Tour Utah National Parks: The Mighty 5 & beyond Travel Guide

the West is big in on Utah's Grand Circle tour you're gonna see quite a bit of it including its mighty five national parks it's a route through some of the most spectacular and well-known landscapes in the world when you think of the West you probably think of the iconic buttes of Monument Valley or the in probably cartoonish Red Rock near Moab or snow-capped Mountain is it's a place where you're often reminded that this land once belonged to others will drive well over a thousand miles through incredible landscapes and we'll even do a little exploring off the main highway will experience all sorts of Mother Nature's weather as well as her sense of humor you may even be inspired by her power will see firsthand how the elements and time constantly transformed a land will visit eight national parks some state parks national monuments and one tribal park we'll spend much of our time near the four corners where the states of New Mexico Colorado Utah in Arizona all meet it's also a place where cultures meet this is the hub of the Western Native American nations the first Europeans came through here just five hundred years ago and they're still coming about two-thirds of today's visitors are from Europe and a significant number of others come from Asia I'm going to show you more than just amazing places my goal is to encourage you to come out here yourself so I'll provide information to help you better appreciate and to get the most out of your trip when you come all this way you're gonna want to bring back some great pictures and I'll show you where and how to get some great shots and I'll tell you when to be there to get the best light this travel guide is divided into segments that were written to stand on their own so if you get bored with say all the geological info or the photo how-to section just skip ahead of it I'll also encourage you to look at the local tourism websites for more information the images in this travel guide were taken on several trips to the area with various weather conditions at some locations the weather never did cooperate and I'll show you that footage - it's a reminder that the uncontrollable mother nature is always in charge you can start your trip at any point along the Grand Circle International airports near the route R in Phoenix Salt Lake City and Las Vegas Durango's small airport is only 200 miles to the east of Monument Valley in Monument Valley is closest to my base so that's where we're going to begin it's great out here and I hope my images and words do it justice and that they encourage you to come out here and see it for yourself arguably the most recognized place in the West is Monument Valley this magnificent area was largely unknown outside the Navajo Nation until the 1930s when he regaled him the owner of the only hotel around sent photos of the landscape near his hotel to Hollywood director John Ford the images intrigued Ford he ended up shooting several westerns here and soon to people around the world this defined the American West later parts of the Back to the Future movies were shot here later still this is where Forrest Gump stopped running across the country it's on semi-autonomous land under Navajo Nation jurisdiction so Monument Valley is a Navajo Nation tribal park it straddles the Arizona Utah border the park Road turnoff is in Utah but it quickly heads south back into Arizona and like most parks there is an entry fee you'll spend many hours on the road just to get here the nearest major airport is in Phoenix over 300 miles away perhaps because it is so remote few Americans come here almost all of the visitors are from Europe or the Far East a surprising number get here on Harleys it's pretty easy to take a photo worth hanging on your wall here at the end of this video I'll show you where some of the best photo opportunities are while this view from the parking lot is really good there's a better way to see this American icon if your vehicle is up to it you can drive through the valley for free a 17 mile dirt road winds its way through the valley many of the overseas visitors get here on a tour bus that's too large for the road so there is another option for 40 to 75 dollars each you can take a guided tour in an open vehicle now that's almost always hot and dusty approximately two hour tour so your own vehicle is likely to be the more comfortable choice it's plenty wide and safe for most vehicles only large RVs and cars with very low ground clearance are not recommended the view out the windscreen is always great but the visitor's guide lists eleven viewpoints that are really special the first is a view of the Midlands from a slightly lower vantage point they look a bit like hands and hence the name but they signify spiritual beings the road continues to drop to the valley floor the speed limit is 15 miles an hour so there's plenty of time to see the sights the next viewpoint is Elephant Butte it's the large feature just ahead they say with the right lighting there's a resemblance to an elephant facing West like most of the landmarks in the valley it does not have a Navajo name most were named by early settlers it's quite easy to identify the next view those three spires in the distance are the three sisters they represent a Catholic nun facing her two pupils the road gets a bit sandy as it heads to one of the best-known views in the valley it was named after the man who made it famous director John Ford this view can be seen in many classic movies including the 1956 classic The Searchers with John Wayne in one scene you can see the spot before the road was built there's a large parking area and locals are allowed to sell their handiwork in small shacks and on tables for a couple of dollars a man on a horse will even pose for you so you can get that perfect shot you point number five camel Butte is the Mesa on the right after John Ford's point the trail is a narrow one-way track that is pretty flat view number six is rain God Mesa it's on the left it marks the geological center of the park it's named for the rain God who stored water for the people on the south side of the Mesa seven is Sandy Springs aquifers I didn't see a spring but there is plenty of sand in front of you number eight the totem pole just to the left of a totem pole is one of the few features with a Navajo name and I can't pronounce it it's something like ee beachy the totem pole is one of the most photographed locations in the tribal park to get up close you'll have to hire a guide with a 4x4 premiere the road starts its return leg it's a bit narrow and sandy the winding path goes through some quite interesting scenery including this balanced rock after a slight incline there's a large parking area for artists point which is viewpoint number nine [Music] as the light changes throughout the day the scene also changes here and some hang out here all day there are only two viewpoints left the window can be seen from the road but there's a better view of the mitten between the two boots at the end of a short walking trail the last viewpoint is called the thumb shortly after the thumb the path joins the main two-way road back to the parking lot though you've been on this section before you'll be amazed at how different it looks heading in the opposite direction so take your time on average it takes one-and-a-half to two and a half hours to complete the 17 mile loop the average visitor stays only for a few hours but to really see the place you'll have to stay for at least a couple of days up until a few years ago there was nothing on site but a small diner Goulding's was the only hotel within 20 miles in jobs for the locals were hard to come by but in 2008 the Navajo opened the view hotel it has nice rooms for about $220 a night there's also a new restaurant gift shop and small museum if you've been here before you may remember the $10 per night campground well that's long gone it's been replaced by cabins that cost at least $200 a night there's a new RV park on the main road just to the north Goulding's is four miles down the road rooms there are about 200 to $250 a night there are many moderately priced hotels 20 plus miles to the south in the town of ky enta Arizona if you stay there believe it or not you need to go to the Burger King to see a museum quality display describing the role of the Navajo Windtalkers in World War 2 I sometimes stay a few minutes further up the road in the small town of Mexican Hat it has a couple of hotels and restaurants a gas station and a motel here for $35 38 if you're paying by credit card you'll get a room at the Canyonlands motel with no air-conditioning but it will have a bath and a plug to power your battery charges into a my visit it was full of partying Germans who were smoking and laughing into the wee hours this caused me to wake up late and just miss the Sun rising behind the minutes but that didn't really matter because while shooting this time-lapse video a man asked me to show him how to use his camera immediately after I did he walked right into my shot proving once again that no good deed goes unpunished now here are a few hints on how to photograph this place I've been