UT-96/264/31 | The Energy Loop

  • Distance: 73.7 Miles (118.61 km)
  • Rating: 4-B, The highlights of the road can be highly technical, but other sections are rather tame. We give it an overall 4 rating because of the severity of the technical sections. Ratings Explained »
  • Travel: Either direction for best results
  • Start: Huntington, Utah
  • End: Junction UT-6 and UT-96
  • Fuel: Gas available in Scoffield, Utah and in Huntington, Utah
  • Along the Way: Scofield Reservoir is supposedly some of the best fishing in the state of Utah. Geroge W. Bush fishes here on occasion. Stop in the log-cabin gas station for a snack and sit out front on the log benches and watch the locals and swarms of hummingbirds.
  • Highlights: The Huntington Side (UT-31) are some of the most enjoyable sweepers in the state.When you get to the highest point, you are only a few hundred feet below 10,000 feet. While up there, look to the northwest to see a distant 12,000 foot tall Mount Nebo. After turning off UT-31 and heading towards Scofield, the road will cross an empty alpine valley with sweeping corners all the way along the valley floor, before climbing up a narrow ledge road. When you start descending again, be prepared for some wicked decreasing-radius, off-camber corners – many with debris.
  • Advisories: Because this is a coal mining area, be on the watch out for fast moving coal trucks. On the Huntington side (UT-31) excessively heavy handed law enforcement centers around the town of Huntington. So the closer you are to town, the more careful you need to be.

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Summary

Stuck in the middle of Utah’s coal mining region, this part of the state is unfamiliar to the huddled masses who only visit this region on their way to the mountain biking Mecca of Moab.

The Energy Loop is three Utah highways that connect together to make for one glorious loop. It can be ridden from either direction with equal levels of enjoyment.

Starting in the small community of Huntington, keep things mellow as this area is one of the heaviest patrolled in the state. As you ride up UT-31, you’ll be surrounded by towering clay buttes and one towering electric plant with walls of windows and massive smoke stacks. Once past the power plant the road begins twisting through a narrow slot canyon, following Huntington Creek that is supposed to be excellent for fly fishing.Completely resurfaced in 2005, the road is immaculate and throws out a seemingly endless supply of sweepers.

When the sweepers dissipate the road crests a few feet shy of 10,000. Turn off UT-31 and onto UT-264 that crosses a small, narrow alpine valley. The road condition isn’t as nice, but few people take this road and even on the busiest of weekends things will be quiet.

UT-264 will climb a steep ledge then start dropping again. Be careful as there is one really nasty decreasing radius corner that will throw unwary riders into a pretty mountain meadow 30 feet below. Ride past the yellow coal chutes and into the town of Scofield, then past Scofield Reservoir. This used to be one of the most densely vegetated areas in the state until clear-cut logging turned into the empty landscape it is now.

Road Rating System

The first part of our rating describes how technical we feel that road is. Numbers one through five with five being the most technical and one being a more mellow road with few challenging corners. The second half of the rating is a letter grade. A rating of “A” would be a road that is in great condition and a grade-F would be a crumbly, slippery or degraded surface.

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