Before setting out into the Escalante District of the Dixie National Forest, a roadmap gives a few clues about traveling this back-country area. The chilling names, Box-Death Hollow Wilderness and Hell's Backbone Road are enough to scare off any timid adventurers. Starting out through the wilderness area on a dirt and gravel road from Utah's Route 12 south of Boulder, the trail climbs into the Boulder Mountain forest and leads through Box-Death Canyon. The 1930's Hell's Backbone Bridge (photo) turns out to be not that scary at all, and was once the only road connecting the towns of Boulder and Escalante. The route is 30 miles in length and may take one to two hours of travel time, depending on road conditions. The modern highway, Route 12, connecting these two towns is also a scenic byway, and quite an engineering marvel as it takes a high elevation route along the mountain ridges through the Escalante Canyons.