here several times dating back to 1996 and I've been lucky enough to take several good images over the years but good light makes it much easier you know one trip I got nothing it was in March they say that's a good time to come but for me the sky was overcast for several days I've had much better luck in may/june and in the fall outside the park boundary to the north is where you'll find the classic shot of the road with sentinel Mesa in the background it can be taken on Highway 163 near mile marker 13 at one of the smaller turnouts on the north west side of the road there's even a small sign designating the spot where the fictional forrest gump quit his cross-country run it's so popular that when the road was repaid they even added a few parking turnouts to handle the crowds that come from all over the world this group includes a minibus of Chinese hipsters from the UK and a minivan full of Aussies and when I visit the next time it wouldn't surprise me one bit if there's a ticket booth in a gift shop here to the Sun lights this side of the Mesa in the morning here's what it looks like from the other side in the evening this shot was taken on the main Park Road just east of 163 these shots were taken next to the parking lot by the way several apps can tell you from which direction and when the Sun will rise any day of the year I use the iPhone app called Helios but to get the shot you'll have to get here plenty early and you'll have to talk people out of walking into your shot which is especially hard when they don't speak your language the Visitor Centre patio is a great place to watch the shadows move across the valley and up the buttes as the Sun sinks below the horizon to get some greenery in your shots of the mittens drive down to the first pull out three sisters are backlit in the evening as is the thumb I tend to shoot John Ford's point in the afternoon and evening and the man on the horse is much more likely to be there during the high summer season he makes his living a few dollars at a time posing so bring a few dollars with you I also tend to shoot artists point in the afternoon and evening but you can get great stuff here all day there are plenty of nice shots just about anywhere all you have to do is look and find them there are advantages to hiring a guide for a private photo tour until recently you could negotiate with a private guide I once got a driver for a half a day for $75 now you have to go through the official office to hire a guide the fee is fixed by elders at about three hundred dollars each if you have a family this trip could be very expensive the quote for a pre sunrise drive for me and two others to a high nearby overlook on a Mesa was $1300 for this reason photo group tour leaders have told me told me that they will not be returning the Monument Valley until this policy changes but if you want to get up close to the totem well you'll need a guide these shots were taken in late afternoon to get here we had to drive through deep sand the guide also took me to this little arch or window one of my favorite spots in the valley is only accessible with the aid of a guide it's called the teardrop it takes about 45 minutes to get there this shot was taken in early afternoon well I hope this section will help you take your own photographic masterpieces in the wonderful Monument Valley [Music] there's plenty more to see in the four corners area just 40 minutes up the road are a couple of amazing places this formation gave a little town its name Mexican had several dirt roads southeast of 163 are worth exploring they lead to the backcountry back in the day this formation was used as a navigation aid today it's just one attraction of this unique area another road leads to a small Canyon cut by the San Juan River beyond which lies in exposed Falls geologists come here to the cipher Earth's history photographers come here to capture the beauty of nearly 1,000 feet of stratified layers bending beneath the river even the rock here has an interesting story if you're into geology you know that the loos'd unconsolidated rock seen here are the remnants of the ancestral Rocky Mountains that's right before their current rocky mouth there was other said hundreds of millions of years ago the first mountains in this area we're as high as a Himalaya over time they eroded away so the rocks we see here are nothing more than debris eventually the current Rockies will meet the same fate a couple of hours spent here are spent well [Music] an even better place to see what's left of the long-gone mountains is marked by a small sign reading goosenecks State Park this is one of the world's finest examples of an entrenched meander it's rare for a river to make one Horseshoe Bend but from this spot three are visible the san juan river cuts through just over a thousand feet of rubble left by the original rockies the best way to see them is on a raft an outfitter in the town of mexican hat will drop you off upstream and you'll travel through these canyons there's little whitewater depending on the season and you can camp on the river bank the potential for great photography is obvious but you need great light for great images when I got here at mid afternoon it was cloudy and the light was bad but I decided to wait it out a few drops of rain started to fall but the Sun was still lighting the top of the canyons I knew what that meant something good was about to happen I just didn't know where would be one of the cameras caught a piece of it as the rainbow appeared it only lasted for a few minutes and I had to scramble to get some nice video and stills this is one of those moments when all the hardships disappointments bad weather not to mention the expense of travel make all the effort worthwhile but it wasn't easy I took a few shots with a still camera and then stitched them together into a panorama this was taken on the second to the last day on an eight day shoot we drove over 3,300 miles and this was only the second settle image I came home with you can stay here there's a paved parking area in a flat dirt area where RVs and tents can stay for no charge there's no running water but there are nice pit toilets you're actually allowed to pitch a tent anywhere you like if you're fit enough you can even scramble your gear down a steep trail to camp on a small plateau 100 or so feet below the viewpoint many people talk about getting in touch with nature the folks down there figured out a way to do it while Monument Valley is the main draw to this area those willing to explore will be rewarded a further 45 miles up the road is natural bridges National Monument it was sleety when I was there so I didn't venture on the trails on the way you can travel through the valley of the gods it's a smaller scale version of Monument Valley then you'll climb 1,000 feet up the moki dugway to the top of cedar Mesa now it's time to start our next leg of the journey from the goosenecks it's only about 120 miles to the outdoor lovers mecca of Moab in the next section we'll tour arches and Canyonlands national parks as well as some lesser-known gems [Music] no tour of the Grand Circle is complete without spending at least a couple of days in the area around Moab Utah this is an outdoor lovers paradise the world's largest selection of natural stone arches is just a few miles up the road in arches national park a little further up the road are the amazing views of the Iowan than the sky district of Canyonlands National Park but there's more there's an incredible overlook in Deadhorse Point State Park there are lazy float trips in multi-day whitewater trips on the Colorado River and for those who like Heights there are 500 foot cliffs and the Fisher towers just waiting to be climbed sure you can drive through the parks but there are other ways to see the amazing scenery there are short and long trails for hikers and cyclists and there are rough high clearance and 4x4 only trails to explore the backcountry and if you want to exercise your brain or perhaps your child's brain there are incredible lessons in geologic and human history the town of Moab itself is quite a little gem it seems a lot bigger than other towns of 50 100 people whether you're a budget camper or if you prefer accommodations that are as special as the scenery you can find it all in Moab there are restaurants of all types and even a few night spots if you didn't bring your 4x4 mountain bike or other gear you can rent them all here if you have the time you can easily spend a couple of weeks based in Moab but since we're doing the grand circle we've only got a couple of days and we're going to show you how to make the most of them [Music] no Grand Circle tour is complete without spending at least a day in arches national park it's at the delightfully colorful place where 100 million years of erosion create ever-changing natural sculptures and architecture the park is small enough to drive through in a few hours but it's intriguing enough that some spend a week or two exploring it on foot on bicycles and on off-road vehicles in search of adventure in the land of more than 2,000 arches because of our limited time we'll explain how to make the most out of about a day