Colorado & Utah 2022

Something about the Utah canyon country pulls me in and fills up my heart. It’s a place I will never get tired of, and I especially I love this area in the autumn. I wanted to re-visit some of my favorites, plus explore and discover new areas as well. That sounds like another road trip to me !!!

I invite you to take a virtual trip with me to one of my favorite ares to explore and hike… Grab your beverage of choice, there are a lot of photos here! I covered a lot of ground and took thousands of photos that I’ve pared down.

83 trail miles hiked

6 National Parks

4 National Monuments

2 State Parks

2 other public land areas

3900 driving miles

2 exhausted feet

1 happy Andrea

DINOSAUR National Monument

Dinosaur National Monument is lovely, but it was hot as blazes, 100 degrees the first day, 90 degrees the second day. I cooled off by constantly pouring water over my head.

Cub Creek road is an easy way to see lizard petroglyphs as well as the Swelter shelter glyphs. With the heat I didn’t have much energy, so I drove down Split Mountain road by the boat launch and watched people putting in and taking out river rafts. Very beautiful spot, peaceful, and cooler by the water.

Taking advantage of the cooler morning, I woke early to hike the Desert Voices trail – this can be done as a figure-8 loop with Sound of Silence trail. So peaceful and quiet here!

One of the drawbacks of Dinosaur National Monument is that a lot of driving is involved to get from one section to another. But it’s worth it, IMO. Getting to Harper’s Corner on the Colorado side of the monument is a long drive to the middle of nowhere through open range. Yes, I properly said hello to all the cows I saw.

The views were gorgeous, but there was a lot of wildfire smoke and haze which made for less than ideal photos. I had the area to myself for over half an hour. The Green and Yampa Rivers converge behind Steamboat Rock. Looking east you look down to Echo Park – I would love to camp there some day, but would need a high clearance vehicle to get there.

I ended the day by visiting the Quarry Exhibit Hall – a wall of log-jam-like dinosaur bones in situ. These are not a re-creation, they are the original bones below those that were found by Earl Douglass in 1909. The building that covers the site is beautiful. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

On my last morning at Dinosaur National Monument I hiked the Sound of Silence trail at first light – just me and the desert, the way I like it. It was truly one of the quietest places I’ve ever been. The ambient sound level here is less than inside of a recording studio. That’s QUIET! I love how the shines on the oranges and reds of the desert rocks here.

BLACK CANYON OF THE GUNNISON National Park

One word kept coming to mind at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park – “Vertiginous.” It’s crazy how steep and narrow this canyon is compared to Grand Canyon, which is much wider than it is tall. Gunnison is the opposite, incredibly narrow compared to the height. The most narrow section is only 40 feet across at the river. For something that is from 1000 to 2700 feet tall, that’s narrow!

On my first evening here I hiked the Rim Rock trail from the campground to the viewpoint near the visitor center. It made me dizzy, and I’m not really afraid of heights. It was at dusk so was hard to get good photos because of the light/dark contrast on the canyon walls.

The South Rim Scenic Drive offers many viewpoints along the way. Early in the morning the contrast of sunlight doesn’t make for very good photos. I decided to drive to the end of the road to High Point and hiked from there to Warner Point. I spent a while just soaking in the huge views.

Driving back to the campground, the light at all of the viewpoints was much better – Cedar Point/Overlook had the best view of Painted Wall, even better than Painted Wall overlook. The lighter bands are intrusions of pegmatite in the solid wall of gneiss. Mother Nature makes some beautiful art. The Painted Wall is the highest cliff in Colorado, 2250 feet from rim to river below.

Back at the campground, I decided to head to Mesa Verde a day early, since I saw everything that I could see on the south rim that morning. Colorado Highway 145 was gorgeous, a ton of open national forest land. I would love to come back to explore sometime.

MESA VERDE National Park

Mesa Verde National Park has been on my “To See” list for many years. Morefield campground at Mesa Verde (run by Aramark) is not the greatest campground, but the shower felt incredible and I spent a lazy evening reading while doing laundry. Hooray for showers and laundry!

