 The southern part of US @-@ 89 , running northerly from Kanab , mostly follows a succession of linear valleys . The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad opened a branch ( later the Marysvale Branch ) from its main line at Thistle to Manti in 1890 , and extended it ( through a subsidiary , the Sevier Railway ) , to Salina in 1891 , Belknap in 1896 , and Marysvale in 1900 . No rail line ever reached farther south , and so residents of towns such as Junction , Panguitch , Alton , Glendale , and Kanab had to travel north to the railhead at Marysvale . The old county road through Circleville Canyon was poorly constructed , with steep grades and a rough surface . The State Road Commission designated the highway from Nephi east through Salt Creek Canyon and then south through these valleys to Kanab as a state road in or soon after 1910 . Initially the route from the summit at Long Valley Junction to Kanab went through Alton and Johnson Canyon , entering Kanab from the east . A more direct route via Long Valley was considered , serving the communities of Glendale , Orderville , and Mt . Carmel , but this would have required difficult construction over a mesa covered in loose sand to reach Kanab . In summer 1912 , the commission added a branch from Long Valley Junction to Mt . Carmel , allowing these communities access to the state road system , along with a connection west from the junction to Cedar City . Several years later , in December 1915 , the commission added the Mt . Carmel @-@ Kanab road over the sand hills to the system , and began construction of a sand @-@ clay road in 1916 . A connection from Pigeon Hollow Junction north to Thistle was also added in 1912 , following the rail line through a canyon and providing another route to Salt Lake City . 