and a half in the park the entrance is just four miles from the center of town after paying the National Park entry fee it's a good idea to stop at the visitor center to learn about the area you're about to explore the bulk of the park is on a plateau several hundred feet above the visitor center the road switches back twice as it climbs the Moab fault a sign near the top states that six million years ago the rock layers on this side of the valley drop 2,600 feet lower than those on the other side of the valley once on the plateau the park road winds its way north past four to five hundred foot sandstone monoliths that were pushed up through the surrounding landscape the first large pull out is for a place called Park Avenue a high stone walls reminded early explorers of the famous New York land market it's hard to understand just how big everything is until you see someone wandering in the rocks there is a short trail but summer temperatures are often in the 90s or higher so you need to bring plenty of water from the viewpoint you get your first look at the different rock in the park the arches tend to form in the entrada sandstone peerage way up near the top throughout the park you'll see sign stating don't bust the crust it's alive this refers to microorganisms that live in the soil it takes a hundred years for tiny black bacteria to create enough soil for even the most basic plants and one step from your boot could kill it so don't bust the crust a little further down the road we come to the LaSalle mountain view point beyond the outcrop are petrified yellowish sand dunes in the background to the east the LaSalle's Rise 13,000 feet so snow covers the peaks most of the time to the north there's a great view of several more features these are the three gossips this is the organ in the Tower of Babel while we drive to our next stop I'll try to explain how the landscape got this way it all started about 300 million years ago when this tectonic plate was closer to the equator this land was covered by seawater so much seawater that 7,900 feet have mostly solved but also potash and gypsum accumulated before the sea dried up for much of the next 100 to 150 million years hundreds of feet of sand and other soft materials built up on top of the salt during a time when this region was dry in much like today's Sahara Desert by this time the ancestral Rocky Mountains were eroding away providing plenty of overburden material which helped turn the ancient desert sand to stone the weight of the sand and the mountain debris put pressure on the underlying salt layer under pressure salt becomes a semi fluid it moves and uses kind of like pushing on the center of a tube of toothpaste because the weight of the sand and other overburden varied from place to place in some places the ground sank and others had pushed up massive slabs of sandstone like the one seen here starting 100 million years ago the erosion process to take over and the tectonic plate began moving north all this movement caused many vertical cracks to create a giant blocks of sandstone this can be seen quite easily from the air in the devil's garden over time the cracks became wider and with the help of the erosional forces of water ice and wind the tall slabs began to look like the fins we see in the park today erosional forces and waterborne chemical reactions further weakened the stone causing holes to form in the fins when the hole has a span of at least three feet it's classified as an arch this process has occurred at least 2,000 times in the park and it continues to happen and from time to time the arches do collapse that's the end of the lecture and just in time we've reached our next stop it's called balanced rock it's a hundred and twenty eight feet tall there used to be a smaller balance truck nearby but it fell over in the 70s one day this one will fall over to a bit further down the road is a turn-off for the windows section once again the view up the windscreen is quite good the road generally goes southeast at this point so the best light is in the afternoon with the windows and double arch this is a very popular area and it can be difficult to find a parking spot most of the day after a short walk from the parking lot there's a fork in the trail to the right is turret arch to the left is the windows the north window is pretty impressive in the evening but in the morning if you climb through it you'll see one of the parks iconic views that's turret arch as seen through the north window just after sunrise to get to the spot and well that requires a bit of a scramble it's not easy or even very safe in fact the man in this shot decided it was too dangerous for him to try to get to this camera position once here and after your nerves have settled you get to appreciate just how big and incredible these formations are across the parking lot is another well-known feature double arch you may recognize it from a scene in the Indiana Jones movies with a little effort you can climb right into it a further two and a half miles up the road is the spur road the most famous arch in the park delicate arch again it can be difficult to find a place to park a small cabin near the trailhead was built by the wolf family who settled here in the late 1800s they managed to eke out a living here for more than 20 years delicate arch is a mile and a half and almost 500 feet up the mostly slick Rock Trail which by the way isn't slippery it's more like sandpaper this is the most recognized view in Utah it's even on the state license plate the 63 foot tall arch is at the edge of a large sandstone bowl that has been hollowed out by swirling wind and water again the LaSalle mountains provide the backdrop at sunset this is the perfect place to be if the main delicate arch parking lot is full there's another way to see the famous arch hit a mile or so down the road to the lower delicate our trailhead this trail is less traveled and you can't get very close to it from here but it's still amazingly odd to see a large stone arch perched in a bowl on the edge of a sheer cliff the road next leads to the fiery furnace here you can take a ranger-led hike but you have to purchase your tickets in advance to guarantee a spot unfortunately the only video we have of it is from 1995 the trail is much like a maze and you're not allowed to explore it on your own until after you've completed a ranger led hike the hike is only about 2 miles long but with all the tight passageways and detailed ranger stalks it takes three to three and a half hours to complete at one point you can crawl through a small arch at another your feet don't even touch the ground as you press your hands and feet against the sides of two fins to move through a tight section it's actually about 20 degrees cooler in the fiery furnace than it is in the outside air so on a hot summer day this is a cool ticket to have and it's a great way to spend an afternoon we're now on our way to the devil's garden on the way you may want to stop at Skyline arch it's one of the biggest in the park as you might expect it's also hard to find a parking spot in the devil's garden if you find a spot take the easy hike to the largest natural Rock span in the world the trail is sandy and on hot days the trip can be tiring so it's always a good idea to bring plenty of water soon there's a view of fins in the distance about a mile end the trail forks to the left and you can see the largest natural rock span in the world landscape arch in the afternoon it's in shadow but in the morning it's lit from base to base it's 306 feet across and no you're not allowed to walk across it many years ago a man died trying be on landscape arts there are many more arches along the trail at about the three mile point you get the chance to walk on top of a fin it's a pretty unique experience if you plan your trip very well you can do all of the things described in this segment in a day to a day and a half although weather and crowds may force you to improvise but no matter what you do I'll bet that arches will be one of the highlights of your grand circle trip for those of you interested in photography here's a review of my favorite photo ops in the park in addition to a good camera and tripod you should also have an app on your phone that tells you where the Sun will be at anytime anywhere I use Helios for the iPhone you should Scout your locations on the phone before you start your trip around noon most of the wall is in the Sun and in late afternoon the good light will be hitting the largest wall and that's when this shot was taken at balanced rock there are times in the morning when it can be backlit so it's safer to shoot in the afternoon the snowpack lacell mountains will also be lit in the afternoon as we said it's best to shoot the backside of the north window just after sunrise but the side facing the parking lot looks great in the afternoon often - or groups of up to 20 people are here well before sunrise leaving no room for many who want to get to this spot this shot was taken near the windows all I did was turn around and point to lends towards double arch the main Park Road looks great in the late morning to early evening when heading north