You are browsing archives for
Capitol Reef National Park As one of Utah’s Mighty Five, Capitol Reef National Park was our last holdout. Located in the desert of central southern Utah we had ignored it, favoring Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, and Zion instead. Not to be overlooked, it’s diverse scenery and fascinating geology make it just as interesting as […]
Natural Bridges National Monument Over millions of years, three stately sandstone natural bridges were carved by rushing water in an area that now makes up Natural Bridges National Monument. Declared a national monument in 1908 by Teddy Roosevelt, Natural Bridges National Monument is home to three bridges – Sipapu, Kachina, and Owachomo – all […]
Pothole Point Trail Pothole Point Trail is a fun, easy to navigate .6-mile loop located in the Needles District in Canyonlands National Park. The trail gets its name from the many potholes formed by erosion over time creating these depressions in the sandstone. Whether wet or dry, the potholes are filled with delicate ecosystems. […]
Mesa Falls As the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River meanders through the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in eastern Idaho it has two significant drop-offs, one at Upper Mesa Falls and the other at Lower Mesa Falls. Of the two, Upper Mesa falls is far more dramatic with closer-up views from several different vantage points, […]
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park We crossed another national park off of our list when we visited Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The park covers 30,385 acres on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and is known for its deep, steep-walled canyons carved out over the ages […]
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area Hardly a hike for us, but well worth a recap, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area straddles the border between Wyoming and Montana. After making our way through Bighorn National Forest, we went out of our way to see Bighorn Canyon where the gulch winds around the huge parking lot […]
Devils Tower National Monument Devils Tower National Monument lays claim as America’s first national monument, designated to that distinction by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. A tall phonolite porphyry columnar rock formation jutting out of the ground, it towers 867 feet into the sky above the visitors center, 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche […]
Spearfish Canyon Spearfish Canyon is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota just south of the town of Spearfish. With easy access traveling along Spearfish Scenic Highway (Highway 14A) it’s a popular location for cycling and hiking. Dusty parking lots alongside the highway give nature enthusiasts a place to pullover or stay a […]
Badlands National Park Badlands National Park is located 75 miles east of Rapid City, South Dakota. Established as a national monument in 1939, Badlands was elevated to national park status in 1978. The 244,000-acre semi-arid park is made up of vast prairie dotted with buttes, many eroded away over millions of years into rugged […]
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links Sabotaged by Waze When long-time blogging friend Judy let me know she’d be in Virginia for vacation, I jumped at the chance to meet her in Shenandoah National Park for a hike. A quick search informed me that it would take about two hours to make the drive […]
Itching for a Change Itching to do something, anything different than our usual corona virus pandemic stay-at-home exercise routine of taking walks in our neighborhood or bike rides on the W&OD Trial, Bill and I decided to take Friday off from work and drive to neighboring Fauquier County to check out Sky Meadows State Park. […]
Just like I did last year, for my own ease in stepping back and reminiscing about our vacation in Utah, Arizona, and Nevada earlier this summer while driving 1,684 miles from park to park, I’ve pulled together the recaps from our week of exploring into one tidy little spot on my blog. I hope you’ll […]
Our final stop on day six (June 27th) of our family vacation to Utah, Arizona, and Nevada, was to check out Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam. It was more of a quick stop than our visit back in 1983 we we took the full tour of the 710-foot tall structure and even walked […]
We spent June 27th, day six of our family vacation to Utah, Arizona, and Nevada, exploring several attractions in the vicinity of Page, Arizona, one of which was Lower Antelope Canyon. It was the only day our family split up, and while Bill, Daniel, Jess, and I drove the 154 miles to Arizona, Jospeh and […]
We spent June 26th, day five of our family vacation to Utah, Nevada, and Arizona, exploring Bryce Canyon National Park. Of Utah’s Mighty 5 – Zion, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, and Capitol Reef – Bryce Canyon is by far my favorite. There’s just a special place in my heart for those cute hoodoos. Bill and […]
Even though we spent the longest amount of time at our forth and final hike on day four (June 25th) of our family vacation to Utah, Arizona, and Nevada, it wasn’t really a hike at all. I would have been more than happy to walk to the observation deck at Coral Pink Sand Dunes, take […]
The third of four hikes on day four (June 25th) of our family vacation to Utah, Arizona, and Nevada, wasn’t much more than an in-and-out of our car, been-there-seen-that sort of jaunt. We had decided to stay in Southern Utah for the day and the Kanab / Grand Staircase Escalante region provided plenty of opportunities […]
On, June 25th, day four of our family vacation to Utah, Arizona, and Nevada, we drove to the Grand Staircase Escalante region. Our first stop was to gather information from the Kanab Visitor Center park rangers who made several recommendations of short hikes in the surrounding area. Following their recommendations, we headed to Dinosaur Tracks […]
On day four (June 25th) of our family vacation to Utah, Arizona, and Nevada, we drove to the Grand Staircase Escalante region. With the help of the park rangers at the Kanab Visitors Center, we picked Dinosaur Tracks as our first hike of the day. From our Airbnb in Washington, Utah, Dinosaur Tracks was only […]
On the third day of our family vacation, Monday, June 24th, we left the desert of southern Utah behind and drove 141 miles to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Many years ago Bill and I visited the South Rim so I had visions of similar terrain on the northern side. Boy, was I […]
