Arizona US 89 begins at Flagstaff, Arizona. The highway proceeds north passing near
Grand Canyon National Park and through the
Navajo Nation. Near the Utah state line, the highway splits into US 89 and
US 89A. The alternate is the original highway; what is now the main highway was constructed in the 1960s to serve the
Glen Canyon Dam and
Page. The main branch passes over the
Colorado River just south of the dam and
Lake Powell and then enters Utah. The US 89A branch turns westward and crosses the Colorado River via the
Navajo Bridge at
Marble Canyon near
Lees Ferry. It then climbs on to the
Kaibab Plateau, connecting with
Arizona State Route 67 at
Jacob Lake which provides access to the
North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Just before entering Utah, a junction with
Arizona State Route 389 in
Fredonia serves the
Pipe Spring National Monument. The two highways rejoin in
Kanab, Utah. Historically, the route extended south to
Nogales and served numerous sites of the
National Park System in Arizona. Just north of the Mexican border is the
Tumacacori National Monument (now Tumacacori National Historical Park), while further north
Saguaro National Monument (now Saguaro National Park) in Tucson was reached. Short links took motorists to the
Casa Grande National Monument and the
Hohokam Pima National Monument south of Phoenix. In the vicinity of Flagstaff there is a quartet of parks:
Tuzigoot National Monument,
Walnut Canyon National Monument,
Sunset Crater National Monument, and
Wupatki National Monument. North of Flagstaff, US 89 offers access to both the South Rim and North Rim of
Grand Canyon National Park.
Utah The first city in Utah along either US 89 or US 89A is Kanab where the two routes re-unite. From Kanab US 89 proceeds north passing by
Zion National Park,
Cedar Breaks National Monument, and
Bryce Canyon National Park. It eventually enters
Sevier County and the
Sanpete Valleys. The highway then passes by
Thistle, a ghost town that was destroyed by a lake resulting from a
landslide in 1983. The highway then enters the
Wasatch Front where US 89 becomes State Street, the main street for many cities in Utah and Salt Lake Counties. The highway is also often in the shadows of
Interstate 15 (I-15) during its route along the Wasatch Front. US 89 runs concurrently with I-15 from Bountiful to Farmington, where it departs and runs at the base of the Wasatch Mountains until it reaches Ogden. In Ogden, the highway is Washington Boulevard. From Ogden the highway runs north until it meets US 91 at
Brigham City, where it turns east to serve
Cache Valley and
Logan, concurrent with US 91. In Logan, US 89 forms the southern portion of Main Street before splitting off to the east, passing by the campus of the
Utah State University. The highway next proceeds up
Logan Canyon to
Bear Lake where the highway exits Utah. Two sections of US 89 in Utah have been designated Scenic Byways. The
Kanab to Mt. Carmel and Long Valley Scenic Byway is a designated
Utah Scenic Byway. The segment from Logan to Bear Lake is designated as the
Logan Canyon Scenic Byway by the
National Scenic Byways project. The section of US 89 in Utah, other than concurrencies with
I-70, I-15,
US 6, and
US 91, is defined in the Utah Code Annotated § 72-4-114(8). Utah is dominated by the Colorado Plateau. Along US 89 are
Zion National Park,
Bryce Canyon National Park, and
Cedar Breaks National Monument. Although not readily adjacent to US 89,
Capitol Reef National Park is accessible from US 89. US 89 leaves northern Utah well north of
Salt Lake City and
Timpanogos Cave National Monument and the
Golden Spike National Historic Site.
Idaho In Idaho, the highway partially circumnavigates
Bear Lake, which straddles the Utah–Idaho state line.
Wyoming In Wyoming, US 89 passes through many scenic sites including
Grand Teton National Park, the
Jackson Hole valley, the
Snake River Canyon, and
Star Valley. Passing northward along the western border of Wyoming with Idaho, US 89 enters the
Grand Teton National Park. Here, US 89 is the backbone visitor highway for two
U.S. National Parks. Leaving the Tetons, the road enters a lesser known park,
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway, before ending at the South Entrance of Yellowstone National Park. While US 89 and other U.S. Routes are officially discontinuous through the park, some commercially produced maps show these highways running inside Yellowstone National Park itself along its unnumbered roads and across the Wyoming–Montana state line.
Montana US 89 enters Montana at the North Entrance of Yellowstone National Park. It traverses the width of the state before approaching
Glacier National Park. At
St. Mary, Montana, US 89 is the access highway to Glacier Route One, also known as the
Going-to-the-Sun Road. The Kings Hill Scenic Byway passes through the
Little Belt Mountains in the
Lewis and Clark National Forest in
Montana.{{cite web |url=http://www.travelmt.com/mt_sites_11884_Kings+Hill+Scenic+Byway.html |title=Kings Hill Scenic Byway The northern terminus of US 89 is at the
Canadian border. There, the highway continues north to
Calgary, Alberta as
Alberta Highway 2. ==History==