into the park going in the other direction it's backlit in the evening the best light is also on the fiery furnace in the afternoon and evening to capture landscape arch in the Sun you'll have to hike a mile or so in the morning in the afternoon it's backlit and it's even hard to see the arch the best time to shoot delicate arch is at sunset if the weather is nice there will be a crowd but there are plenty of good places to put your tripod but still it's best to be early again remember to scout the location using a map or preferably a tool like Helios on the iPhone it will tell you when and where the Sun will rise and set it'll really help you get a nice shot [Music] Canyonlands is an immense wilderness of cliffs mesas and of course Canyon they were all shaped by the Colorado in green rivers into three separate land districts they are all primitive and there is no water available in the campgrounds the districts are widely separated by fascinating and monumental natural features so there are no roads that link them directly the needles district visitor center is about 80 miles south of Moab hiking trails are the main attraction here it's a place to hike in the middle of nowhere while being somewhere incredible the maze district is even more remote it's at least 130 miles from Moab the roads in the district are 4x4 only rough trails and you'll need a great deal of self-reliance and skill to assure your survival if something goes wrong the rivers are categorized as a separate water district you could easily spend a couple of weeks exploring each district but for our grand circle to work we're going to spend our time exploring the most visited district island in the sky the island in the sky is of course a Mesa that juts into the canyon lands it's only 30 miles or 45 minutes from Moab the road Rises 1,800 feet to the top of the island of the sky which is about six thousand feet above sea level it isn't quite an island a narrow 42 foot strip of land connects it to the main Mesa this sliver of a connection is called the neck but the road is well designed and while driving you won't have a clue that's roaming a few feet from a thousand foot drop sheer cliffs at the edge of the Mesa provide spectacular views at several viewpoints this is the Green River overlook about 1200 feet below is a broad shale technically called a bench it's made of a much harder sandstone than the darker formations above near the cliff edge the white rock almost looks like a beach and millions of years ago it was clearly the local climate has changed quite a bit since then in part because 150 million years ago this tectonic plate was much farther south back then this was a flat plane but five to ten million years ago the Colorado Plateau began to rise allowing the rivers to shape the landscape into something that is quite interesting it's a harsh place and it's not surprising that this was one of the last places in the continental US to be explored and mapped at the end of the island Mesa the viewpoint is appropriately called Grand View on a clear day you can see almost 100 miles in almost any direction that thin line is a 100 plus mile 4x4 only path called the white rim road some of the surface cars are old mining roads cut during the 1940s and 50s to aid the search of uranium we're looking south in a few miles from here the two fairly calm rivers combined into a fast-moving Colorado River you can hike to the confluence from the needles district a few miles south of the confluence there's a 14 mile long section called cataract Canyon it's remote enough that only multi-day rafting trips can go through its class 5 Rapids in 1869 John Wesley Powell and his team were the first white men to go down the river and they did it in wooden boats near the Grandview overlook is the orange cliffs overlook providing a great view to the west often the distance you're looking at the maze district this is a great spot to watch the sunset another great spot to catch the sunset is Holman Spring overlook it's on the road to the upheaval dome it faces Southwest when the clouds cooperate it's almost magical if you've been paying attention you know that uplift has played a prominent role in shaping this park there's one place in a park where this process is quite visible a one mile round-trip trail leads to the upheaval dome in the rest of the park there is geologic order old rocks are on the bottom and newer ones are on top there is little folding of the rock layers indicating that for millions of years the region has been pretty stable the upheaval dome is quite different it's about three miles across and it's a place of dramatic disorder in the center the rocks are tilted almost vertically is being forced up in there for bending the formations above it the formations we see shouldn't be here they belong several thousand feet below some process push them up here and from above the dome looks like an impact crater from a meteorite some geologists think that roughly 60 million years ago a meteor with a diameter of approximately 1/3 of a mile hit this spot even in this scientific age nobody knows which theory is correct Canyonlands is known for its spectacular immense views of distant landscapes but with a signature view in Island of the sky there's a twist this is mesa arch it's just a quarter mile from the main road on a cloudy afternoon it may not look that special but it's sunrise it's stunning hundreds of people often gather around this spot well before sunrise and they're all trying to squeeze into the same little spot so there's lots of spillover most are here with the goal of getting a shot like this or this or if you have sharp elbows you may even get a shot like this the odd crowd is very international it's said that few Americans take the time to see this wonderful place in hour or so after sunrise the crowds are gone and this becomes one of the rare places with the sound of silence you can hear yourself blink hear the views of Canyonlands are evocative they draw you into the landscape and there's a place where you can do just that this is the Schaefer Trail viewpoint 100 years ago the Schaefer brothers used the canyon walls as a natural Corral they built the first trail up this twelve hundred foot cliff to get their cattle to market today it's a popular SUV trail and we're about to take it all the way down to the Colorado River and back to Moab Moab Utah is an outdoor lovers paradise it's the home of arches national park in Canyonlands National Park where there's river rafting rock climbing hiking and mountain biking when you need an easy day there's great photography history and even nice restaurants and some nightlife you can even have an off-road adventure in your own car this is the Shafer trail as seen from the neck in the island of the sky district of Canyonlands the first drop descends about 1,100 feet in a series of switchbacks and believe it or not you can safely drive it in your own SUV and that's just what we're about to do to get there take Highway 313 towards the Canyonlands entrance the trailhead is a couple of miles before the island of the sky visitor center when the pavement ends the road is still flat as if to give you more time to use to driving on the loose sandy surface then there's an impressive overlook just before the trail cuts into the cliff face we recorded nearly the entire one and a half hour drive and in order to show you as much of it as possible I've sped up most of the driving footage I did the trail a few years ago and this time I didn't stop as often I know it can look scary but the road is surprisingly wide it's even safe to pass the first time I remember being well not really scared let's call it intimidate it the drop-off off the driver's window is about 1,100 feet and it's very steep but this time before starting out I did what is recommended I checked on the trails condition with the Ranger at the Visitor Centre and learned that because the trail is so popular the top portion is grated more often than it was in the past the Ranger actually said that the steep switchback section was the easiest part of the trip I also grabbed a map the dirt trail is 17 miles long about halfway through which changes names to the potash road at the river the trail joins the paved highway to 79 for several miles back to Moab from the trailhead at 5900 and 20 feet above sea level will drop about 1,900 feet before getting back to Moab the trail drops gradually and the special low rains to send gear of the SUV good enough to help me avoid overheating the brakes on my first trip I warped the front rotors most of the ride is uneventful you can hardly tell that you're descending until you get to a switchback by the way if you don't want to put wear and tear on your own vehicle you can rent a 4x4 Jeep in Moab this was originally a cattle trail local ranchers called the Shaffer brothers built it about a hundred years ago to get their cattle to market it was expanded greatly in the 1940s when it was used by uranium prospectors that's also when many of the roads on the canyon floor were cut many of these still scarred the landscape by the 50s the Shafer trail was nearly forgotten like the rest of the area it became a part of the