Devil's Highway (High-Res) (Patreon)

U.S. Route 666, nicknamed the "Devil's Highway", is a north–south U.S. Highway serving the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States. 

Before the Mexican–American War, when this area was ceded to the United States, the main trade route through this part of Mexico was the Old Spanish Trail. This trail extended from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Los Angeles. The trail had multiple routes; however, the main route proceeded north towards Moab, Utah, one of the few places where the Colorado River can be crossed without having to traverse steep cliffs.

The route was upgraded to a U.S. Highway in 1926, as U.S. Route 666. This number was appropriate and in accordance with the road numbering guidelines for U.S. Highways, being the sixth spur along the highway's parent highway, the famed cross-continental highway U.S. Route 66. US 666 begins at Gallup, New Mexico and terminates at Monticello, Utah. The route was changed in 1992 and no longer serves Arizona, but the former US 666 was the only highway to have passed through each of the Four Corners states. At several points along US 666, mountain ranges in all of the Four Corners states are visible from a single location. The alignment of the highway is mostly north–south, however the Utah portion is signed east–west.

The route was renamed in 2003 and is now labelled as U.S. Route 491. The highway, now a spur route of US 91 via its connection to US 191, runs through New Mexico, Colorado and Utah, as well as the tribal nations of the Navajo Nation and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. The highway passes by two mountains considered sacred by Native Americans: Ute Mountain and an extinct volcanic core named Shiprock. Other features along the route include Mesa Verde. During the dedication of the "new" highway on July 30, 2003, a Navajo medicine man performed a ceremony to remove the curse from the highway.

Still, if you are a solitary trucker driving on a lonely road some sultry October evening in Northwestern New Mexico, Southwestern Colorado, or Southeastern Utah - be very cautious before stopping for hitchhikers along Old US 666, the "Devil's Highway".