Blanding is a quiet town of under four thousand people in the far southeast of Utah, at around 1,800 metres, and it serves as a gateway to some of the least visited and most extraordinary country in the American Southwest. It was settled by Mormon pioneers in the early twentieth century, and it still feels like a ranching and farming town, with wide streets, neat houses and mesas on the horizon. For travellers, it is a base for exploring the canyons and ruins of Cedar Mesa and the Bears Ears region.
The archaeology here is remarkable. The Ancestral Puebloan people lived across this country from about two thousand years ago until the thirteenth century, building cliff dwellings, villages and kivas in the canyons, and the evidence is everywhere. In Blanding, a state park and museum, Edge of the Cedars, preserves a village from about the eleventh century and holds one of the best collections of pottery and artefacts in the region. West of town, the twin buttes called Bears Ears rise over the mesa, and Natural Bridges National Monument, with three giant stone spans, is a short ride along Highway 95.
That highway is the Bicentennial Highway, opened in 1976 and running north and west toward the Colorado River and Lake Powell. It is a wonderful road for motorcyclists, with long views, slow bends and big skies, but it is remote, with few services. Fill the tank in Blanding before you go, as fuel and food are scarce on the way to Hanksville, and some of the places that do exist are seasonal. Carry water. The road crosses the high plateau and then drops through Comb Ridge and onto the desert, passing through red rock country where you can ride for an hour without seeing another vehicle.
Summer is hot, with thunderstorms that can trigger flash floods, and winter can bring snow and ice, so spring and autumn are the best times. At night, the sky is among the darkest in the lower forty-eight, and the stars are outstanding. Monticello, about thirty kilometres north, is the other town of the area, and it has a few more services if you are heading toward Moab. Spend a night here if you can, visit the museum and eat in a local cafe, and watch the light change on the mesas.