National Park in 1964 the trail became popular only recently in 1980 only 57,000 people visited all of Canyonlands today nearly a million come every year though the view is amazing the drive is remarkably normal there's never an auto moment or even a slight slip of the wheels after about 10 minutes the initial ascent is about over it was almost too quick though I never got over 15 miles an hour here's what I said about it at the time well that was it it was pretty easy we dropped eleven to twelve hundred feet in about 15 minutes at the most basically I'm looking at the road about 15 to 20 feet in front of me it's pretty darn interesting let me tell you thoroughly enjoying it mountain bikers from around the world come to Moab in some even try to pedal up this road as a cyclist myself I asked if the writer needs food or water it's over 90 degrees and sometimes they just might need it there are several connecting trails in the canyon the longest is the White Rim Road it's over 100 miles long winding its way across the cap rock often just a few feet from the canyons that are cut by the Colorado in green rivers which are hundreds of feet below the white rim road can be seen from many of Canyonlands viewpoints here it is from the Green River overlook there are a few signs on the trail but they do helpfully exist at this T intersection the road ahead is the White Rim the Shafer trail goes to the left the Ranger I talked to you said the White Rim Trail was safe for two-wheel drive vehicles like mine up to muscle man arch and whatever that is he says you'll know it when you see it no I decided to go exploring oddly the white rim Rises slightly this took a toll on a couple of cyclists these were a part of a tour group with a support vehicle because I hadn't studied this part of the map I was expecting the trail to be near the rim it wasn't and it became sandier this is not a place to get stuck the trail info sheet states that is best to take enough food and water for a day or two in case you break down in half to be rescued it also claims that towing charges could easily reach $1000 at a wide spot in the road next to the cyclist support vehicle I decided to head back I learned later that muscle man arch was a further 40 minutes down the road a mile or so later I rejoined the Shafer trail a wooden sign claims that it's 32 miles to Moab via the potash road I've traveled about eight miles so far so the trail map well it's a bit misleading a few hundred yards later it starts to get rough it's a path narrows and it's very rough as you descend into Schaffer Canyon it's here that you realize why you need a high clearance vehicle going slow and dodging the largest of the sharp rocks is critical it becomes evident that the Ranger was right the top section is the easy part then there's a fairly flat clearing with nice views this is a great spot to take your time or even stop to enjoy the scenery it gets rough again as you cross a wash during a rain this part can be treacherous or even impassable it's right up it's also a challenge he's motorcyclists asked me about the part I just drove down and they shared what was next for me the trail is now on a broad shelf above the Colorado River the cliffs rise 12 to 1500 feet and the view is amazing it took 45 minutes to get here including the white rim excursion from Deadhorse point high above you can see this part of the road this is the only overlook on the river so it's worth spending some time exploring it and taking it all in when Buzz Aldrin stepped on the moon he described what he saw as magnificent desolation I can think of no better way to describe this spot it makes the rough ride well worth the effort in the other direction in the layers you see millions of years of geology and earth history a little farther down the road a faded spur trail heads to the right and provides another view of the river unfortunately I didn't know this until they saw the spur trail from Deadhorse point state park the next day now that you know it's here you should take it from Deadhorse point you can see the next few miles of the road and a few more spur trails by this time the trail has changed names it's now called the potash road and a portion of the White Rim Road the road meanders for several miles by the way we're no longer in Canyonlands National Park in fact we haven't been since just before the river Overlord and some maps the road even has a number it's called County Road 142 [Music] when the landscape opens up again you get that feeling of magnificent desolation it's another good spot to stop and take a few pictures [Music] as you go over a crest as a brief hint of blue on the horizon they are potash evaporation pools from a mining operation they provide a few of the non tourism related jobs in Moab they also provide nice contrast to the landscape [Music] the road ends down at river level so there are still several hundred feet to drop and drop it does it was too rough for the stabilization system so sorry for the bumps there are other trails down here and there are no signs so it's easy to get a bit lost especially when heading in the other direction telephone poles are a sign that it's almost over there are only a few miles of dirt road left there's one more interesting photo op just before leaving the dirt this balanced rock is not the size of a small bungalow when you hit the pavement you're in highway 279 it starts just after the boat dock on the Colorado River suddenly there's more greenery along the road the Colorado is just to the right then there are great sandstone cliffs this area is called Wall Street look for a sign pointing to Indian writing several feet above the road in the dark desert varnish the ancients left their mark moats depict animals and those who hunted them may be wondering why they're so high off the ground well the natural level of the dirt was below the area of the desert varnish the dirt was removed when they built highway 279 little further down the road is the rock-climbing area this is the easy section where local Outfitters train first-timers to climb these nearly vertical walls it seems fitting to end a journey that began by descending a cliff by watching someone climb one there are just a few more miles back to Moab and this will give you plenty of time to reflect in just a couple of hours Hiep descended over 1,900 feet on a road that was carved into a cliff you spent time in a harsh pristine former ranch with 1200 foot tall stone walls that were once used as a natural corral you've seen how resources are mined you've seen ancient writing and you've seen how some cheat gravity all in all not a bad way to spend an hour and after three hours most Moab visitors just go to the national parks but those who really know the area also go to Deadhorse Point State Park and they take a drive up scenic route 128 at least as far as the Fisher towers to get to Deadhorse point head towards Canyonlands they share highway 313 take the first left and continue until the road ends Deadhorse Point State Park is at the end of a several mile long butte that juts into and above Canyonlands it has the only campground in the area with running water and at the end of the road is one of my favorite viewpoints not just of Canyonlands but of anywhere the lookout is almost 2,000 feet above the Green River the island in the sky and mesa arch are just to the southwest near the horizon the dirt road below is the Shafer trail it starts in the island in the sky the gravel continues on for 17 miles until it reaches the Colorado River to the east there's a view of snow-capped mountains also to the east you see the colorful evaporation ponds from a potash mining business on a clear still morning Deadhorse point is another place with the sounds of silence on a clear day the view stretches out nearly a hundred miles in almost any direction because of the harsh climate and rugged landscape it should be no surprise that this was one of the last places in the continental US to be explored and mapped this is a favorite place for photographers and many get there pretty early one group told me they got here at about 4:00 a.m. to capture the Milky Way galaxy as it rose to the southwest but the best light to shoot the canyons is a little after sunrise photo to our leaders know this and there are often crowds of shutter bugs clinging to the cliffs in the afternoon the light isn't quite as dramatic the dead horse point is always a great place to be back in the olden days our folks used to take us on long scenic drives just for the fun of it a few miles north of the Moab town center is a great road to help carry on that tradition it's called highway 128 National Geographic calls it spectacular the road s's its way along the Green River for almost 26 miles a paved bike trail runs between the river and the road near Moab the closest city to Moab with a commercial airport is Grand Junction Colorado this is the scenic way to get there the landscape gets wider Pass Red Cliffs Lodge and resort this is a great place to float or paddle down the Colorado River many of the flat areas next to the river are used for cultivation with the help of irrigation from the river there are many intersecting dirt