NOTE: Most of the sites here require tour tickets to enter. Be sure to check the NPS Mesa Verde website for full information.

At Chapin Mesa, the museum was unfortunately closed for major renovations. Near the museum is a viewpoint of Spruce Tree house from a distance, but it’s off limits for now because of rockfall for the last several years.

I’m not normally a guided tour kind of person, but the 4-hour Mesa Verde 700 Years tour (run by Aramark) was wonderful and highly recommended. Mark was an excellent guide with a gift of storytelling and a passion for what he does.

The tour began at Farview and Coyote Villages, which were on top of the mesa, not cliff dwellings. They were estimated to have been 3-4 stories tall. The ancestral Pueblo people were incredible at dry farming corn, beans, and squash – We could take some lessons from them today!

We also went on the Cliff Palace tour, which is what most people think of at Mesa Verde. It was good but you can only walk across at the base of it, not go anywhere inside.

I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone interested in the culture and history of the Pueblo Peoples. One possibility of why they left the area is that several bad droughts drove them to move away. They dry farmed corn, beans, and squash on top of the mesa using check dams, and were also hunter/gatherers. They lived on the mesa tops for 600+ years and only built and moved into the cliff dwellings the last 80-100 years they were in the area. Another possibility is that they built the cliff dwellings because of the seep springs in the alcoves, which was the only reliable water for them with the droughts, until they moved south permanently.

Balcony House is at Wetherill Mesa. This is not for those with claustrophobia or a fear of heights. After the path down, the only way into Balcony House is by climbing a 32-foot ladder (very sturdy!) to get up to the site itself. It is the only site that has a wall built at the cliff edge. They’re not sure why, but it appears this was partly walled off to keep others from coming in. To get out one must crawl through a small tunnel, less than 18 inches wide and 12 feet long. The final push is to climb more ladders and use toe and finger holds carved into the rock to get out. Views from the Balcony House are just stunning, and it’s well worth a visit if the ladders and tunnel work for you.

Step House: At the end of the road at Wetherill Mesa is a short hike down to Step House (no tour ticket needed). This site has several pit houses which were built hundreds of years before the other cliff dwelling rooms. The NPS has re-created the roof of one of the pit houses to show what it would have looked like. There is also a nice wall of petroglyphs here.

Long House: This was perhaps my favorite of all the cliff dwellings I visited. It’s almost a mile hike/walk on a paved path to get to the start of the Long House tour, then another 1/2 mile hike down to Long House itself. I preferred this to Cliff Palace, though I think Cliff Palace is more popular because it’s easier to get to and is readily visible from an overlook area.

At Long House we were able to walk through the ruins, look straight down into the kivas, and get a better sense of what it was like to be inside instead of viewing from a distance. There are some attic/granary/storage areas way up high here. This is also one of only 2 sites in Mesa Verde with a plaza that was probably used for ceremonies, dances, etc. This was the only site I visited where the seep spring at the back of the alcove still had water in it, though only about 2 x 3 feet wide and a couple of inches deep. It’s hard to imagine 100-150 people surviving on just that little bit of water. Water seeps from the mesa above through the sandstone into the alcoves where it hits a layer of shale and can’t go further, so it “seeps” out the back wall of the alcove that these sites were built in.

CANYONS OF THE ANCIENTS National Monument

I stayed at a private campground called Ancient Echoes at Kelly Place. This place is still a work in progress with huge potential, and a beautiful, peaceful atmosphere. It’s OK for a small camper but nothing big would work well here. I spent my first the afternoon in the main lodge area during wind and rain. It’s beautiful inside with a library and space to hang out with with-fi while waiting for better weather.

On my full day here, I hiked from Kelly Place up the arroyo to the ledges above and didn’t see another human being for almost 5 miles, exactly how I like it. There are beautiful views of Ute Mountain across McElmo Canyon, and a few small ruins tucked up in the cliffside. It is so peaceful here, you can feel the ancient history of this place soaking in.

