We first visited Snow Canyon about 15 years ago while on a trip to nearby Zion National Park. All these years, we’ve planned to return—and finally did, in mid-May. We found Snow Canyon just as enchanting the second time around. We hiked through stands of blooming yucca, admiring the magnificent red cliffs of Navajo sandstone […]
Archive for Utah
Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument offers up some of the most stunning landscape we’ve seen in our travels. Cliffs striped in crimson, orange, and violet stand tall against a cobalt sky. Cinnabar colored hills rest against pillowy white clouds. And giant red and white rock toadstools rise from a lunar setting. On a brilliantly sunny […]
Buckskin Gulch—the longest, deepest slot canyon in the Southwest—has long been on our hiking bucket list. Located in the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness in southern Utah, the canyon is an undulating, narrow, 13-mile long corridor of sculpted sandstone. We enjoy challenging hikes. But when I happened across an article in Backpacking Magazine that described Buckskin Gulch […]
I don’t know what it is about Cedar Mesa, but almost every time we set out on a hike there, we get lost. Not so lost that we can’t find our way back. But lost enough that we end up hiking miles out of our way. My sense of direction is admittedly abysmal. Eric, however, […]
It’s a fairyland of fantastical rock formations—towering spires and arches painted in varying shades of pinks and oranges. The Paiute Indians believed the colorful rock totems were “Legend People,” who were turned to stone by Coyote. Early geologists named the rock formations “hoodoos,” and thought the imposing spires were capable of casting spells. Ebenezer Bryce, […]
Our hike to House On Fire sparked our interest in exploring more of Cedar Mesa. Located in southeastern Utah, this 50-mile long plateau encompasses the small and smaller towns of Blanding (population 3,500) and Bluff (population 320). This sparsely populated area is home to the Navajo, Ute, ranchers, a handful of artists, and hardy souls […]
Often, I see a photo of a place and I say to Eric, “I want to go there.” That’s how we came to visit the House on Fire ruin. It’s a relatively unknown ancient Anasazi dwelling, but it ranks among the most beautiful ruins that we’ve visited. What makes this eight hundred-year-old ruin so spectacular […]
Goblin Valley State Park gets its name from the bizarre and otherworldly sandstone formations that dominate the landscape. We’ve been intrigued by the park for several years, and at 200 miles south of Wasatch Mountain State Park, it seemed like a perfect stop on our route this year. It’s a small campground in a remote […]
For the most part, we try to avoid big cities, unless it’s a really interesting city. We also try to make our travel days no more than 200 miles, which takes anywhere from 4-5 hours of driving time when hauling the trailer. The drive from Lava Hot Springs to Wasatch Mountain State Park perfectly fit […]
In mid-September, we spent a couple of days immersed in the ancient Puebloan ruins at Hovenweep National Monument and Canyons of the Ancients National Monuments. These spectacular ruins are located off the beaten path on the border of southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado. We hiked trails to almost every ruin in the area, visited the […]
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