roads past about mile markers 17 Hollywood loves these roads and the area has appeared in film since the 1940s one road leads to the professor Valley which was used in city slickers to Austin Powers and many other films near mile marker 21 there's a small sign pointing east to the Fisher towers they were named after an 1880s pioneer this is a federal Recreation Area with a small campground pit toilet and no water source there are a number of hiking trails but the main activity is rock climbing these towers are well known they were featured in a TV commercial for a bank back in 2011 but rock climbers have been coming here since the early 1960s there are small spires to learn on and there are much bigger ones for the highly skilled [Music] another 11 miles north ish on Highway 128 there's another old landmark pull over just after crossing the bridge believe it or not this relic is the remnant of what was the longest suspension bridge in Utah until April 2008 when it was destroyed by a grass fire started by a small boy who was playing with matches the Dewey bridge was built in 1916 it had a 500 foot long wooden driving surface that was only 8 feet wide more recently it was used as a bike trail highway 128 continues for another 20 miles to interstate 70 this is a great way to spend a relaxing evening so when in Moab remember there's more to do than just see the national parks sure they're great but dead horse point in highway 128 as well as some other places along the way that I'll leave you to find on your own are all well worth exploring [Music] it's now time to start our journey to the westernmost part of the circle Bryce Canyon National Park luckily the Goblin Valley and Capitol Reef National Park are on the way once again to get there we're gonna spend some time looking out of the window but there's always something interesting to see while you're driving just think of it as the world's largest IMAX screen from Canyonlands it's 205 magnificent miles to Capitol Reef National Park if the sky is clear from i-70 we'd be looking at the nearly 100 mile long ridge called the waterpocket fold it's the home to Capitol Reef National Park unfortunately because of the weather we could only see a dark bump on the horizon after just 32 miles on the interstate we turned south west onto State Highway 24 we're driving near the edge of a large sandstone area that stretches all the way back to Canyonlands in a few places we get our first look of the small odd shaped pinnacles of rock called hoodoos by the way this is also how you get to the 4x4 only roads of the maze district of Canyonlands 96 miles from Moab we take a 12 mile side road to a very weird place this is goblin Valley State Park here layers of silt stone sandstone and other sedimentary rock are eroding at different rates leaving oddly amusing structures that remind some of goblins to others they look more like mushrooms to learn more about how they form check with the visitor center even on this gray drizzly day it was fun exploring the weirdness there are no trails or even a set route so you're free to just wander when you're down in the valley the goblins take on a more surreal appearance the movie Galaxy Quest was shot here because it looks so much like an alien planet I'm the far wall of the valley you can see the slow erosional process in motion it looks like the stone is slowly dripping away about an hour to explore it but many spend a few days here there is a small campground but reservations are recommend on this day that we arrived early no camping spaces were available a few miles south of the goblins the highway turns to follow the Fremont River up the fold it's technically called a monocline and it's an incredibly large step up of the Earth's crust 50 to 70 million years ago rock layers on top of the fold rose 7,000 feet higher than the same layers to the east if you like geology the drive itself is worth the trip this was shot in May and even in the desert showers brought in many flowers Capitol Reef is at the top of the fold in a mostly flat Valley that has attracted humans for at least 12,000 years eight to twelve hundred years ago some of these left their mark just before you get to the Visitor Center there's a huge petroglyph panel on a sandstone cliff face most of the figures resemble humans though some say they look like men from outer space as always stop at the Visitor Center to see if there's anything special going on in the park it turns out we just missed a blacksmith demonstration in the village of storage shop exploring the landscape can help you understand how the place got its name back in the day some thought this white rock looks somewhat like the US Capitol building and a ranger told me that the fold was quite an obstacle to cross for pioneers 100 years ago and at the time the word for a large barrier was reef and that's how we got the name Capitol Reef it has nothing to do with an ancient sea white men first settled the area in the 1880s the first Mormon settlers planted an orchard and it's still producing fruit and they called their settlement fruity Oh for photographers there's more to shoot here than just rocks there's also a photogenic bar near the town site the barn of the campground occupied much of the parks level ground capital reef is really about exploring the backcountry several of its dirt roads can be used by passenger cars however some are 4x4 only trails this is one of the parks most visited trails it's the road to Grand wash it's worth stopping along the way and especially at this Junction or you'll find an old uranium mine from the early 1900's here a miner purified a radioactive powder and he sold it as a supposedly healthy food supplement well it wasn't this is a great way to see the canyon in most cases you're looking down on a canyon from a high ridge here you're driving through one by the way until World War two this area was very difficult to get to you needed the horse and buggy the first motorized tractor didn't get here until the 1940s in highway 24 wasn't paid until 1962 the walls are full of small holes or pockets water collects in these pockets and that's how the 100 mile long ridge got its name the waterpocket fold after driving a few hours on gravel roads it's time to get back on the road and head to price instead of taking the 100 mile long 4x4 only Rim Trail we took the scenic byway highway 12 it's only 85 miles from Capitol Reef to bryce national park but you may be compelled to make one more stop before you get there highway 12 is a twisty mountain road at Boulder pass reaches 9600 feet then the road twists along the top petrified sand dunes call hell's backbone there's a great view of it at a pull out called point an overlook it provides a great view of an ancient Sahara like desert that somehow has been turned to stone it's hard to find words to describe Bryce Canyon colorful is one bizarre might be another but the best is well you just have to see the place for yourself it lies on the top step of the grand staircase where loose rock is easily washed away by rain 200 freeze and thaw cycles per year the result is tall spires called hoodoos price is at a higher elevation than the parts on the east side of the circle the park road is between 8,000 and 9,000 feet up and the temperatures are much cooler on this day in early May the morning temperature was 14 degrees Fahrenheit eight inches of snow fell a few days earlier the elevation and very clean air make this a great place for stargazing you can see three times as many stars here as you can in most places in the US the park has star watching parties on a regular basis and photographing stars is difficult and well it's a skill I haven't quite mastered it's not a large park and most view points are just off the main road the canyon well it isn't technically a canyon geologists call these theaters be mostly open up to the east-northeast so there's very few places where the Sun hits the hoodoos this is the view from rainbow point because the air is so clear here on most days you can see well over 90 miles and on very clear days like this one you can see up to 200 miles to the horizon before the Industrial Revolution this is how most people saw the world every few miles there's a pull out to another viewpoint this feature is called natural bridge well it's not actually a bridge natural bridges are eroded by rivers frost and rain washed away the soft iron rich soil of the Clarion formation making this in arch erosion here occurs at a rapid rate this tree is about 100 years old and when it was young its roots were covered with soil so in less than 100 years more than a foot of soil has been washed away there are three climatic zones in the park in a wide variety of wildlife like the small bird if you're luckier than me well you may even see one of the rare and much larger California condor that live in the area there are several trails in the park and most are short enough that anyone with proper hiking boots should take at least one I decided to take the Navajo loop starting from Sunset Point the trail is only 1.3 miles long and it quickly drops 550 feet to the canyon floor where it connects to several other trails sunny parts of the trail