That afternoon I decided to drive a couple of miles to the Sand and Rock Creek trailhead and hike more. I ended up walking another 2.5 miles and saw an amazing teal and yellow collared lizard, and saw one ruin before I decided to head back.

HOVENWEEP National Monument

Driving toward Monument Valley, I decided to detour to Hovenweep National Monument and I’m so glad I did! The main area is a 2-mile loop hike from the visitor center with so many wonderful ruins around the rim of a canyon. I have so much awe and respect for the Pueblo people who lived here and built these centuries ago. I wanted to so badly to get inside and explore the ruins, but it’s not allowed. This is a great place to stop for a short visit. Eroded Boulder House is perhaps the most creative use of a large rock I’ve ever seen in my life.

MONUMENT VALLEY

Monument Valley wasn’t part of my original plan, but I wanted to see it so adjusted my trip to fit it in. This was my first time staying at a KOA, and other than having spotless bathrooms, showers, and laundry facilities, I’m not a fan. I felt like a sardine packed into a can. Of course coming into Monument Valley I had to stop at the same hill that Forrest Gump stopped and turned around at.

While the scenery here is so unique, it felt incredibly touristy with huge tour groups and hordes of people. I drove the dirt Monument Loop road which was beautiful, but I couldn’t imagine doing that in a sedan or passenger car like some people were doing. To be completely honest, it’s one of those places that I’m glad I’ve seen, but probably will never go back to.

p.s. If you ever drive through nearby Bluff, Utah, notice the sign coming into town: “Est. 650 A.D.” Love it!

NATURAL BRIDGES National Monument

The Natural Bridges campground is first come first served, and it fills quickly! I got the second to the last spot out of 13. I was going to spend a lazy afternoon at the campground until I realized the highway I had chosen to NOT come up from Monument Valley was actually the Moki Dugway. Of course I had to go explore it, without the trailer attached 🙂 It’s about 30 miles from Natural Bridges to the top of the cliff. I drove up and down a couple of times just because it’s fun and the views are stunning. I would have been fine to go up it with the trailer, but I hadn’t been sure at the time so I’m glad I decided to go the long way around. I’m just thankful I got a campsite.

I decided to hike the 3 bridges early the next morning and then head for the Canyonlands Needles District a day early because of potential weather. As is my usual, I was up before dawn to hit the trail. I had originally wanted to do the whole 8.5 mile canyon floor hike, but rangers had told me it’s not a marked trail, with a lot of route finding and quicksand, so it was a much shorter day than planned, but still very well worthwhile.

The scenic loop is a pretty drive on the mesa top, with 3 huge natural bridges with overlooks along the way. I hiked part way down to Sipapu Bridge to the shelf/overlook, including a ladder and a metal staircase, all very solid and sturdy. The sun was not quite over the ridge behind the bridge, and I was the only person there. It was a perfect place to drink my morning tea and greet the morning sun. I would have been content to sit there all day. There is a small Pueblo ruin on the ledge with a seep spring, must have been quite a sight to live there. Then I drove to the other 2 bridges and just looked down from the viewpoints.

Time to move on to Needles…

CANYONLANDS National Park – Needles District

This place… There is beautiful magic here. I leave a piece of my heart here every time I visit, and that’s ok, just means I have to keep going back!

The main road to Canyonlands Needles District had washed out several weeks previously, so the alternate route was a paved Forest Service road that was bumpy but pretty. Weather was going to be shifting to rain and potential flash floods in a couple of days; Mother Nature can do whatever she pleases and I respect that.

To make use of my afternoon time, I hiked the Slickrock Trail (2.5 miles) at the end of the scenic drive road. It was 90 degrees and the rock bounces the heat right back up at you. Just gorgeous, beautiful views of Island in the Sky, Grand View Point, and looking back to the Needles. Photos don’t do this place justice. It was 93 degrees in the shade when I got back to my campsite – time to pour more water over my head.

For my one full day here, after checking in at the visitor center they convinced me to try the Peekaboo trail instead of going back to Chesler Park. It was killing me that I wouldn’t have as much time here as I would like!!!

