Best Tips For Exploring Utah’s Scenic Mirror Lake Highway

I recently saw a headline from Travel & Leisure Magazine announcing the Most Beautiful Road in the United States. This was a designation awarded by an organization called FLBR Motorsport, and they determined that the Mirror Lake Highway in northeast Utah was most deserving of the title. Well, I live in northern Utah. And embarrassingly, I’d never driven the Mirror Lake Highway. So on a recent Sunday, my daughter and I set out to discover this Most Beautiful Road. And it did not disappoint! Here’s a look at everything we discovered on our journey, along with my resultant tips for an ideal day driving the scenic Mirror Lake Highway.

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How To Get To The Mirror Lake Highway

The Mirror Lake Highway begins in the small town of Kamas Utah. Kamas is located only 45 minutes east of downtown Salt Lake City and 20 minutes east of Park City. The road is sometimes referred to as the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway, and is a section of State Road 150. This Scenic Byway officially covers 42 miles through the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest from Kamas towards the Wyoming border. You can also reach this scenic stretch of road by taking SR 150 south from Evanston Wyoming.

When I was planning our day on the Mirror Lake Highway, I had originally contemplated driving a loop – from Salt Lake to Kamas to Evanston and back to Salt Lake on the I-80 freeway. However, I discovered that the best parts of this scenic drive end before entering Wyoming. So we ultimately turned around at about the 40 mile mark and drove back to Kamas. And we definitely had no regrets with the backtrack. We were able to enjoy all the beauty of the Mirror Lake Highway from both directions!

You should also be aware that the Mirror Lake Highway is a seasonal road due to snow accumulation in the winter and early spring. It’s generally only open from mid-May to mid-Fall.

Fees For The Mirror Lake Highway

You can drive this route through the National Forest for free. However if you stop anywhere along the way, a fee is required. And believe me, you will want to stop….a lot! The journey along the Mirror Lake Highway isn’t solely about the drive. You’ll find some amazing places to stop along the way too. While driving the highway, you will come across various random self-pay stations along the side of the road. The larger parking areas have self-pay stations as well.

The self-pay station above is the first you’ll see as you drive east from Kamas. And it offers two different ways to pay. One is a payment envelope and dropbox (cash or check only). The other is an automated system that accepts credit cards. The automated system was out of service on the day we visited.

If you are planning ahead like we did, then I personally think the best way to pay is online via the website Recreation.gov. I purchased a 3-day pass for $10 through the iPhone app. It did give me a QR code to show. However, I printed the pdf version and took it with me just in case. And I’m glad I did. I never came across any gates to show this QR code at any of our various stops along the Mirror Lake Highway. Instead, signs always instructed me to leave my pass visible somewhere in my car.

In addition to the 3-day pass for $10, you can purchase a 7-day pass for $20 or an annual pass for $60. These can be used anywhere within the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest (say if you were hiking to Stewart Falls near Sundance as an example). You can also use your America The Beautiful Pass if you have one.

(Also, note that there is very limited cell phone coverage along the Mirror Lake Highway. We lost our coverage just a few miles outside of Kamas, and never regained it until we returned. So that’s another reason to plan ahead if you are wanting to purchase your passes with your phone.)

Driving The Highway

So what can you expect as you drive the Mirror Lake Highway?

At the lower elevations, outside of Kamas, you will drive east through lots of greenery. You’ll see pine trees, aspens, and densely wooded mountains, plus some scattered ranch land as well. My daughter mentioned several times how she wants to return in the Fall – when all the changing colors must certainly be amazing through this stretch of road.

Ultimately the road turns north and starts to climb to higher and higher elevations. At these higher elevations you’ll start to see the peaks of the Uinta Mountains and start spotting lakes. Lots of lakes. Several of which are within a few feet of the Mirror Lake Highway itself.

As you continue to climb, you’ll approach the tree line and the scenery will change to a rockier landscape. The photo below is at the Bald Mountain Summit. This is the highest point of the Mirror Lake Highway at 10715 feet. In fact, this is the highest point for a paved road in the entire state of Utah.

As you continue following the winding highway you’ll have amazing views of many Uinta Mountain peaks. The Uinta Mountains are somewhat unique in that they are one of the few mountain ranges in North America that run west to east.

The most famous mountain peak along the Mirror Lake Highway is Bald Mountain. It rises to 11,959 feet and you will have the chance to see it from many different vantage points as you drive along the highway.

Once you complete your drive on the Mirror Lake Highway, you will absolutely understand why it has been called the most beautiful road in the country. But your time in this area should really involve much more than just the drive itself. You should plan on stopping and exploring more of what this scenic byway has to offer.

Check Out The Overlooks

Along the route, you will discover several overlooks – each with their own parking area. We stopped at four of these overlooks.

The first overlook that you’ll come across on the Mirror Lake Highway (about 10 miles into the drive) is the Provo River Overlook. From the small parking area, you can follow a short walkway to a viewing area out over the Provo River below and a forested canyon in the distance.

The most popular overlook along the Mirror Lake Highway is the Upper Provo Falls. You’ll come to the good-sized parking lot for these Falls after driving the highway for 24 miles. This is a very popular viewing area, so you’ll likely share your view with lots of other people. The overlook does offer a restroom and several small hiking trails around the Falls and the Provo River. And it features great scenery in both directions.

When you ultimately reach Bald Mountain Pass (29 miles into your drive), you’ll find a small parking area and scenic outlook where you can stop and take in an astounding view across the forest and lakes below, with many Uinta peaks in the distance.

And on the other side of the pass, you’ll find the Hayden Peak Overlook. Here you’ll be able to see some of the Uinta’s northern peaks (including Hayden Peak on the far left) and Moosehorn Lake directly below.