were dry but shaded areas were sticky and muddy and I soon learned why the Rangers at the Visitor Center were so concerned about the type of boots I was wearing they highly recommended that only boots with big lugs be worn I'm glad that that's what I add because it really was quite slick after the tunnel the trail was covered with snow and ice as you descend the size of the hoodoos become apparent and forgive the shaky camerawork here but the trail gets very narrow and the tripod would barely fit through the narrow opening I was also a bit distracted wondering how that condor osa pine got there and how is it able to grow so tall in such a confined space on the valley floor it's pretty obvious that we're in a different climate zone not only has it opened up but there's a surprising number of trees down here and there are several miles of trails it's why I decided to take one it's hard to remember that you're about 7,500 feet above sea level until you look at the sky it's a deeper shade of blue up here the occasional clearing provides a view of the 500 foot cliff I just walked down [Music] eventually it's time to start the muddy climb back up the butt was not only slick but it also built up on the boots and made them heavy so going up the equivalent of a 50-story high-rise in muddy boots doesn't make the journey any easier the tripod quickly doubled as a hiking pole it made the hike up the hill much easier the trail is close to the canyon walls and they almost look like they're melting in a way they are each time it rains or snows a little bit of the rock exfoliates in drips off the walls the good news is the higher you go the better the view the last couple of switchbacks are long sweepers above most of the hoodoos providing a great view of the most famous one in the park Thor's hammer at the top at sunrise point there's a nice view of the valley there's a very nice view of the valley there are several other trails in the park but if you're looking for a moderate hike that gets you into the hoodoos I recommend the Navajo loop the western portion of the Grand Circle is characterized by odd terrain on a smaller scale than what we find in the four corners and in the Moab area it's easier to feel more connected to the landscape when you can walk amongst the mushrooms and goblins that are only a few feet above your head it's also easier to see erosional forces at work here in the four-corners everything is huge and seemingly permanent here you witnessed the effects of weather and time giving many a better sense of how their actions shape the environment most grand circle tours include a trip to nearby Zion National Park it's a great place to go it really deserves to be explored for several days and we just didn't have the time so we're off to the Lake Powell and Page Arizona if you're in the mood for a side trip or if the price campground is full checkout kodachrome basin state park it's Red Rock is less than 30 miles from the price entrance in the early days of color photography Kodachrome slide film was the best way to capture the vibrant colors of the rock so the state of Utah named the park after the film there are plenty of hiking trails here and in the summer trail rides and other activities are available the road to Kodachrome Basin has many photo opportunities the landscape is rugged and there's no shortage of photogenic old farmhouses and outbuildings here's another travel option if for whatever reason you're not interested in going to Bryce perhaps because there's snow on the pass on highway 12 or if you need to cut your trip short there's a shortcut from the Goblin Valley back to the four corners and there's plenty of my stops along the way from the Goblin Valley it's only about 90 minutes to Natural Bridges National Monument fill in the visitor center he learned that in 1883 a prospector who was looking for gold near the Colorado River he didn't find any gold but what he found was three large bridges made of stone today they're the main features of natural bridges it's here that I learned the difference between an arch and a bridge bridges are formed by streams rivers arches are eroded from the side due to wind and frost and other types of erosion on this May Day the weather was cold it even started to sleep which made it difficult to even see the bridges if you look carefully you can see the top it takes less than an hour to drive the parks eleuthero to each of the three bridges the next 70 miles to the now-familiar Mexican Hat feature a couple of more treats a few miles from the monument head south on highway 261 Hill pass the extreme east end of Lake Powell which is formed by the controversial plan Canyon Dam across the Colorado River in Page Arizona the lake is about 100 feet lower than it used to be due to several years of low rain and snowfall about 10 miles from Mexican hat there's another tree it's an old mining road called the moki dugway the signs approaching it are rather intimidating on a clear day the view might be fantastic on a rainy one you just see the potential by this time the sleet had turned to rain so I continued even though the pavement doesn't in three miles the well graded switchbacks drop eleven hundred feet from the top of cedar Mesa by the way the state of Utah recommends that vehicles in RVs longer than 28 feet not attempt to negotiate the steep 10% grade [Music] the gravel was relatively smooth and there was never an out-of-control moment and on the way down there's more good news the cellphone started working we had zero bars for quite some time when the road levels out you're driving through the valley of the gods it's a smaller version of nearby Monument Valley a dirt road meanders through it in on a clear day it's well worth the trip and to the east we can now see the familiar sight of rapidly rich in Mexican hat indicating that we're back in the four corners [Music] you the route from Bryce to Page Arizona follows the National Park highway better known as US Highway 89 it runs from Flagstaff Arizona through the Rocky Mountains all the way to Canada it passes through seven national parks along the way each of our 156 miles is designated as a scenic byway for most of the route we're driving through the Grand staircase-escalante national monument covering much of southwestern Utah a less direct route to Page takes you down an old gravel road called the Cottonwood Road it leads to the amazing 100-foot tall grass Fenner Arch with its 100-foot span another Travel option will take you to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon but due to snow-covered roads access is often limited to the summer months one of the most amazing places in the Grand Staircase is called the wave it's near the Utah Arizona border get there via a beat-up old dirt road that is assuming you have permission to go there in an effort to protect the area only 20 people are allowed in each day ten are selected from an online lottery and ten names are literally pulled from a hat each morning at the BLM office in Kanab Utah in the high season over 100 people will be trying to crowd into the tiny office each day I've thrown my name into the Hat several times but my name has never been drawn it don't give you exact directions to the trailhead until you've earned your pass but I do know the road level is this escarpment then there's a two and a half mile hike to the wave these images were supplied by a German couple who are lucky enough to be selected three times in five days the views are incredible and I'll keep entering the online lottery one day I hope I'll be able to see this for myself Lake Powell is an incredible oasis in the desert it's about a hundred and eighty six miles long and has over 2,000 miles of shoreline the lake straddles the Utah Arizona border most of its in Utah the Glen Canyon Dam is in Page Arizona the primary purpose of the dam is for flood control water storage and provide clean power to millions oddly one of the dirtiest coal burning plants in the country sits on Native American land just a few miles away the top of the white line is to high-water mark from 1983 today the lake level is over 100 feet lower the lake draws two million visitors a year and most of them will stay in Page a must stop for any photographer visiting page is a tour to lower Antelope Canyon tickets at the site can be purchased in Page from several tour operators they'll ride to the canyon in an open truck after a short drive you'll see amazing things in this famous slot canyon I've been here several times in each time it's a little different because he trained causes further erosion and slightly alters the walls of the canyon in the high season which is from late spring to fall you won't be alone my last visit in May according to my watch every three minutes a new truckload of tourists entered the canyon it takes about 30 minutes to wander through and you'll get a few minutes in each section or gathering and most guides explain the history of the place as you enter each gallery at noon it's possible to capture a beam of light passing through a small hole the guides know that photographers are interested in capturing this shot ask them how to do it and they'll probably tell you our second