No matter which road you take from Moab, it is a scenic drive. We decided to drive today through the nearby La Sal Mountains. 
The second-highest mountain range in Utah, the La Sals have a dozen peaks that soar over 12,000 feet. The name means “Salt Mountains” and came from the unusually salty springs around the base of the mountains. The range fills the southeastern horizon at our RV park here in Moab. (OK RV Park).
Driving the narrow mountain road of 65 miles or so exposes one to mountains, canyons, buttes, stretching desert floors, red rock cliffs, groves of quaking aspen,stands of ponderosa pine, and long, cool stretches of spruce and fir forests.
Two scenes stand out in our mind about the drive. The first is the oft photographed Castle Valley.
Castle Valley was probably first used as a movie setting in 1949, when John Ford shot Wagon Master, starring Ben Johnson and Harry Carey, Jr. The valley, Arches National Park and the Moab area in general soon became a popular movie site. Last year, while here, we visited the Movie Museum at Red Cliff Lodge.
A famous Chevrolet commercial was also shot here for the 1964 Chevy. (The video is mistakenly labeled Monument Valley, another favorite site for westerns, south of Moab.
The second scene that stands out in our minds will be the bear crossing the road in front of us. Unfortunately, I was not quick enough on the shutter to capture that scene.
Want to go for a drive with us? The drive begins in Moab, follows the Colorado River Canyon east for a few miles, then heads through the mountains. Click on the cartoon below:
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