Obviously, all of these scenic overlooks add to the overall beauty of this drive. And are absolutely worth a stop.

Hike The Mirror Lake Loop

But the unquestionable highlight of our day exploring the Mirror Lake Highway was a stop the Highway’s namesake – Mirror Lake. This lake is located 31 miles from Kamas and is the most popular and scenic lake along the route. It’s named Mirror Lake because it typically features a symmetric reflection of Bald Mountain. It was somewhat windy on the day of our visit. So the lake wasn’t quite calm enough to serve as a mirror. But the scenery is amazing nonetheless.

Mirror Lake offers visitors a large parking lot and a campground. It’s a popular spot for fishing and kayaking. And you’ll find a 1.4 mile trail around its perimeter called the Mirror Lake Loop. Frequent readers know that my daughter and I love hiking together. And so of course, hiking this Loop was an important part of our day. (You can read about another time we hiked around several Utah mountain lakes in my post on Hiking at Brighton Utah.)

The trail itself hugs the lake for its entire length. And you’ll find yourself walking on a combination of wood planks and dirt pathways. It’s a very flat hike and AllTrails rates it as Easy.

While hiking this Loop, you’ll enjoy an ever changing view of Bald Mountain and the surrounding forest.

And ultimately, towards the north end of the lake, a second mountain called Reids Peak makes an appearance as well….for some added beauty.

I would recommend that you begin hiking this loop by taking a right turn when approaching the lake from the parking lot. From this direction you will start your hike on the east side of the lake. And this is the side with the very best views.

Explore Some Of The Other Lakes

While Mirror Lake is the most popular lake along the Mirror Lake Highway, you’ll come across many other lakes too – as I mentioned previously. And we did stop and admire a handful of these. Many of them have dedicated parking areas and offer their own loop trails. Several have dedicated camping areas.

We generally found that each lake had its own collection of admirers who had situated themselves lakeside for the day. And we noticed that both fishing and kayaking were very popular activities at most…

It would have been easy to stop and explore even more lakes on our journey. But lake-fatigue did ultimately start to set in. And after 3.5 hours exploring the Mirror Lake Highway and all its grandeur, we decided to call it a day.

Food Ideas For Your Day

As regular readers also know, finding great food is always a focus of any Thorough Tripper Day Trip. So naturally, I have some recommendations for eating near Kamas. On our own day trip to the area, we ate lunch and dinner on both ends of our drive along the Mirror Lake Highway.

For lunch, I chose the Oakley Diner. Oakley is a town just 8 minutes north of Kamas. I chose the Oakley Diner because of both its history and because of its high Google rating (4.5).

The building itself is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s a classic mid-century diner that was originally built for display at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City (the Fair’s theme was The World of Tomorrow). It spent the next several decades on the East Coast before being relocated to Oakley around 20 years ago. This classic diner has been refurbished and is pretty much exactly what you would hope for on the inside.

My daughter and I both ordered burgers and they were superb. Mine was a Bacon Blue Cheese Burger. And it was frankly one the two best burgers I’ve ever eaten in Utah (here’s a look at the other.)

For dinner, we ate in Kamas at a restaurant called the Route 32 Bistro. I chose this place because I saw online that it had outdoor dining, and it also had the highest Google ranking in Kamas (4.8).

After a day witnessing lots of fishing along the Mirror Lake Highway, I was in the mood for trout. So their Blackened Trout with Beurre Blanc sauce was the perfect choice. And my daughter was very happy with her Shrimp & Grits.

We also stopped in at the Samak Smoke House & Country Store on our way back down towards Kamas at the end of our day. If you are looking for some takeout options before your drive, then this place would be a great choice. They are famous for their smoked meats, fish, and cheeses. And they create sandwiches from those smoked goods. It was packed with customers when we walked in to check it out.

Other Useful Tips

Let me finish by sharing a couple of miscellaneous tips for driving the Mirror Lake Highway and exploring its various sites.

You should know that the temperatures will be significantly cooler at the higher elevations on this route. During our day trip in late June, the temperatures near the top were in the mid 60s and it was windy. I wore a jacket for my mid-afternoon hike around the Mirror Lake Loop. At home in the Salt Lake Valley, the temps were 20 degrees higher.

Be sure to bring plenty of water with you. You will dehydrate faster at higher elevations, and I never saw any place to purchase food or drink within the National Forest.

While I’d read ahead of time that bugs could be a problem, I never saw any, nor did I come home with any bites. Maybe it was because of the wind. But I do recommend taking insect repellant just in case.

Campsites are available in multiple places along Mirror Lake Highway. It is always best to book these ahead of time on Recreation.gov.

And if you love hiking, you’ll find lots of trails throughout the area as well. In fact, one of the most popular is the Bald Mountain Trail, which will take you to the very top of Bald Mountain for some astounding views.

Final Thoughts

My daughter and I had a great day driving the Mirror Lake Highway and exploring many of its most popular stops. I can now definitely understand why it has been named the Most Beautiful Road in the United States. I’m very happy that I finally took this opportunity to discover it for myself after all the years I’ve lived in Utah. And it certainly won’t be the last time. Hopefully you get the chance to drive this amazing Scenic Byway yourself.

If you are looking for other great things to do in Northern Utah, then be sure to check out these posts:

7 Amazing Things To Do In Salt Lake City – A Local’s Guide

The Kennecott Copper Mine Tour: Is It Worth It?

The Three Best Ways To Visit The Great Salt Lake

And if you would like to read about a Utah scenic drive of an entirely different sort, then check out this post:

How To Drive the Cathedral Valley Loop in Capitol Reef National Park