great photo spot is just south of page on highway 89 this is the trailhead to Horseshoe Bend it's only about a half mile long but it's uphill and in places rather sandy but the view is well worth the effort as always seems to be the case the river in this case the Colorado River is about a thousand feet below if you look carefully you can see a tour boat that gives some scale to the enormous canyon it's now time to head back to the four corners and there are several ways to get there though none of them are a straight shot the shortest way uses highways 98 and 160 it's 250 or so miles from Paige to our last stop Mesa Verde National Park other routes are over twice as long and they take you to other amazing places such as the best-preserved meteor crater on earth you can drive on old route 66 then explore Petrified Forest National Park then there's the opportunity to two or three of the largest sites of pre-columbian Native American communities this is the best preserved meteor crater in the world it's just a few miles south of i-40 50 thousand years ago a several thousand ton meteor created a 40 100 foot diameter and 570 foot deep crater the crater and Visitor Center is privately owned and well worth the visit before there were interstates there was route 66 it was a collection of roads that carried millions of travelers from Chicago to Los Angeles from the 1920s through the 1980s towns along the way came up with creative and often odd ways to get drivers to stop and spend money in their shops route 66 was decommissioned in 1985 but many of its landmarks remained in Illinois a water tower was turned into the world's largest ketchup bottle in Missouri there's the world's largest rocking chair most motels along the route had elaborate neon signs and some were theme-based these are the remains of John's modern cabins even in the 1950s there was nothing modern about them the less than modern outhouse was out back one of the best-preserved stretches of old route 66 is nearly on our way it's in Holbrook Arizona it's near Petrified Forest National Park here dinosaurs decorate Rock shops in large signs help businesses earn a living for their owners you can even spend a night in one of the old theme style motels like this one each room is a private wigwam sort of and in the parking lot you'll be surrounded by vintage cars by the way I've stayed in many of these classic route 66 motels and even the $25 a night ones are pretty nice and clean Petrified Forest National Park is just a few miles down the road this is a small park with one main road in several short walking trails at the Visitor Center you learned that most of the best petrified wood was pillaged 100 years ago in the park was formed to protect what remained 225 million years ago this area was a forest on a vast floodplain near the equator some of the trees died and fell into a swamp and then they were quickly covered up by mineral rich sediment over time the minerals were absorbed in the wood eventually they replaced the wood while preserving its structure it took millions of years but recent uplift and erosion Allah for tsa's have revealed these fossilized trees humans have been in the area for at least twelve thousand years many lets her mark here on newspaper rock at the north end of the park near i-40 there's an elevated view of the 160 mile long crescent-shaped parcel of desert called The Painted Desert it runs from near the Grand Canyon to just east at this spot route 66 used to pass by here many drivers are trying to make it all the way to California this car didn't quite make it highway 191 heads up to the four corners and about the halfway point a side road leads to Canyon de Chelly National Monument and spelled to celli but trust me it's de chelly it's the first of the three large ancient communities we'll visit for five thousand years this was a major community no one knows exactly why but it was vacated by about the Year 1300 if you have the time take a jeep tour or hike to its most famous ruin call the White House I was told it would be in the sunlight the morning so that's when I hiked the two-mile one-way trail when I got there I was impressed by the structure but the ruin was in shadow making it less than a spectacular photo it also made the couple 100-foot climb out of the canyon less fun eighty-five miles to the east as the crow flies is the area's largest pre-columbian ruin Chaco Canyon unfortunately it's 200 miles by car at about the halfway point a slight detour leads to the only place in the US where you can be in four states at the same time I've only been there once and it was closed at the time the location is controlled by the Navajo and there's a slight fee in 2010 they updated the site but there are still few amenities for example there's still no power we have to drive another hundred miles to the southeast to get to Chaco Canyon national historic monument this was the hub of the ancient culture all roads led to Chaco today only two heavily wash boarded dirt roads lead to it but if you're a fan of native cultures this is a must-see its largest structure is Pueblo Bonito it's not just the largest here it's the largest pre-columbian stone structure north of Mexico in the mid 1200s it had four stories in over 600 rooms and 50 round ceremonial Kiva's proving that the Chaco ends were excellent Masons to see more of this national historic monument see the extra section Chaco Canyon and canyon de chelly aren't popular enough yet to be designated as national parks our last stop is this is Mesa Verde National Park it's about 70 miles from Durango unlike Chaco Mesa Verde has luxuriously paved roads in the early 2000s lightning strikes caused many fires the fires burned over 20,000 acres blackened forests may not be nice to look at but the fires do have benefits for example they revealed many never-before-seen archaeological sites there's 600 cliff dwellings here they seem to be everywhere you look most are on either side of a long steep sided canyon in some cases hand and footholds had to be carved into the cliff face even today you'll need to be fairly physically fit to walk among the most popular ruins in many cases you need to be on a ranger led tour just to visit them tour tickets can be purchased in the visitor center or online the fee is small and the tours sell out quickly so it's best to get your tickets a day or so in advance this is especially true if you want to go on this slightly more expensive Twilight tour of cliff palace this is a cliff palace trailhead at first there's a steep drop then you have to scale a ladder and this is a cliff palace it has about 150 rooms in 23 below ground ceremonial Kiva's it's estimated that about 100 could stay here this must have been an important place 75 percent of the 600 cliff dwellings in the park have only 1 to 5 rooms each the Ranger told us that it's believed that most of the structures were used to store grain and it's thought that cliff palace was a social and administrative site that was frequently used for ceremonies the Ranger talk was informative and he answered all questions the tour is only about 45 minutes long but it can be hot so it's a good idea to bring some water you can drive the loop road and stop along the way to look at the sites at the well mark view points as well as take a tour in the same day I stayed for a weekend and there's still much more I'd like to see and do I spent the weekend in the parks lodge rooms fill up early and you'll have to get reservations to secure a loop the rooms go into the woods and these deer came right up to my room by the way we're at about 8,000 feet here the official Mesa Verde National Park website is one of the best I've seen it has lots of up-to-date information there are great maps and there's even a section on how to take great photos in the park all of the places we visited on the Grand Circle have had helpful websites and many were used to help plan this trip but this one and one of Mesa Verde is really good [Music] well we've closed the grand circle along the way we've seen and explored amazing things indeed the icons of the West we've experienced the harshness of the weather and terrain while gaining respect for those who first managed to survive and thrive here we've travelled about 1,500 miles and I've appreciated every mile and every minute of it but the West is big and I've learned that there's much more like to explore in this vast part of it well this was my grand circle tour I hope it has encouraged you to venture out on yours [Music] [Music] you

Channel: The West is Big! Travel Guides

Views: 1,154,517

Rating: 4.8904891 out of 5

Keywords: grand circle, mighty five, mesa verde, arches, canyonlands, antelope canyon, capitol reef, horseshoe bend, rt. 66, canyon de chelly, chaco canyon, four corners, trip planning, road trip, photography, shafer trail, moab utah, bryce national park, arches national park, canyonlands national park, travel guide, the grand circle tour, utah's mighty five, monument valley, the west is big, utah, utah mighty 5, utah's national parks, bryce canyon np, 2020, moab, rv trip

Id: PFn-XYwVteE

Length: 90min 20sec (5420 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 05 2019