The wonders of Wayne County

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jun 1, 2003 | by Susan Whitney Deseret News staff writer

The SkyRidge Bed and Breakfast Inn is open all year. Some rooms include a private hot tub. Rates are $115-$172. 435-425-3222.

The Muley Twist Inn is open April through October. The rates are $99 to $109, double occupancy. 800-530-1038.

Top on our list of things to do next time:

-- Finish the drive we barely started to Fish Lake. Cherlyn Taylor, of Fremont, says it is her family's favorite destination (although by the time you get to the lake, you've left Wayne County). The Taylors regularly see deer, elk, moose and even bighorn sheep along the way.

-- Stay at the Lodge at Red River Ranch in Teasdale. (It was named by Travel and Leisure as one of the 25 Best American Lodges.)

-- Pick fruit at the orchards near the Fruita campground in Capitol Reef. You can graze for free while you are there, or pay for fruit you wish to take with you. To find out what's ripe, call the fruit hotline, 435-425-3791.(There are 70 campsites in the Fruita Campground, which is open year round. Fee is $10, 8 person limit per site. No reservations. You need a permit for the free backcountry campgrounds.)

-- Try out the sturdy new cabins on Don and Shirley Torgersons' Cowboy Homestead on Highway 12. Their brochure promises that Don practices his roping every night and says he will teach his guests how to lasso something.

In May, we saw the Torgersons' driveway from the road and were entranced by it. It is nothing special, really, just a dirt drive, curving up through some trees. Yet it looked like Utah, somehow, like a dirt road you used to be able to see any place in the state. It's a sight that is becoming increasingly rare. But in Wayne County you can still find some pretty little roads.

E-mail: susan@desnews.com