Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
BOULDER, Garfield County — In the tiny town of Boulder, there's a place you can't miss.
Hell's Backbone Grill & Farm has fed hungry tourists for nearly 25 years.
"Our guests come from all over the world," said co-owner and founding chef Blake Spaulding, "and they always return."
Spaulding said she picked this spot in Garfield County on purpose.
"We came here because we were very excited about the protection of the landscape," she said.
The restaurant, which offers farm-to-table cuisine, is on the doorstep of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. President Bill Clinton established it in 1996. In 2017, President Donald Trump shrunk it before President Joe Biden reinstated it in 2021.
The whole back and forth, Spaulding told KSL-TV, is not ideal.
"Having the monument just be stabilized where it's not a political football," Spaulding said. "That is really hard for all of the small businesses."
She wants to see more support for the monument from the state of Utah and Congress.
"I do believe for the good of the West, we need more protected landscapes," Spaulding said.
Land is certainly an issue in Garfield County — not just in Boulder, but also down the road in Escalante. People visit areas for camping, hiking, and canyoneering, along with access to the monument and two nearby national parks.
The region is rural and remote, which can pose several unique challenges for those who live and work here.
"Because we're so remote, we pay a little bit more for sometimes a little bit less," said Dave Treanor, who owns 4th West Pub in Escalante. "The cost of things — we feel that communitywide."
Plus, he said, workers often have more than one job — including him.
"I teach art at the local high school," Treanor said. "Myself included, most of our staff are all first responders — all volunteer first responders. So, if there's a big issue, that comes first, and we might be on a skeleton staff that night just because we're all out on something major."
But Treanor said that comes with living in rural Utah, no matter who's in power.
"I think you get so used to it, you don't really think about those things being issues anymore," he said. "It's just a way of life."
It's a way of life he loves — in a place surrounded by beauty.
"You might see it on Instagram or something like that," Treanor said, "but it just doesn't do it justice."