Peekaboo Trail at Needles. Boots on trail at 7am, since it was supposed to get even hotter than the day before. The trail started across a sandy open meadow area, over an area of slickrock, another meadow area, and then the real fun began. This trail involves a lot of slickrock, scrambling, and route-finding using cairns. The trail to the end where there are some pictographs is 5.5 miles each way, but I knew it would be too hot to do the whole thing, even with an early start. A few places were definitely interesting and I had to get creative, including what I like to call the butt-scoot boogie. There was a lot of walking along uneven ledges and skirting around canyons with big pour-offs. Beautiful cliffs, and the morning light was perfect.

One area was a bit sketchy near where I decided to turn around for the day. It was a 45 degree angle of slickrock along a ledge with nowhere to put feet, and a drop-off below. I ended up facing the wall, both hands and both feet on the rock, and doing a sideways crab walk for about 20 feet. This is where good sticky trail runner shoes are a must; there’s no way I would have considered doing this in heavy hiking boots. I finally stopped under a beautiful cliff in the shade and sat for quite a while with tea and breakfast. I would have stayed here for hours if I hadn’t known it was going to be wicked-hot later that afternoon, stopping here was the right choice. I feel totally at peace here; just sitting, breathing, and watching the scenery is the best sort of meditation.

Cave Spring Trail – I had planned 2 days in a hotel to ride out the potential bad weather – these canyons aren’t a place to be hiking with a threat of flash floods. But I needed to get one last hike in before leaving! Well, 2 hikes.

Early in the morning I hiked the short but fun Cave Spring Trail – There are alcoves with seep springs here, and cattle ranchers used to use them for water and living space. Then the trail scrambles up and over the slickrock above the alcoves for beautiful views of the area. It’s a good “beginner to slickrock” trail.

Needles Campground Loop – I wanted just a bit more time here, so I randomly drove to the campground and found a hiking trail that loops over and around the A and B loops. What fun! More slickrock, some scrambling, and jaw-dropping views. I could see weather building and knew it was time to leave, though I wish I had been able to spend much more time here.

Donnelly Canyon – As I was driving away from Needles (this is a gorgeous drive!) I noticed a parking area and decided to stop and see what was there… A lovely canyon and amazing cliffs. One last bit of walking, right? I took the trail up toward the cliffs and missed a step, landing on one hand and the opposite knee. Nothing but a few scratches. I decided a walk up the canyon instead of the cliffs would work better, and I followed the wash for quite a way enjoying solitude. By the time I got back to the car my ankle was hurting and swelling, though I never felt it when I tripped!

The rainy weather was actually good timing, because I spent 2 days in a hotel in Monticello icing my ankle. It was nice having a break mid-way through my trip. If anyone is ever in Monticello, I recommend getting a burger at High Desert Café – Yum!

CANYONLANDS National Park –
Island in the Sky District

Canyonlands Island in the Sky is fun to explore. I didn’t want to be with the crowds at Grand View Point, and wanted to see something new. I decided on Upheaval Dome – it’s a 2-mile wide crater with a gray-ish dome heaving up in the middle of it. This involved more slickrock scrambling, which didn’t feel great on my ankle but still happy I hiked.

Driving around, I ended up at White Rim Overlook trail (not to be confused with the White Rim Road). What a gem of a trail… 1 level mile each way to stunning views east and south toward the Needles District. There is a great view down to the White Rim Road – I watched several tiny 4×4 vehicles below. This was much nicer than Grand View Point, in my opinion, and much better for solitude.

ARCHES National Park

I set my alarm for 4:30am, and got through the gates at Arches National Park before 5:30 am. Arches has become so crowded in the past several years that there is now an entry permit system, and even with that some areas are like a crowded day at Disneyland. I went in without a plan, and had a great time!

I decided to welcome the morning sun at the Windows area, walking out by headlamp. Sitting and watching a sliver of moon right in the middle of the south window as the morning sky lit up was so pretty! Jupiter was over Turret arch, a bonus. I usually hit the ground running when I wake up every day; this was a lesson in learning to pause, relax, and just let the day open up slowly. Once there was enough light to hike I walked the loop behind the Windows and watched the cliff face light up with morning light, perfect timing!

