Smoother Manti Canyon Road will benefit Arapeen Trail riders

By Robert Green

Staff Writer

EPHRAIM—The upper six miles of the Manti Canyon Road have been improved and stabilized this summer and should make for smoother traveling to Skyline Drive and the Arapeen Trail System, according to Kevin Christensen, Sanpete County economic development eirector.

The joint project was funded with about $212,000 from several sources, and the Manti-La Sal National Forest contributed most of the labor, Christensen said.

Daniel Luke, Manti-La Sal Forest Service road supervisor, said the upper portion of the road needed a better base because it would get muddy, slick and rutted during rainfall.

Luke gave credit to Sanpete County for securing the funding for the project so it could move forward. He mentioned that Christensen has been working on the funding for several years now.

Funding for the project came from a Polaris Foundation grant through the National Parks Foundation, the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area, the Sanpete County Travel Council, the USDA Forest Service Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) and the Manti-La Sal National Forest, Christensen said.

The Forest Service was responsible for crushing the aggregate and grading it onto the road surface, Luke said.

“The main objective of the project was to improve the stability of the road and keep it from rutting,” Luke said. A couple of graders and a water truck have been working up there all summer.

The Manti Canyon Road is a major access route to the the popular Arapeen ATV Trail system, which is comprised of hundreds of miles of trails. There are several fishing lakes along trails that take off from Manti Canyon.