great centre for various sites.Paul

We will stay in Moab for 2-3 days, which include visit to Canyonlands. The plan is to head south to PF. The question is the road condition of 191 and whether I should take the extra hour to go via 491.

Thanks!

The answer is a lot will depend on the weather conditions at the time which you won't know about for certain until you get there.

Highway 191 south of Moab is a nice paved 2 lane highway, at least as far as Blanding where we turned off to go to Natural Bridges Nat'l Park. I suspect the same would be true for the rest of it.

The map shows 191 is quite different past 160.

Not sure what map you're looking at. I have several maps of Utah/Arizona, and 191 looks exactly the same from Moab to I-40 in AZ. Looking at my more detailed AZ Atlas & Gazetteer, again there is no change south of 160. It's a 2-lane highway.

What exactly is your concern regarding "road conditions"? Weather related, or structural (i.e. 1 lane vs. 2, and/or paved vs. non-paved)?

I am using Microsoft Streets & Maps. 191 south of 160 is a thinner line. Same as its online service at

http://mapblast.com/(vh5lze45gr0naw5...+United+States

Maybe that's probably a mistake by Microsoft?

I now got a copy of AAA map. The lower part of 191 is black single line (through) where as the upper portion is red single line (principal).

Can anyone confirm the lower 191 south of 160 is 2-lane highway?

Thanks!

I've done that drive from Moab to Petrified Forest on 191 and I can confirm for you that yes, it is a 2 lane road the entire way. For most of the trip it was straight and flat and very open on both sides of the road. Meaning, it wasn't a difficult drive through mountains with sharp drop offs or anything like that.

It was undivided highway, one lane for each direction most of time. The road condition was good though

As far as the road goes, Hwy 191 is a good road from Hwy 160 down to I-40. As Dukey mentioned, it might come down to a question of road conditions. I've never driven these roads in December, but if the roads are clear, then Hwy 191 is going to be your fastest and most scenic route. Take some time to go check out Canyon de Chelly on your drive down.

Utahtea