My intention for today was to avoid crowds and see things I haven’t before, so I chose a random trail with nobody else at the parking lot for Sand Dune Arch.

Sand Dune Arch is small, but inside of a series of fins that are fun to walk through. The hike continues across a meadow to Broken Arch, another small but nice one. The trail scrambles up and through the arch itself toward Tapestry Arch on a spur trail. I scrambled up to get inside of that one too, nobody else around but me, exactly the way I prefer.

The loop then continues to the campground, and from there the trail wanders up inside and through a series of fins to get back to the meadow and the trailhead. This is a really nice hike, 3.5 miles with very few people.

I decided against any more crowded trails at Arches, but on a whim on my way out I stopped at Courthouse Wash trailhead and ended up hiking the mile through Park Avenue to the far end, The hike is very easy and nice, up through a large dry wash with huge cliffs on either side. Photos don’t do justice to the size of the cliffs here. I was out of Arches by 11am, before the heat. Worth it to get up at 4:30am for this!

Moab Area – Bowtie and Corona Arches

Another day with no plans, just exploring and being open to whatever presented itself.

The Potlach Road is a stunning drive along the Colorado River through The Portal, where the river enters the canyon again after crossing the valley at Moab. There was a large (and crowded) trailhead for Bowtie and Corona Arches, and I decided to give it a try.

The trail starts steep for a short way, crosses RR tracks, then flattens out for a while until the slickrock scrambling starts – posts and a chain embedded in the rock in one spot make it easier to get up a steep section, then an 8-foot ladder. After that the trail skirts along a ledge around a canyon, kind of like Peekaboo trail in Needles, but not as crazy.

Bowtie Arch is horizontal, not vertical, like a skylight. It’s really beautiful until it makes your neck hurt from looking up at it.

Corona Arch is really unique, and my timing was perfect to catch the sun behind it for stunning photos. It was fairly crowded, but there is a lot of room to spread out. This hike is short but well worth it, a good way to spend a morning with no plans!

At this point I decided that I had earned a BLTA sandwich at Moab Brewery, along with a Dead Horse Amber Ale 🙂

DEAD HORSE POINT State Park

I like camping at Dead Horse Point State Park in the Moab area – Moab itself is a zoo with Disneyland-like crowds. DHP State Park is far enough away, with 2 excellent campgrounds, but still close enough to be able to access Canyonlands Island in the Sky, the hiking areas surrounding Moab, and Arches National Park. The views along the rim trails are easily as good as those from Canyonlands.

Sunset at the Point – I wanted an easy evening stroll and my guidebook says DHP is one of the best sunsets in Utah. I walked about 1.5 miles along the rim trail, crossing over a spot where the road goes over a neck 30 yards wide with huge dropoffs on either side, separating the point from the rest of the mesa. Found a great rock to sit on and just settled in to watch the sunset light – so pretty! There are perfect views down to a gooseneck in the Colorado River below. There were well over 100 people with the same idea, but everyone was spread out and quiet, so it was nice. This was a perfect way to end my time at DHP and the Moab area.

GOBLIN VALLEY State Park

I had a lazy slow morning packing up at DHP and driving to Goblin Valley State Park. I did a hoppity-skippity happy dance when I saw that the campground has showers!!!

In the afternoon I hike 2.5 miles to Goblin’s Lair – The trail skirts around the back side of the goblins, which was easy enough until a crazy and steep rock scramble to get up to the opening of the Lair itself. I almost didn’t do it, but glad I did. Someday I’d love to go inside via rappelling with a guide. The scramble back down to the trail was slow with a lot of hands holding rocks, but fun too.

I took an evening stroll, meandering through Goblin Valley proper. The fun thing about this place is that inside the Goblins themselves there is no true trail, it’s just a wandering explore anywhere a person chooses to go. I think Mother Earth had a great sense of humor to create this place, it’s well worth a visit!

