I drove out of Moab heading south. The road shows the La Sal Mountains off to the east, and a long red cliff to the west, the slip fault. Houses last along the road for quite a ways; Moab is big by Utah standards. They finally fade away and the highway enters a canyon. Various side canyons branch away. This lasts until the highway passes a big red slickrock dome on the left and manmade sight as surreal as the surrounding landscape. Hole N" The Rock The dome holds southeastern Utah’s unmissable piece of tourist kitsch, the Hole N’’ The Rock. It’s literally unmissable, because the name is painted directly onto the rock dome. Immediately afterward sits a parking lot surrounded by the rock, two gift shops, a petting zoo, and a huge outdoor museum of ... read more

I headed out of Green River heading southeast. The road crosses flat desert every bit as dull as the day before. Snow covered mountains appear in the distance, the La Sal Mountains. As the road goes on, red mesas appear in the distance and get closer. Eventually, a wall of them forms looking like a smaller version of the Waterpocket Fold cliffs. I’ve reached a slip fault, where part of the land dropped. Arches National Park The road runs along the base of the cliffs. Eventually, another set of cliffs appears on the other side, creating what looks like a canyon. It’s another slip fault. What on earth could create something like this? A sign appeared for Arches National Park, and I had my answer. This part of Utah was once a shallow ocean. A url=http://www.nps.gov/arch/naturescience ... read more

Torrey Utah is a very special place on the vacation scale. In the western US, towns near national parks tend to fall in one of two categories: completely dedicated to the tourist trade with facilities overflowing with visitors, or working towns with nearly none of both. The best tread a fine balance between the two, catering to visitors without being overwhelmed by them. The very best are towns that cater to people from nearby areas getting away for a few days. Torrey, surprisingly for southern Utah’s small towns, is one of these. The bed and breakfast fit the vibe well. I came downstairs to one of the better breakfasts I’ve had on this trip. The owner loves to cook. She grows some of her own produce, and incorporates it into the breakfasts. It featured multiple types ... read more

One of Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments great features, beyond the low visitor numbers, is the wide variety of landscape within its borders. This monument holds a huge number of natural features, all different. I moved to the east side today, to explore the Escalante River. It’s the last major river system in the continental United States to be named and mapped. Highway 12 Highway 12 east of the town of Escalante first crosses a grassy plateau. Just outside town, it has a view of a red ridge to the north with an obvious gap in it. The gap is the start of Escalante Canyon, one of Utah’s most impressive multi-day backpack trips. The highway, by contrast, is downright dull. All at once, that changes. The roadway reaches the plateau edge and an overlook, Head Of ... read more

Southern Utah landscapes are often described as colorful, fantastic, and weird. Very few areas have quite the concentration of colorful, fantastic, and weird as where I’m heading today, Bryce Canyon. Unfortunately, that leads to high popularity, which leads to serious crowding. Thankfully, in a desert this large, there are always places to escape them. Red Canyon The road north this morning has long views to the east of pinkish sandstone cliffs. They are the Pink Cliffs, the highest rung of the Grand Staircase. The highway then reaches a lonely junction where Utah 12 branches off east into the cliffs. They are just the first course; this road is officially proclaimed the most scenic in the entire state. Quickly, the cliffs get close, unti... read more