UT - Promontory Summit & Transcontinental Railroad Byway

Where the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. The National Park Service runs the Golden Spike National Historic Site there, complete with a museum and operational replicas of the original locomotives. Ironically, the railroad itself is abandoned; it was bypassed in 1904 by the Lucin Cutoff directly across the Great Salt Lake. The rails were ripped up in 1942 for the war effort, but a mile and a half was relaid for the park in 1969. The old railroad grade continues westward as the BLM Transcontinental Back Country Byway (4WD recommended, but you'd probably be OK with high clearance.) It is surreal to drive along the old track alignment and see all the old remnants from when it was an active rail line. It's remote and utterly deserted now. Being that it's an old railroad grade, it's also good for mountain biking. Here's the BLM writeup: www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/salt_lake/recreation/back_country...

Where the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. The National Park Service runs the Golden Spike National Historic Site there, complete with a museum and operational replicas of the original locomotives. Ironically, the railroad itself is abandoned; it was bypassed in 1904 by the Lucin Cutoff directly across the Great Salt Lake. The rails were ripped up in 1942 for the war effort, but…  (read more)

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