Little Wildhorse Canyon

Happy Birthday to me!!! A beautiful slot canyon is a great was to spend my birthday. I started my morning with Little Wildhorse Canyon. I knew there would be standing water inside with the rains from several days before, up to my hips just like last year, and surprisingly not too cold for early in the morning. A large rock wedged in the canyon that wasn’t there last year shows the power of water in these narrow canyons. Eventually I came to a rock that I just could NOT get up and over, no matter how I maneuvered. I just didn’t have the reach I needed and there was nowhere for me to grip. I decided at that point to turn around. Back wading through the water to the car, campground, and a hot shower before hitching up and heading to Capitol Reef.

There are a lot of photos here, because every few feet the view and textures and canyon changes. Time to refill your beverage of choice and head into the canyon with me….

Little Wildhorse Canyon is not technical, meaning no special skills or equipment are needed to go through it, though obviously a taller person would have an easier time getting over that rock than I did!! If you have the time and energy, I highly recommend going UP Bell Canyon which is a much wider, easier walk, then following the Behind the Reef Road for 1.5 miles to the upper entrance of Little Wildhorse Canyon, and then going DOWN Little Wildhorse, for a total of about 8 miles. That is how I did it last year and was able to slide down the rock instead of trying to climb up it.

On to Capitol Reef National Park!

CAPITOL REEF National Park

Fruita Campground at Capitol Reef NP is nice enough and a great location, but there is virtually no privacy. I immediately went to Gifford House to buy a Mixed Berry pie and they gave me a free ice cream to go with it for my birthday. Yum!!! Glad I brought birthday candles.

Checking in at the visitor center next, I learned that Grand Wash and Capitol Gorge roads were closed from washouts from previous rain, and Cathedral Valley is closed too, which I had been hoping to do as a day trip. I decided on a lazy rest of the day at the campground.

Grand Wash and Cassidy Arch – With some roads washed out I had to change my hiking plans. I parked along Hwy 24 and hiked up Grand Wash from that direction. It was wonderful watching the changing light as morning sunshine started filtering into the canyon. This is a perfect easy hike for anyone wanting to experience a canyon without the adventure of a slot canyon.

I was tired and had planned to just walk Grand Wash, but when I got to the Cassidy Arch trailhead I decided to keep going, and I’m glad I did! The trail up toward the arch is steep in spots, definitely gets your heart pumping. There is a point where the arch is visible from across the canyon, which makes for a wonderful resting spot.

From the viewpoint to the arch itself is not as steep, with slickrock and following cairns along the way. I had the arch to myself for a while, which was a bonus. Cassidy Arch is unique in that you hike above it and look down through it from the top, instead of looking up into it.

Several people were walking over the arch itself and told me it was very wide and not at all scary, so of course I had to try it for myself, with a bit of yoga thrown in to make things interesting.

BRYCE CANYON National Park

I love the Fairyland Loop (8+ miles) at Bryce Canyon, the scenery is beautiful and there are fewer crowds than the other loops. I had intended to hike the whole loop, but wind and thunder clouds started coming in, so after 2 miles to Tower Bridge I decided to turn back instead of continue the whole loop. It’s cold here… Bryce is at 8000 feet and it definitely felt chilly compared to everywhere else I had been. After showers and laundry, it was time to hunker down and read with a cuppa hot tea for the rest of the day.

With good sleep, I was ready to hike again the next day. I caught the morning light perfectly, watching the sun come over the horizon and light up the hoodoos like a spotlight!

As at other areas, “Wall Street” on the Navajo Loop was closed due to trail damage from rains. Time to change plans again… I hiked from the rim down into the main amphitheater via the open part of Navajo Loop, then connected to the Peekaboo Loop which is spectacular, and back up to the rim via Queen’s Garden trail. It was just as amazing as I remember it being last year. It’s more crowded close to the rim, but once you get onto Peekaboo trail there are very few people. This place is magic. There’s nothing else quite like it, every turn in the trail gives a new and different view.