The Moki Dugway

The Moki  Dugway is a part of Utah Highway 261. This is a fantastic drive is a 1100 foot climb up the side of Cedar Mesa. The Moki Dugway was built in the 1950s by Texas Zinc Minerals to transport zinc ore from the Happy Jack Mine on the mountain to a mill near Mexican Hat. Highway 261 is a paved road from the south or north until it meets the Moki Dugway were it turns in to a graded gravel road. The dugway is cut into the side of the cliff bands in a series of tight switch backs with a grade of near 10%. Needless to say it is not recommended for large trucks or RVs.

 I first encountered this road back in 1980 when I was a river guide. We had just completed a week long trip on the San Juan River and were on our way back to Durango. Four of us were stuffed into in an old crew cab pickup truck loaded with rafting gear. When we started down all I thought was “I hope this truck has good brakes”.  Needless to say I have taken this route many times since and love both the road and scenery of Valley of the Gods.

For our trip we headed north up the dugway to the top of Cedar Mesa.